From TPM Reader DS …
Continue reading “Readers on Guns #2”I want to share a story with you and then get to a specific point. When I was 18 or 19, a guy at the factory where I worked sold me a semi-automatic AK-47. Not an actual AK but whatever the knock-off brand was at the time. I thought it would be cool to have such a cool and powerful weapon.
From TPM Reader TK …
Continue reading “Readers on Guns #1”Thanks for the articles you’ve written on guns. As usual it’s very interesting and thought-provoking.
I must admit I’m confused about the contentious pushback you’ve received. I appreciate the seriousness you’ve exhibited referencing the communication from those you respect.
But I honestly just don’t understand the opposition.I do not like guns. I’ve never been around them, they were never part of my Southern California upbringing. Guns scare me. But, I have had fairly close relationships with some who are part of the gun culture to varying degrees, whether it’s been neighbors or family members (in law side), coworkers, etc. Some are shooting range guys, very very few are hunters, some are self-described collectors (meaning they have guns for no real reason other than they like owning them). A handful are what we would call gun-nuts.
In our initial reports of the shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, I emphasized that first reports are subject to the “fog of war” and should be taken as tentative. I really had no idea we’d see this level of up is down changes in the story. If you haven’t been focused on the nitty gritty, virtually none of the original story turns out to be true. The shooter wasn’t wearing body armor. He wasn’t confronted by three separate officers on the way into the school. Most importantly, the local police waited roughly an hour to confront him.
The current story runs like this.
Continue reading “The Ugly Truth”This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
The mass shootings at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, just 10 days apart, are stirring the now-familiar national debate over guns seen after the tragic 2012 and 2018 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida.
Continue reading “How The NRA Evolved From Backing A Ban On Machine Guns To Blocking Almost All Gun Restrictions Today”Why mass shootings happen in America on a routine basis, making us an outlier among not just peer nations but virtually every nation, is unknowable.
As Republicans helpfully point out in the wake of the mass murders of children, grocery shoppers, church goers, music lovers and the like, each shooting is unfathomably different from the one that came months, weeks, days before.
Such an inscrutable problem, one with no identifiable common denominator to help elucidate, demands creative solutions.
Continue reading “Five Things Republicans Pointed To After Uvalde Shooting To Avoid Gun Reform”This article was originally published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
The fact that the gunman responsible for this week’s massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was able to buy two AR-15s days after his 18th birthday highlights how much easier it is for Americans to purchase rifles than handguns.
Under federal law, Americans buying handguns from licensed dealers must be at least 21, which would have precluded Salvador Ramos from buying that type of weapon. That trumps Texas law, which only requires buyers of any type of firearm to be 18 or older.
Continue reading “Why 18-Year-Olds In Texas Can Buy AR-15s But Not Handguns”Primaried Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) revealed in a past-due financial disclosure that he purchased between $100,000 and $250,000 in Let’s Go Brandon cryptocurrency in late 2021.
Per the filing, Cawthorn sold some of the holdings 10 days later – after a promotional event that drew accusations of participating in a pump-and-dump scheme. Cawthorn reported that the value of the “partial sale” was also between $100,000 and $250,000.
Continue reading “Cawthorn Held At Least $100K Of Crypto, According To Past Due Disclosure”Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) announced on Friday that he was canceling an appearance he was supposed to make that morning at the National Rifle Association’s convention in Houston.
Continue reading “Texas Lt. Guv Dan Patrick Drops Out Of NRA Convention At 11th Hour”We’re watching what seems like at least a mini-exodus of musical acts and elected officials from the NRA conference in Texas. Arch jingoist Lee Greenwood is out. Gov. Abbott is now going to send a taped message rather than attending in person. Now we’ve learned that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an even more antic rightwinger, is sending his regrets as well.
To be clear, all these worthies are claiming that their support for guns and the NRA is wholly undiminished. The elected officials also have something of an out since they can say that their decision isn’t about the NRA at all. They’re just urgently needed on the ground in Uvalde to deal with the aftermath of the shooting.
But actions here speak louder than words.
There are some specific nuances I wanted to share with you.
Continue reading “Cracks in the Facade”Lee Greenwood is not going to gladly stand up next to the National Rifle Association this weekend. The singer announced Thursday, following the leads of several other musicians, that he’s pulling out of a planned appearance in Houston at the NRA’s annual convention.
Continue reading “Even Lee Greenwood Bails On NRA Convention”
