Expect the NRA/gun industry hissy fit to start in 3...2...1...

From CNN -

New Mexico governor orders suspension of open and concealed carry of guns in Albuquerque

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared gun violence and drug abuse a public health emergency after a string of recent deadly shootings, some involving children.

The emergency order includes the suspension of open and concealed carry laws in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, temporarily banning the carrying of guns on public property with certain exceptions, according to a statement from Lujan Grisham on Friday.

Lujan Grisham cited the shooting deaths of three children from July through September, as well as a pair of mass shootings in the state.

“The time for standard measures has passed,” said Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. “And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take their kids to school, to leave a baseball game – when their very right to exist is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn – something is very wrong.”

The gun nuts are already freaking out; the NRA has been silent so far, but I expect the gun industry lobbying group to soon join them.

The NRA and its elected chattel...errr...."apologists"... must be *so* proud

From Axios -

Gun deaths among U.S. children hit a new record high

Data: Pediatrics analysis of CDC data; Chart: Axios Visuals

Firearm deaths among children in the U.S. hit a new record high in 2021, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Driving the news: The study, based on government data, points to the worsening of an already distressing trend, after guns became the leading cause of death for children for the first time in 2020.

Well, that didn't take long - pro-Russ...errr..."gun" legislators are ticked at the City of Phoenix for supporting Ukraine

Last week, the City Council of Phoenix approved a resolution to send unclaimed guns to the national police of Ukraine.

I wrote about it then.

This week, a couple of the NRA's thralls Republicans in the state legislature expressed objections to that.

From Fronteras at KJZZ -

2 Republican lawmakers say Phoenix's plan to donate firearms to Ukrainian police is illegal

Last week, the Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to donate hundreds of unclaimed firearms to the National Police of Ukraine. 

Republican state Rep. Quang Nguyen says that runs afoul of state law. 

Nguyen, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter along with committee vice chair and fellow Republican Selina Bliss this week that cites a state statute that says unclaimed firearms must be sold to a business authorized to receive and dispose of weapons.

Interestingly, and probably not coincidentally,, Nguyen is the president of an NRA-affiliated organization.

From the NRA's website - 

In her legislative biography, Bliss claims membership in the same organization

Nguyen has taken money from a multitude of pro-gun organizations.

From some filings with the Arizona Secretary of State -

In addition to being pro-gun, Bliss will refer to herself as a doctor.  It's not a complete misrepresentation - while she is a nurse and not a medical doctor, she does have a doctorate and merits the title.

Though as a person in the medical profession she should be aware that someone with a PhD may want to avoid engendering confusion with such a referral.

From her LinkedIn profile -

 

The Phoenix City Council finds a way to appease the NRA and piss off Paul Gosar at the same time

While appeasing criminals is a bad thing, pissing off Gosar is a good thing.  

Always.

From AZFamily (this is the entire article as it is just three paragraphs/six sentences long) -

Phoenix City Council approves plan to send hundreds of unclaimed guns to Ukrainian police force

The City of Phoenix has unanimously approved a plan to send hundreds of unclaimed firearms to the National Police of Ukraine.

During the meeting on Wednesday, the City Council approved a plan allowing 500 to 600 guns to be transferred to a private company, which will then give them to the Ukrainian police force. According to the transfer request published in the City Council agenda, “only 9mm, 45mm, 39mm and 12 gauge firearms will be sent.” No city or taxpayer funds will be used to transport the weapons, the council agenda item said.

State law says guns are unclaimed when no owner comes forward after a 30-day notice. At that point, law enforcement, cities and towns can dispose of or sell them. In 2022, the Miami New Times reported that the City of Miami passed a gun buyback resolution to ship firearms to Ukraine.

The agenda item from the City of Phoenix -

From the results of the meeting -

The NRA never wants guns destroyed, no matter how many people have been killed by them.  And Paul Gosar is so pro-Vlad he never wants any there to be any support for Ukraine.

Student brings AR-15 to Phoenix high school, but a tragedy was averted. This time.

The Arizona Legislature is on vacation right now, but when they get back, Arizonans should expect the Republican majority there to ignore the incident.

The only thing they might criticize is the arrest.

From AZFamily -

Student allegedly brings AR-15, ammo to high school in Phoenix

A teen boy was arrested after police said he brought a rifle and ammo to a high school in Phoenix on Friday afternoon. According to investigators, two school security officers at Bostrom High School called police about a student with a gun. When they arrived to the school at 27th Avenue and Osborn Road, they found the teen already in the school’s main office. Police said he had an AR-15 with him and ammunition in his backpack and lunchbox.

Channel 12 (KPNX) has a video report here.

We're setting records!

Not in a good way, though.

From The Guardian (UK) -

US on track to set record in 2023 for mass killings after series of shootings

After a series of shootings and other attacks, 2023 is on track to be the worst in recent history for mass killings in the US.

Mass killings are defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed, not including the shooter or other type of perpetrator. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, the US is on pace for 60 mass killings this year. There were 31 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 36 in 2022.

Texas is leading the way, though.

From The Texas Tribune -

Raise-the-age gun bill misses crucial deadline, as Uvalde parents protest outside the Texas House

The unexpected elation felt this week by gun control advocates and families of Uvalde shooting victims dissolved to despair Tuesday, when a bill that would raise the age to legally purchase semi-automatic rifles lost its newfound momentum and was left off the Texas House’s agenda ahead of a key deadline.

Barring an unexpected development, the delay likely ends the bill's chances of becoming law.

Dear Texas Rs:

That sound you hear is the NRA cracking its whip.

Red State governors like sending busloads of migrants to blue states and cities. The receiving governors and mayors should return the favor.

But no, not with immigrants.

From The Oregonian (emphasis added by me) -

GOP governors try to bus migrants to blue cities, but many exit to live in red states

Since April, thousands of migrants have arrived by bus in New York City and Washington, D.C., sent north by Republican governors in Texas and Arizona as a political gambit to blame Democrats for the migrants’ presence in the country.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey have spent millions of dollars transporting migrants to the liberal cities to protest President Joe Biden’s intention to roll back some pandemic-era border restrictions and Democratic immigration policies more generally.

[snip]

Migrants have disembarked in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee in recent weeks, and some of the buses arriving in New York and Washington have been nearly empty, according to media reports, though local charities say they’re still helping dozens of arriving migrants almost daily. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, warned migrants back in April not to use the buses to get to his state, saying “Florida is not a sanctuary state.”

Blue state governors and blue city mayors should return those buses, but filled with guns that were used to commit murders in their jurisdictions but started off in red states.

From ReformAustin, dated 4/11/2022 -

Red States Have More Murders Than Blue States

To hear any Texas Republican tell it, “blue” cities like Houston are made into lawless abattoirs by Democratic leadership. However, a deep look at the actual murder data from the last several years shows that at the state level, Republican control is typically associated with more murder.

There’s no argument that Houston does currently have a very alarming murder rate. In a recent comprehensive report by Third Way, H-Town has a whopping 17.32 murders per 100,000 residents, one of the highest in the country. Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly used that fact to push anti-progressive agenda items such as requiring cash bail, arguing that Democrats who are coddling criminals and defunding police forces. 

[snip]

It makes a lot of sense when the causes of violence are looked at more closely. Consider Chicago, which is a favorite target of Second Amendment extremists because of its higher murder rate (28.49 per 100,000) and stringent gun control. However, most guns used in crimes in Chicago aren’t purchased in Chicago or even Illinois. Sixty percent of guns recovered in crimes in Chicago come from Indiana and Mississippi, two very red states with extremely lax gun laws that are within easy driving distance of the Windy City. 

Don't misunderstand me - before any guns are shipped, the victims of those guns should be buried, any cases stemming from their use should adjudicated, and the guns themselves should be rendered permanently unable to be fired or repaired until they're in useable condition (What? You don't believe that certain red state governors like Ducey, Abbott, and DeSantis, would order the guns repaired (if possible) and sold?  Then you have a higher opinion of their personal characters than I've got)

Florida school district responds to Uvalde shooting by banning...backpacks

Maybe book covers in FL are made of kevlar and by forcing students to carry books in front of them, the students will be able to stop bullets with them.

From the Orlando Weekly, dated 6/6/2022 -

Florida school district bans backpacks following Uvalde shooting

In the confusing aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,  officials have looked everywhere but the blindingly obvious while trying to pin blame for the tragedy.

After a rousing round of "schools should have one door" that probably caused sleepless nights among the nation's fire marshals, officials in one Florida school district have come up with a new solution:  no more backpacks.

Wagering that you can't carry a gun if you can't carry anything, the Broward County Public Schools announced a ban on bookbags for the final days of the school year. In a letter to parents over the weekend, they said the move was taken out of an "overabundance of caution for security reasons." The ban begins tomorrow and all students were encouraged to use Monday to return any items to the school ahead of summer break.

Dear Rep. Scalise: Got two words for you: "Designed intent"

From The Hill -

No. 2 House Republican on guns: We didn’t ban planes after 9/11

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Wednesday invoked 9/11 when arguing against gun control measures as a response to recent mass shootings, saying that the U.S. did not ban planes after the terrorist attack.

“Airplanes were used that day, as the weapon to kill thousands of people and to inflict terror on our country. There wasn’t a conversation about banning airplanes,” Scalise said in a press conference on Wednesday. “There was a conversation about connecting the dots. How can we try to figure out if there are signs we can see to stop the next attack from happening?”

Congressman Scalise:

Planes aren't designed to kill lots of people very quickly.  They're designed to move many butts great distances. 

Can they kill lots of people?  Of course they can, especially when they crash.

But they're not intended to do so.

On the other hand, guns can and do kills lots of people, and they're intended to do so.

Another difference between guns and planes?  Planes were grounded after 9/11.

When a GOPer describes joe Biden as be "not helpful", he means "not joining us in dancing on the graves of the victims of gun violence"

From The Hill -

Toomey says Biden not ‘helpful’ amid negotiations on gun legislation

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said on Sunday that President Biden has not been “helpful” amid congressional negotiations on gun reform in the wake of a string mass shootings in the U.S. 

“I think the president might have been a president who would reach across the aisle try to bring people together,” Toomey told moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“But he’s chosen not to take that approach,” Toomey added. “Since day one, he has sided with the far left of his party and really not reached out to Republicans.”

Is any place safe from gun nuts?

In recent days, there have been mass shootings in a school, supermarket, strip mall, hospital, church, and even a street.

And while certain people object to anything that even hints of gun control, one place that was safe from guns was the NRA convention when Cheeto was speaking.

Because guns were banned there.

Certain people think that sacrificing innocent lives on the altar of fear and greed is a good thing.

It's not.

60 Minutes explores the AR15, the weapon preferred by mass killers

From CBS News -

What makes the AR-15 style rifle the weapon of choice for mass shooters?

The mass murder last week at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has something in common with America's deadliest massacres - the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Variations of the AR-15 were used in this month's massacre at a Buffalo supermarket; at a Texas Walmart in 2019; a Florida high school in 2018; a Texas church and a Las Vegas concert in 2017; and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The AR-15 style weapon is the most popular rifle in America with well over 11 million. And they are rarely used in crime. But, the AR-15 is the weapon of choice of the worst mass murderers. AR-15 ammunition travels up to three times the speed of sound. And as we first showed you in 2018, we're going to slow that down - so you can see why the AR-15's high velocity ammo is the fear of every american emergency room.

Mass shootings were once so shocking they were impossible to forget. Now they've become so frequent it's hard to remember them all. In October 2018, at a Pittsburgh synagogue, eleven were killed, six wounded.

[snip]

With the AR-15, it's not just the speed of the bullet, but also how quickly hundreds of bullets can be fired. The AR-15 is not a fully automatic machine gun. It fires only one round with each pull of the trigger. But in Las Vegas, it sounded like a machine gun.

A special add-on device called a bump stock allowed the killer to pull the trigger rapidly enough to kill 58 and wound 489. In other mass killings the AR-15 was fired without a bump stock, but even then, it can fire about 60 rounds a minute. Ammunition magazines that hold up to 100 rounds can be changed in about five seconds.

The used many words to answer their own question when I could've answered the same question with far fewer words -

The AR15 gives mass murderers the ability to kill lots of people very quickly.

Uvalde shooting: The GOP gameplan of whataboutism, misdirection, and distraction is in full force. And if those don't work, run away

First, the names of the victims, lest we forget they were real people with real families and friends mourning them, from KABC (Los Angeles) -

Nevaeh Bravo

Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares

Makenna Lee Elrod

Jose Flores

Eliahna Garcia

Irma Garcia, teacher

Uziyah Garcia

Amerie jo Garza

Xavier Lopez

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos

Tess Mata

Maranda Mathis

Eva Mireles, teacher

Alithia Ramirez

Annabell Rodriguez

Maite Rodriguez

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio

Layla Salazar

Jailah Nicole Silguero

Eliahana Cruz Torres

Rojelio Torres

We saw most of the R plan on full display in Arizona.

From Athena Ankrah at KJZZ -

Tensions high at Arizona Senate during Texas school shooting debate

Tensions were high on the Arizona Senate floor Wednesday as lawmakers debated the root causes of this week’s shooting at an elementary school in Texas.

Democratic leader Rebecca Rios told fellow legislators that the lives of 19 children and two teachers could have been saved with stricter gun control laws.

The video of the full Senate floor session is here; when I make a time reference, it's based on that video.

Rios' comments begin at around the 37:00 mark, and they're far more eloquent, and heart-rending, than anything I could have said.  I recommend watching them in their entirety.

After her, R Sens. Rick Gray, Kelly Townsend, and Sonny Borrelli spoke.  More may have done so, but three was all I could take before I wanted to throw something at my computer.  Since I can't afford a new computer, I chose to view something else. :)

Even after just those three though, it was clear that the GOP is going to recite its favored talking points.

"Chicago!" was one of them, as was citing California.

Also a favorite? Lack of religion.  

Of course, they didn't cite the mass shootings in churches (except to defend their "more guns" position), including one where the shooter prayed with his future victims.  The last time I checked, there's a LOT of religion in churches.

Rick Gray posited that the American state religion is "secularism", basically blaming the separation of church and state for the killings in schools.

Kelly Townsend started speaking at around the 58:20 mark, and she hit all of the high talking points, and added one of her own -

She blamed abortion, gender identity, gun free zones, and lack of religion for the shooting.

On the other hand, she did switch it up - at the 59:15 mark, she compared shootings in the U.S. to stabbings in England.

I just *love* it when they Rs do that - that stuff is so easy to look up.

From the U.S. CDC -

 

From the U.K. Office of National Statistics

[begin sarcasm] Yup.  The over 45K gun deaths in the U.S. is very comparable to the fewer than 230 knife homicides in the U.K over the same period. {/end sarcasm]

In the end, Townsend fell back upon the old GOP trope of "we need to arm our schools." (1.00:02 mark)

At the 1.03:47 mark, an outraged Democrat (of course), Sen. Christine Marsh pointed out, "Are you kidding?!?...The members across the aisle do not trust teachers to even teach content and now you're suggesting you do trust them though to carry guns to school?"

And Republican Sonny Borelli wasn't subtle in his quest to blame-shift.  He actually yelled "Where are the parents?!?  Unwedded mothers, deadbeat dads - the shame is on their forehead!"

Still, the most outrageous comment may have been uttered by Rick Gray at 49:47, early in the discussion.

There were 21 bodies in a school, 21 dinner tables with an empty chair there, but he was offended by a tweet from a reporter, Steve Irvin, since retired but then still with ABC15 in Phoenix.

I think this is the tweet that so ruffled Gray's feathers -

If it will help Gray, I'll send some thoughts and prayers his way.

Oh and as for the "run away" part.  Ted Cruz of Texas has that covered.

From NPR -

Ted Cruz walks away from a reporter who asked why the U.S. has so many mass shootings

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, walked off on a British journalist after he was pressed about reforming gun laws, and asked why mass shootings happen so frequently in America.

The exchange happened two days after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, making it the second-deadliest mass shooting at an elementary, middle or high school in U.S. history. Cruz was attending a vigil for the victims.

Uvalde shooting - gotta love shameless hypocrisy...except when people are dying over it

By now, I expect that most people have heard about the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (21 dead, 19 students, 2 teachers).

From KABC in Los Angeles -

19 children, 2 teachers killed in elementary school shooting; Beto O'Rourke confronts TX gov

At least 19 children and two teachers are dead after a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety -- an incident that President Joe Biden decried as "carnage" in a call for lawmakers "to act."

The tragedy in Uvalde, about 90 minutes west of San Antonio, comes just days after another deadly mass shooting in Buffalo, New York and amid a rapid rise in active shooter incidents in the country

.

This, of course, has brought the "we need more guns" crowd out.

From the Texas Tribune -

Top Texas Republicans resist gun control and push for more armed teachers and police at schools in wake of Uvalde shooting

In the hours after a gunman killed more than 20 people at a South Texas elementary school Tuesday, the state’s top Republicans sought to immediately squelch the possibility of gun control measures in the wake of yet another mass shooting.

As the death toll mounted from the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde and President Joe Biden vowed to push for stricter gun laws, Texas Republicans made it clear that any kind of gun restriction in response to the tragedy was off the table.

“Inevitably when there’s a murder of this kind, you see politicians try to politicize it, you see Democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “That doesn’t work. It’s not effective. It doesn’t prevent crime.”

In an appearance on the far-right television network Newsmax, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly dismissed the notion of enacting restrictions on firearms — reasoning that shooters wouldn’t follow the law anyway.

“I’d much rather have law-abiding citizens armed and trained so that they can respond when something like this happens because it’s not going to be the last time,” Paxton said.

[snip]

On Tuesday, Republican officials revived ideas to stop future mass shooters — arming teachers and school administrators, putting more police officers on campus and limiting entryways to school buildings.

“We have to harden these targets so that no one can get in ever except through one entrance,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Tucker Carlson in an appearance on Fox News. “Maybe that would help. Maybe that would stop someone.”

Relax.  The ignorance, the hate, isn't limited to Texas pols.

From Business Insider -

GOP Rep. Paul Gosar spread a baseless transphobic rumor that the Uvalde school-shooting suspect was a 'transsexual leftist illegal alien'

Following Tuesday's mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, spread a false and transphobic claim that the suspected shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien."

Gosar tweeted the claim even though authorities had already identified the shooter as an 18-year-old male resident of Uvalde, where the shooting occurred.

As of Tuesday evening, the GOP representative had not commented on his tweet, which was deleted about two hours after being published.

Know who disagrees with the "more guns" mantra (admittedly, under a very specific circumstance)?  

The NRA, the chief purveyors of fear for profit in America.

From NPR -

Guns are banned during Trump's upcoming speech at the NRA conference

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the National Rifle Association's Annual Leadership Forum on Friday. But audience members at the group's annual meeting, being held this year in Houston, won't be able to carry guns during his address.

The conference is going ahead in the shadow of Tuesday's mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that killed at least 21 people — including 19 students.

[snip]

This isn't the first time firearms have been off-limits during a part of the gun group's annual convention. In 2018 a similar prohibition was put in place during a speech by then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Wouldn't Cheeto be safer if everyone present had a gun?  At least he would be, if one believed the rationalizations of the apologists for mass violence in America.

Anyway, I have a potential remedy to offer (of course :) ), one that doesn't involve more gun control or even restrictions on the behavior of gun owners.  No running afoul of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The NRA and other gun industry lackeys will whine about it, but so what?  There would be no government laws or restrictions created, so no Constitutional issues, as far as I can see.

Change the rules of criminal court so that someone can viably mount a "self defense" defense when that someone kills someone else who possesses a concealed or unholstered small firearm.

In a worn holster would not qualify as "concealed".

However, a gun that's under a shirt or jacket, even a little bit, even if it's in a holster, would qualify as concealed.

And long guns (think: rifles or shotguns) would always be considered to be "on display" even when covered by cloth.

This wouldn't apply in cases where the gun is in a private residence where the primary resident has declared that guns are welcome there, in a private commercial establishment whose primary purpose is the non-lethal use of such weapons for the purpose becoming more skilled (think: gun ranges), or when disassembled and in a motor vehicle to be transported.  Having said that, solely having an ammunition clip separate from the gun would NOT count as "disassembled" - a round could still be in the chamber, and all guns are presumed to be loaded until proven otherwise.  As such, the fact that a gun is unloaded would not obviate a self-defense argument.

To keep this from being abused, there would be three caveats (which the non-cynical part of me is a little surprised aren't already in place for ALL use-of-force situations; the cynical part of me is not so surprised).

1. Don't lie about it.

2, Don't be wrong about it.

3. Don't create the reason/situation that causes one to be in fear of one's life.  Simply being in public wouldn't be considered to be creating the reason/situation.

Do I believe this is a good idea?

No.

Do I believe it's better than the status quo?

Yes.

Of course, I believe that the status quo comes in three stages:

Stage 1 -  A gun nut has a bad hair day.

Stage 2 - That person shoots a lot of people.

Stage 3 - The NRA and its water carriers blame the victims.

Under this proposal, people that want to own a gun could still do so.

I'm not a bookie, but if I was, I'd set the over/under at five.

Five, as in the number of times that this defense would be used before even gun nuts would start paying attention.