McCain goes off on Hagel. Watch.

TPM's Eric Lach dug around and found 20 states where lawmakers have proposed measures to put a stop to federal gun laws in recent weeks. Some would like to arrest federal officers who try to enforce the laws. Others simply want to make it very hard for the feds to do their jobs. So what's behind the state-by-state movement? Here's our report.

11:35 -- Brutal civil war in Syria. A partial al-Qaeda takeover of northern Mali. Terror groups operating with impunity in Somalia and Yemen. The growing possibility of an Israeli strike on Iraq. You get the idea. The Obama administration is facing incredibly complicated national security challenges around the globe. As defense secretary, Chuck Hagel would help shape how the U.S. should try to handle them. But Republican senators like Jeff Sessions aren't really asking about any of those current challenges.

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There's simply no elevating it. Sen. McCain's (R-AZ) entire game here is about score settling and holding on to what is arguably the only thing he was right about in the last 20 years. The 'surge' McCain may have been right about. There's a decent argument. But, of course, this is one move in the larger Iraq story which is undeniably one of the biggest foreign policy catastrophes in modern American history -- and one which John McCain is one of the great authors of. What a sad little man.

The country is still paying a great cost for the ego bruise that Sen. McCain suffered in 2008. Even more than that, he's stung by the mountains of criticism tied to his original advocacy of the Iraq War and all the lies that brought the country into it. It stings. Thus the endless flogging of the surge. This is payback. Nothing more.

Wake me up when McCain tells Hagel to get off his lawn.

The early immigration reform efforts on Capitol Hill have drawn conservatives into a debate with each other over the relative political merits of joining Democrats in providing immigrants a path to citizenship.

The poles of that debate stretch from the argument that Republicans risk handing Democrats a permanent majority to the more panicked view that Republicans can't afford not to support reform. In between, some hedge that reform might stanch the bleeding, but won't revive the GOP's standing with Latino voters.

As far as that argument goes, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. But confining the analysis to the question of how immigrant communities will respond to reform is an error.

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11:15 -- Finally, some fireworks. McCain just hit Hagel pretty hard for his past opposition to the Iraq surge: "History has already about made a judgment about the surge, sir, and you're on the wrong side of it." Hagel shot back, calling the Iraq war "the most fundamental, bad, dangerous decision since Vietnam." The exchange was obviously motivated by politics -- and certainly made for some good TV -- but I think its worth giving both men a bit of credit for having an unusually honest debate about Iraq, which has utterly faded from public consciousness. I lived in Iraq for several years, lost many American and Iraqi friends there, and admit to both personal and professional frustration about how completely the war and its aftermath have been forgotten. Iraq remains worth of discussion and debate, and I'm glad this hearing has brought it back up, even if only for a few minutes.

9:45 -- Sen. James Inhofe, the new ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has already penned a Washington Post op-ed which surprised no one by announcing that he'd vote against Hagel. Still, his opening remarks were interesting because they outlined the talking points other GOP senators will use when they go after Hagel. The main ones: Hagel has been out of step with both parties when it comes to Iran and Israel, he's tried to hide his true views for political expediency, and he's simply too dovish to lead the Pentagon. The key Inhofe line: Hagel subscribes "to a worldview that is predicated on appeasing our allies while shunning our friends." Ouch.

Good morning, everyone. A quick thanks to Josh and David for having me on to live blog what should be an unusually interesting hearing. I wanted to offer three general thoughts about key things to watch for before it gets rolling:

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With the Senate confirmation hearing of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) beginning this morning, we've invited national security reporter Yochi Dreazen to liveblog the proceedings here in the Editors' Blog.

Yochi was previously a national security reporter for National Journal and the Wall Street Journal and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is currently working on a book titled "The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in the Era of Endless War," on how one military family is grappling with post-combat mental health issues. It is scheduled to be published in early 2014 by Crown. Yochi has spent more than five years in-country in Iraq and Afganistan.

Please welcome Yochi. I think you'll enjoy his insights.

Here's a really meaty and interesting essay in the new and relaunched TNR about gun ownership and what gun owners want. What Gun Owners Really Want by Walter Kirn.

There's a lot there. But one point resonated with me because it's a flip side of something I was trying to capture in my 'non-gun tribe' piece from a couple weeks ago. And that is that there's a division between gun and non-gun people that is deeper than and not even necessarily aligned with the politics. And it has to do with people who have a basically familiarity and intimacy with them and those who don't.

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Here's a really meaty and interesting essay in the new and relaunched TNR about gun ownership and what gun owners want. What Gun Owners Really Want by Walter Kirn.

There's a lot there. But one point resonated with me because it's a flip side of something I was trying to capture in my 'non-gun tribe' piece from a couple weeks ago. And that is that there's a division between gun and non-gun people that is deeper than and not even necessarily aligned with the politics. And it has to do with people who have a basically familiarity and intimacy with them and those who don't.

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Gayle Trotter, of the Independent Women's Forum, who may actually be new to the whole gun issue, explains how young woman are speaking up about AR-15 rifles ...

"Young women are speaking out as to why AR-15 weapons are their weapon of choice. The guns are accurate. They have good handling. They're light. They're easy for women to hold. And most importantly, their appearance. An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon. And the peace of mind that a woman has as she's facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she's fighting hardened, violent criminals. If we ban these types of assault weapons, you are putting women at a great disadvantage, more so than men, because they do not have the same type of physical strength and opportunity to defend themselves."

Gayle Trotter opposed renewal of the Violence Against Women Act before testifying today about how moms need "scary-looking guns" to defend themselves.

Alabama "survivalist" shoots school bus driver dead, takes 6 year old child hostage and heads to the personal bunker he'd constructed on his property. The standoff continues.

Menendez spokesperson responding to last night's FBI raid: "Senator Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen's plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately. Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false."

Giffords' husband Mark Kelly breaks news of yet another workplace shooting during Senate hearing on gun violence. Watch.

David Vitter says Macro Rubio is "amazingly naive" in his support for immigration reform.

We're monitoring reports out of Phoenix of a new workplace shooting. Local news reports describing a workplace shooting with multiple victims. Latest reports are of three wounded and no fatalities.

Gun rights law Prof struggles to answer Sen. Durbin's question about why we shouldn't just let people own machine guns. Watch.