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Obama and Biden to address gun control in a White House briefing room appearance at 11:45 ET.
Those who watch these things closely say the Newtown massacre has catalyzed a genuine political shift on gun control. How broad and deep a shift remains to be seen, but it’s more substantial than anything that happened after other recent mass shootings. Still, there is the matter of the House GOP majority, which by all appearances is an immovable object in the path to more sensible gun regulation.
TPM Reader SE just flagged this piece from Minnesota Public Radio surveying the Minnesota congressional delegation in the wake of the Newtown, CT massacre. MPR notes that last year Michele Bachmann said that her favorite firearm was the AR-15, the weapon used last week by Adam Lanza. And they link to the video of her interview, which happens to be a TPM video. (Bachmann declined the station’s request for comment.) Read More
This case involves a convicted Ponzi schemer who apparently tried to scam his way out of a prison sentence by putting the squeeze on a sitting congresswoman. His plan didn’t work out too well.
There’s still a lot we don’t understand about the way dark money groups did business in the run-up to the election. But details continue to trickle out about one Arizona group that acted as the middleman for millions of dollars in political spending. Here’s the latest turn.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) reportedly will veto the bill already on his desk that would allow concealed carry in schools.
In contrast to the smart approach Colorado is taking, Tennessee is considering arming teachers.
A lot of talk in the days since the Newtown massacre about what could and should be done in response, but in Colorado some real, tangible public policy action that is hard to argue with:
Colorado would streamline involuntary mental health commitments and speed that information to gun-sale registries as part of a comprehensive, $18.5 million psychiatric overhaul aimed at preventing future violence and improving care in a package of proposals announced by Gov. John Hickenlooper Tuesday.
Mental health advocates in the state hailed what they say is a desperately-needed bolstering of emergency psychiatric services and laws. They said civil commitments could be simplified while still protecting patient rights, and that the spending package to increase emergency beds and evaluations is the right approach.