Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up…
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Why Mass Death Is Our New Normal: The Real Root of America’s Gun Violence
Posted December 3rd, 2015 at 3:01 pm (UTC-5)
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The problem is U.S. culture, which venerates firearms as symbols of self-control and rugged individualism; which is so taken by the seductive power of guns that it’s willing to give absurd myths like “a good guy with a gun” a serious hearing…
The Real Terror Threat Congress Should Confront
Posted November 19th, 2015 at 11:49 am (UTC-5)
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[A] lawmaker’s petition to Congress for a blanket halt to the admission of Syrian refugees is a reminder of a far more real threat to the nation. An egregious loophole that Congress has failed to close has allowed over 2,000 suspects on the federal terrorist watch list to freely buy firearms and explosives …
One More Shooting Massacre in America
Posted October 2nd, 2015 at 4:06 pm (UTC-5)
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Columbine. Newtown. Blacksburg. Aurora. Now Roseburg joins the infamous list of American towns where mass shootings have occurred. At least 40 times in the past 30 years, gunfire has interrupted the mundane goings-on at a workplace, a church, a shopping mall, a restaurant, a school. 375 people have been killed. Just a few hours after a 26 year-old man opened fire Thursday on the campus of a community college in Oregon, President Barack Obama appeared before the cameras. “But as I said just a few months ago… our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough.” The president’s voice was thick with frustration and anger as he spoke about the spate of mass shootings that he said “… has somehow become routine.” At the heart of his ire is not only grief for the 10 people gunned down while attending class, but the issue of gun control. Access to firearms in America is a deeply emotional and divisive issue. Obama believes that laws limiting a citizen’s ability to get hold of a gun is key to stopping such tragic shootings. But to do that, who would be willing to commit political suicide in the name of gun control?
Andy Parker: Welcome to the Parents of Children Killed by Guns Club
Posted August 28th, 2015 at 4:12 pm (UTC-5)
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So from one grieving father to another, Andy, I share your grief and mourn your loss. I know what you are feeling. You are not alone. Welcome to the heartbreaking club that no one wants to be a part of.
US Gun Policy Obama’s Biggest Regret
Posted July 24th, 2015 at 2:24 pm (UTC-5)
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Just hours after President Obama spoke with BBC, a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Louisiana, killing two people before shooting himself. It was the latest in a string of gun violence in the US: from the massacre of nine people in a famed black church in South Carolina to the shooting deaths of over 20 young children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Charleston and the Politics of Evasion
Posted June 22nd, 2015 at 9:11 am (UTC-5)
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We Americans are exceptionally good at evasion when we want to be. Our skills in this sphere are particularly impressive on the matter of race and the subject of guns.
Bullet Points
Media stories in the wake of mass shootings typically feature a laundry list of mistakes that reflect their writers’ inexperience with guns and gun culture….treat guns like any other beat,,,,Media outlets tend not to send sports writers to cover the Supreme Court or style writers to cover a murder. Ignorance undermines authority.