Tag Archives: gun laws

Contrary to what you may have read online, teachers in Israel do not pack heat, and fewer guns in circulation means fewer gun deaths

By Mark | December 21, 2012

In the immediate aftermath of last week’s mass shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 six- an seven-year-old kids were shot to death, a photo began circulating around the internet of what we were told was a school teacher in Israel, walking behind a group of children, with a rifle strapped across her back. There are […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Other, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2nd amendment, Adam Gopnik, arming teachers, assault weapons, assault weapons ban, Australia, Canada, David Hemenway, Diane Feinstein, Elizabeth Warren, Fix Gun Checks Act, Freedom Group, gun control, gun violence, guns, Israel, Janet Rosenbaum, mass murder, mental health, revolution, Sandy Hook, Scotland, teachers, teachers union, violence, we need a revolution | 35 Comments

The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary… agendas at play, profits to be made

By Mark | December 15, 2012

As you’ve no doubt heard, a gunman entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday morning, taking the lives of 20 children (all 6 and 7 years old) and 6 adults. It’s a heartbreaking story, and I don’t know that there’s anything that I can say that hasn’t already been said better by our obviously […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Media, Observations, Other, Politics, Pop Culture, Uncategorized | Also tagged Adam Lanza, assault weapons, assault weapons ban, Basketball Diaries, Charlie Booker, Chicago Sun Times, Columbine, Connecticut, David Huckabee, Diane Feinstein, Elephant, first-person shooter, God in school, gun control, gun violence, gunman, guns, Gus Van Sant, horrifically sad stories, Jay Carney, Macy's Thanksgiving parade, mass murder, mental illness, Michigan Open Carry, Mike Huckabee, More Guns Less Crime, murder, murdertainment, network news, news media, nightly news, NRA, Obama, prayer in school, Rick Snyder, Rob Harris, Roger Ebert, Ryan Lanza, Sandy Hook, school shooting, Senate Bill 59, the future of journalism, the sad state of journalism, the state of the world, Tom Brokaw, tragedy, violent video games | 46 Comments

I know we say that “bad guys will get guns anyway,” if gun control laws are enacted, but do we know that to be a fact?

By Mark | July 24, 2012

A few days ago, after a man in body armor fatally shot a dozen people in a Colorado movie theater, I caught a snippet of someone official-looking being interviewed on television. (My sense was that he was with law enforcement, but he very well could have been an official with the National Rifle Association.) As […]

Posted in Civil Liberties | Also tagged Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, gun control, gun violence, National Rifle Association, NRA, student aid, student loans | 23 Comments

ALEC, the move to codify the extremist Republican agenda, and the Michigan connection

By Mark | March 26, 2012

Reading a column by Paul Krugman just now on the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in pushing so-called “Stand Your Ground” legislation around the country, I was reminded by a recent article in Mother Jones about how ALEC, working through the Mackinac Center, played a role in passing Michigan’s Public Act 4, […]