How the NRA transformed from marksmen to lobbyists
The Washington Post liked the old days much better when the NRA was dominated by Fudds . . .
Gun control tapped into the turmoil of the 1960s, exposing tensions of race and class, and between rural and urban Americans. The National Rifle Association, founded in 1871, 100 years after the Founding Fathers inked the Second Amendment, began to wield power by amplifying its members’ fears of being disarmed in lawless times, and it used that energy to influence gun legislation in Washington. …
Federal assault-weapons ban expires
After repeated attempts to renew the ban failed, it ended. Despite the ban, there were still ways for people to legally obtain rapid-fire weapons.
Events
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
President George W. Bush signed the bill, granting gun manufacturers immunity from civil lawsuits filed over crimes committed with firearms. The NRA called it “a vitally important first step toward ending the anti-gun lobby`s shameless attempts to bankrupt the American firearms industry through reckless lawsuits.”
Events
Patrick claim about state’s loaded gun law accurate
It must have hurt to type those words . . .
Patrick said: “It’s against the law in Texas to let any loaded gun get in the hands of a child.”
A 1995 state law makes it a misdemeanor if a person with criminal negligence fails to secure a loaded gun and a child younger than 17 accesses it or if a person leaves the gun where he or she knew or should have known the child would get it.
We rate this claim True: The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.
For ‘Columbiners,’ School Shootings Have a Deadly Allure
More and more, this seems to be the consensus, for whatever that’s worth . . .
Interviews with law enforcement officials, educators, researchers, students and a gunman’s mother, as well as a review of court documents, academic studies and the writings of killers and would-be killers, show that the school-shooting copycat syndrome has grown more pervasive and has steadily escalated in recent years. And much of it can be traced back to the two killers at Columbine, previously ordinary high school students who have achieved dark folk hero status — their followers often known as “Columbiners” — in the corners of the internet where their carefully planned massacre is remembered, studied and in some cases even celebrated.
Investigators say school shootings have become the American equivalent of suicide bombings — not just a tactic, but an ideology. Young men, many of them depressed, alienated or mentally disturbed, are drawn to the Columbine subculture because they see it as a way to lash out at the world and to get the attention of a society that they believe bullies, ignores or misunderstands them.
When Guns Are Sold Illegally, A.T.F. Is Lenient on Punishment
It’s almost as if government regulators are inherently incompetent, inefficient or, in some cases, outright corrupt . . .
As they inspect the nation’s gun stores, federal investigators regularly find violations of the law, ranging from minor record-keeping errors to illegal sales of firearms. In the most serious cases, like a sale of a gun to a prohibited buyer, inspectors often recommend that gun dealers lose their licenses.
But that rarely happens. Senior officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regularly overrule their own inspectors, allowing gun dealers who fail inspections to keep their licenses even after they were previously warned to follow the rules, according to interviews with more than half a dozen current and former law enforcement officials and a review of more than 100 inspection reports.
One store was cited for failing to conduct background checks before selling a gun. Another store owner told investigators he actively tried to circumvent gun laws. One threatened an A.T.F. officer, and another sold a gun to a customer who identified as a felon. All were previously cited by the A.T.F. In each instance, supervisors downgraded recommendations that the stores’ licenses be revoked and instead let them stay open.
School Shooters May Soon Come Face-to-Face with Armed Vet
Part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s school security proposals . . .
Abbott said those with the most training in keeping Americans safe can be a great resource for Texas schools.
“Texas retired and off-duty peace officers already have extensive firearms and emergency response training — and many would be willing and able to protect Texas campuses,” Abbott’s plan said.
“Texas should authorize schools to prioritize recruitment and hiring of such personnel to protect their campuses and their student bodies, faculty, employees and guests. Hiring should prioritize individuals with the most applicable skill sets (i.e., former police, sheriffs and constables).”
‘He’s going for my gun’: Utah truck driver stops man wrestling Wyoming trooper
The attacker had 74 pounds of marijuana in his car . . .
“I put my brakes on, and I jump out and by this time, the trooper is on his back and the guy is on top of him. The trooper saw me running over and as soon as I got up to him, he says, ‘He’s going for my gun.’”
Phillips says the trooper and Roberts both hand their hands on the trooper’s gun.
Roberts might have grabbed it, if not for what Phillips did next.
“So I just came around behind him and just reached around and put my arm right there and I held it with my other hand and I stood up and I just went back,” he said. “And as I came back, he just came back with me and just fell right on top of me.”