Here in Michigan, we have a quirky bunch of messed up gun laws that allow people with concealed pistol licenses carry guns in schools. Because of the loophole, they can only do so if they open carry where everyone can see it. For me, it’s tantamount to having “I’m stoopid” tattooed across your forehead and anyone who open carries in […]

In what was a surprise to pretty much nobody, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Republican Rick Snyder this past week. He’s also spending $2 million on pro-Snyder ads. I say it’s unsurprising because (a) Bloomberg held a mega-fundraiser for Snyder back in June in the midst of the road funding battle in the Michigan legislature that ended […]

The fact that nations with fewer guns have lower gun-death rates should surprise no one. Except maybe the NRA. Really, it’s just common sense and the law of averages. But now researchers report that countries with lower gun ownership are safer than those with higher gun ownership. This is sure to tick off the NRA, which has been actively promoting […]

This past week, I spoke to former Governor Howard Dean on a wide range of topics. My chief interest was to get his impressions about current gun control measures being considered in Congress. During his run for governor in Vermont, Gov. Dean received high ratings from the NRA. Yet, recently, he has been highly critical of that group, saying that they are “populated by crazy people”.

It’s also the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War and, at a time when there was nearly unanimous support for that war, Gov. Dean was one of the most outspoken opponents. Finally, Gov. has come out in favor of the sequester so I wanted to ask him more about that.

Enjoy (after the jump.)

The Second Amendment wasn’t intended to include gun fetishists

One of the most disingenuous claims by the gun fetishists lobby is that assault weapons are protected by the Second Amendment. This, of course, is not true. The Second Amendment was never intended to allow for the unregulated promulgation of weaponry throughout our country and our communities. That is, in fact, the reason the phrase “well regulated militia” is part of it. What is, to me, the most galling are the laughable justifications they use to defend their bizarre obsession with owning and shooting weapons that so closely resemble those used by our military men and women.

But, we are a rational society and the time when a tiny minority of people who get a thrill out of owning and shooting military-style weapons get to make all of the decisions is coming to an end. They may call themselves “hobbyists”. They may say that their desire to pretend to be a soldier is protected by the constitution. But when the rest of us watch our fellow citizens, including small children, mowed down by weapons with high-capacity magazines, we know it’s time for the adults to start putting some limits down.

One of those limits is to replace the Assault Weapons Ban that expired 2004 with a new, strengthened version. Senator Diane Feinstein has introduced such legislation. Please sign the Democracy for America petition, urging members of Congress to pass it.

More after the jump.

Oops

The National Gun Fetishist Association (NRA) wants to put armed security guards in every school in the United States because, as everyone knows, the only effective solution to gun violence is many, many more guns in our schools.

Besides, c’mon. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, in a word, THIS.

Find out what “this” is after the jump.

Hypocrisy is rarely so clearly on display

Last week at his press conference (where, by the way, he didn’t take a single question), National Gun Fetishists Association (NRA) Executive Vice Chair Wayne LaPierre castigated the federal government for its inaction on forming a national registry for the mentally ill.

It’s an appalling demostration of hypocrisy given that what he didn’t mention is that his group has been actively fighting AGAINST a similar registry of gun registrations in this country.

Doubling down on stupid just makes you twice as stupid

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre went on Meet the Press this morning to make sure the entire country knows just how off base and out of touch he and the gunphiles he speaks for are with their plan to put a gun-toting protector in every school in the USA. The National Center for Education Statistics says that, in the 2009-2010 school year, there were 132,183 public and private K-12 schools in this country. Leave it to the NRA to come up with a solution to school shootings that involves putting over 132,000 new guns into our schools.

More after the jump.

The time for this conversation is NOW

Early yesterday morning, just hours before the horrific mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the Republican-led Michigan legislature passed S.B. 59, a bill that would allow concealed weapons in public schools, churches, and day care centers. Aware of the backlash that was likely to occur after the Connecticut shooting less than 10 hours later, Michigan Republicans released an astonishing statement on their Facebook page.

That statement and a discussion of the issue of gun control laws after the jump.