Judge Endorses Teenage Murder

Last week Federal Judge Robert E. Payne in Richmond, Va., ruled that age requirements on sales of semiautomatic handguns like Glock pistols are unconstitutional, allowing kids as young as 18 years old to buy these weapons and pack heat. Such weapons can fire as many as 15 or 22 rounds without reloading.

This comes at a time when gun violence is the number one cause of death for children and teens.

More:

“Judge in Virginia Strikes Down Federal Limit on Age of Handgun Buyers,” Glenn Thrush, New York Times

“18-to-20-year-olds can’t be barred from buying handguns, judge rules,” Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post

“Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else,” Annette Choi, CNN

“Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries,” Matt McGough, Krutika Amin, Nirmita Panchal, and Cynthia Cox, KFF Global Health Policy

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Supreme Court Requires Blood Sacrifice

The Supreme Court of the United States thinks you should be able to carry a concealed handgun in public just because you think it’s cool and want to feel like a big shot. For over a century, New York had required gun owners to have a reason to carry a concealed weapon. Police issued concealed carry permits to business owners who carry bags of cash to a bank’s night deposit facility, those who had a demonstrable proper cause to be concerned for their personal safety, and so on. Now any dumb schmuck who hasn’t been caught committing a crime — yet — will be enabled to do so, with deadly consequences, thanks to six SCOTUS conservative ideologues. That doesn’t sound like a “well-regulated militia” to us.

What can you expect?

• More gunshot deaths, murders and suicides.
• More civilians killed by police, who will be more likely to assume that anyone they come into contact with is armed with a concealed deadly weapon.

More:

“Supreme Court strikes down New York’s concealed carry gun law,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios

“U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law,” Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley, Reuters

“Supreme Court strikes N.Y. law, finds right to carry guns outside home,” Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post

“SCOTUS Strikes Down New York Gun Control Law, Expanding Gun Rights In Wake Of Mass Shootings,” Kate Riga, Talking Points Memo 

 

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Image (“Blood Sacrifice”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Massacre on Fifth Avenue?

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”
Donald Trump, West Des Moines Iowa
January 23, 2016 [NBC News]

Note: Donald J. Trump has a New York City concealed-carry permit and owns several handguns.

Bobby Jindal: ‘Not the Time’ to Consider Gun Law Reform

On Friday Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) said that it is too soon after the mass shooting in a Lafayette movie theater to discuss gun control reform. By that logic it will never be a good time to talk about gun safety laws in Louisiana, since the rate of gun deaths in the Pelican State is the highest in the country. Discussion of rational policies to reduce firearms violence will always be preempted as citizens mourn Louisiana’s newest gunshot victims.

Come to think of it, that kind of neglect is perfectly consistent with the rest of Governor Jindal’s public health policy.

The NFL Gun Club

Indianapolis Colts safety Joe Lefeged’s Camaro convertible sped down Central Avenue like it was the Indianapolis Speedway until it was stopped by DC police. A loaded, unregistered .40-caliber H&K pistol was found under the driver’s seat.  The New England Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez favors the Glock .40, the same model New York Jet’s Plaxico Burress used to shoot himself in the thigh back in 2008.

Mr. Lefeged is being held on gun charges in DC jail; Mr. Hernandez is charged with murder. Plaxico Burress spent two years in prison for illegal possession of a handgun and poor marksmanship reckless endangerment.

As Chattanooga reporter Mark Wiedmer says, “Remember when the two biggest names in the National Football League were Brady and Manning rather than Smith and Wesson?”

Plaxico Burress Shoots Into DC

Plaxico Burress is known for catching a winning Superbowl pass, then catching a bullet in his leg when his illegal gun went off in his sweatpants.  He was cut from the New York Giants and drafted by the New York State Department of Corrections. Recently released by the Oneida Correctional Facility team, he’s now playing in DC for the Urban League and the Brady Center for Gun Violence.

Tucson Massacre Memorial Gun Show

It’s been a week since six people were killed and thirteen wounded in Tucson. To commemorate this tragic event, the Arizona city is hosting a memorial gun show at the Pima County Fairgrounds (discount coupon here). The Crosshairs of the West Gun Show means fun for the whole family: M-16s, AK 47s, and funnel cakes, too.

Tucson TV station KGUN tells us the Safeway at Oracle and Ina has re-opened  As Scott Simon puts it, “Amid tragedy, Tucson shows what it’s made of.”

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Guns in the Capitol

To commemorate the shooting death of a 9-year-old girl, a Congressional Aide and a Federal judge, and the gunshot injury of his colleague Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D, AZ-8), Congressman Louie Gohmert (R, TX-1 ) wants to pack heat in the U.S. Capitol.

Gawker sums it up succinctly: “Dumbest Congress Member Wants Guns on the House Floor.”

 

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DC Fourth of July Travel Advisory

The Fourth of July will be celebrated in the District of Columbia with the traditional street closings and detours. Travel into and around Washington DC will be slow tomorrow as tourists jam the District to watch fireworks on the National Mall. Be careful who you cut off on the Wilson and Memorial bridges on your way in, though, because no one likes pyrotechnics more than the pistol-packing patrons of Champps sports bars in Northern Virginia.

Virginia’s new law permitting concealed weapons in saloons went into effect Thursday, and patrons of Champps celebrated with Glocks and iced tea. There are good reasons to pack heat in Virginia’s sports bars. You certainly need a semiautomatic firearm at Champps to defend your family against those dangerous Loaded Chips appetizers (cheddar, pepperjack, mozzarella, Asiago cream sauce, bacon, green onions, sour cream).

Have a safe and sane Independence Day.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Guns and DC

 

Congress recently denied a single House vote to the 600,000 American citizens of the Nation’s Capital, inserting a Poison Pill amendment into the bill, a measure repealing local safety laws regulating firearms in this densely populated city. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT) would now shove that pill down DC’s gullet without the House vote sweetener.

Unsurprisingly, both senators are up for re-election. Mr. McCain needs to butch up his conservative cred and thinks guns will help. Guns are certainly helping  his opponent , J.D. Hayworth; conservative gun apostles endorse him. Senator Tester, a former music teacher, seems like a nice guy forced by politics to pretend he thinks Washington (population 600,000) is Big Sandy, Montana (population 614).