Like me, I'm guessing a lot of you don't keep a gun in the house because you know that guns don't make you safer. But what about your neighbor?

A 33-year-old Beaverton man was arrested Monday night after he discharged his gun and sent a bullet through his home and into his neighbor's residence, according to the Beaverton Police Department.

I have been advised in the past that if I don't want to carry a gun or keep a gun in my house I should just make that choice and then shut the fuck up about it. Because, I'm told, it's none of my business whether other people choose to exercise their Second Amendment right.

But of course, it is my business. I don't want to live in some mythical Dodge City, filled with Starbucks-swilling gunslingers (the real Dodge City enforced strict gun control within city limits). And I sure don't want to worry about some idiot neighbor accidentally firing a round into my house. I wouldn't just feel much safer if fewer people were armed, statistically I would be much safer. And so would you.

Another martyr to our freedom:

A 2-year-old boy in Asheboro, N.C. was shot Saturday after locating an unsecured gun in his family's home, the Courier-Tribune reported.

The boy reportedly found the gun in his parents' bedroom and put it in his mouth.

Either the US has the most suicidal toddlers in the world, or something else.

It happened on Friday night in New York, and now the police are calling it an apparent hate crime:

The police say that Elliot Morales, 33, trailed and taunted two men, yelling antigay slurs and asking one of them, “You want to die tonight?”

The police say it was the other man, Mark Carson, 32, who died after Mr. Morales fired a single bullet from a revolver.

On Sunday, the police filed murder and weapons charges against Mr. Morales, and several lesbian and gay groups made plans for a march on Monday to the scene of the shooting.

According to The New York Times, Morales's sister says "he was under the influence" on Friday. According to police, in addition to the revolver, a Serbian-made assault weapon was found in the home Morales had been staying in.

Saying it like it is...

On Sunday, shots were fired into a crowd during a parade in the New Orleans 7th ward. Police said they saw three suspects running from the scene.

This is the largest mass shooting in the United States where the shooters were still at large after the crime was committed. Think about that for a minute. From Columbine to Virginia Tech to Fort Hill to Aurora, all the shooters were either killed or apprehended on site. But the person or people responsible for shooting 19 Americans are still free.

So why am I allowed to go outside? Where's the city quarantine or FBI and Homeland Security presence for this act of "terrorism"?

Because this is an act of domestic terrorism right? Just because the alleged shooter was wearing a white tee and jeans does that suddenly make the shooting a gang-related affair? And we all know how irrelevant gang-related shootings are in America. The Mother's Day shooting is so irrelevant that politicians haven't even bothered to mention it to further their anti-gun agendas. If the shootings aren't even important enough for politicians to spin, then it's truly reached a black hole of irrelevance.

...wasn't an enthusiast for long:

Witnesses tell police a Federal Heights woman was killed when the new assault rifle she was showing to friends accidentally fired on Tuesday night. Witnesses and the husband told police the group had been drinking in the garage of the couple's home at 10024 Elliot St. when 22-year-old Anastasia Adair, a new gun enthusiast, went upstairs to a bedroom to get her recently purchased assault rifle at about 10:40 p.m. Anastasia was walking back down the stairs into the garage when she reached out to hand the rifle to her husband, Shane Adair, who was below her on the stairs. The gun fired, striking her in the head.

Via TPM.

The gun nut show...

At this point one just wants to...

At least nineteen people in New Orleans, including two children, were injured on Sunday when multiple gunmen opened fire on a Mother’s Day parade, police said.

A 10-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl were grazed by bullets but are in good condition, New Orleans Police spokesman Garry Flot said in a statement. A woman and a man were in surgery Sunday evening, but there were no fatalities and most wounds were not life threatening, police said. According to police, most victims were grazed by bullets.

And any parent will tell you that there's no tyrant like a five-year-old tyrant.

A 5-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the head in his Denton home Saturday morning, police say. The boy and an 8-year-old boy were playing alone in a bedroom when the older boy shot the other child with a .22 caliber rifle, according to police. Denton police responded to the home in the 2700 block of Stockton Street at about 11:40 a.m.

Just as our founding fathers intended:

CAMDEN - May 10, 2013 (WPVI) — Investigators say a 12-year-old child was shot in the face by an 11-year-old boy in Camden on Friday morning.

God bless America!

Think Progress:

The National Rifle Association (NRA)’s overtures to children have come under fire after its annual conference last week, which advertised weapons for children and advocated storing firearms in kids’ rooms just on the heels of the fatal shooting of a two year old by her five year old brother. A ThinkProgress review of the NRA children’s magazine, InSights, found another piece of disturbing advice: kids should build target ranges inside their homes.

Build a target range in your home today, kid. Because at some point you're going to run out of siblings.

Zay Smith:

News Headline: “NRA speaker’s advice: Keep a gun in your child’s room.”
News Headline: “Deputies find meth lab in child’s room.”

No, no, no.
The guns go in the child’s room.
The meth lab goes in the kitchen.
Doesn’t anyone know how to parent anymore?

QT, Chicago reporter Zay Smith's short items column, is a joy to read. You can read it here.

Another day, another dead child.

. . . because he's always funny and smart at the same time.

And some video of what can happen when a gun nut gets pulled over for blowing a stop sign.

Watch for mom pointing a gun at her son's head. Guns never accidentally discharge, right? (Via Sullivan.)

God bless America!

AUBURN, Wash. — A 9-year-old Auburn girl is recovering in a Seattle hospital after her 7-year-old brother accidentally shot her in the leg Wednesday night.

Auburn police say the kids were inside their home, located in the 4600 block of Auburn Way South, when the brother grabbed a .22 caliber rifle from another brother's closet.

[Slog tipper Baby Blue]

Anchorage Daily News:

JUNEAU, ALASKA — A 5-year-old girl was shot and killed by her 8-year-old brother in Western Alaska, Alaska State Troopers said Tuesday.

The siblings were at their Mountain Village home alone when the shooting occurred Monday.

The boy was home by himself when his sister arrived, and the shooting happened as the boy was playing with a Ruger 10/22 rifle that he had used to go hunting the previous day, troopers said.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters declined to say whether the incident appeared accidental or intentional.

"It is too soon to determine whether charges are warranted as the investigation is ongoing..."

Carole Triem is the tipster.

SPD Blotter:

Gunfire erupted this evening in Seattle’s Central District, leaving two men with serious injuries. Just shortly before 7:00 p.m. multiple calls came into 9-1-1 reporting shots fired in the area of 400 MLK Jr. Wy.
Officers arrived and found two adult male victims. One victim had a gunshot wound to the buttocks and the other victim sustained a gunshot would to the scapula. Seattle Fire responded and transported both men to Harborview Medical Center.

First: Hooray!

Second: To be totally straight, the group of religious leaders and law enforcement isn't officially saying that they're running an initiative to require background checks—but they may as well say it. Today they sent a press release that says on Monday they will "will announce plans to pursue background checks in Washington State" through "both legislative efforts, and as a potential ballot initiative." And since legislative efforts have failed, well, that leaves a ballot initiative. I posted their press release after the jump. So hooray!

Third: The Democrats in Olympia are worthless on gun safety. They never made an assault-weapons ban a priority in their own caucuses—never even made it a priority among themselves!!—because they're afraid of the NRA. Because they can wait for the public to spend the money, do the work, and the pass laws when the legislature is too timid to even try, even though 87 percent of Washington State voters support background checks and 66 percent support banning semi-automatic assault weapons. Hey, House Speaker Chopp and Senator Democratic leader Ed Murray, thanks for whatever it is you did down there this year!

Fourth: This will pass.

Continue reading »

Tragedies like this are so routine, it almost isn't newsworthy.

A grandmother, a young couple and their two small children, 1 and 5, were found slain in a home in the small town of Manchester, about 50 miles southwest of Springfield, according to police and relatives.

The suspected gunman died hours later after he exchanged gunfire with police during a chase, officials said. Police identified him as Rick Odell Smith, 43, who lived in Roodhouse about five miles from Manchester.

The slain family members were identified by relatives as: Joanne Sinclair, 65, her granddaughter Brittany Luark, 22, her boyfriend Roy Ralston, Nolan Ralston, 5, and Brantley Ralston, 1.

Another child, Kassidy Ralston, 6, was in serious condition, according to Brad Teeter, Sinclair's son-in-law.

... State police would not comment on a possible motive. But a neighbor said Smith had been going through a custody battle with Sinclair's daughter over their 4-year-old child.

So now it looks like yet another case of domestic violence escalated to mass murder through the brutal efficiency of a gun. Too bad there is nothing we can possibly do about this other than shrug our shoulders and accept it as the price of our freedom.

Bear that in mind while you read this from the April newsletter of the Republican Party of Benton County:

We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us [know] that we are serious. The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives. It seems that we are unable to muster that belief in any of our representatives on a state or federal level, but we have to have something, something costly, something that they will fear that we will use if they step out of line.

So... according to the Republican Party in Benton County, Arkansas... supporters of background checks should shoot the U.S. senators who blocked background checks. Those senators have stopped responding as representatives—they're blocking the clear will of the overwhelming majority of American people. And if we don't shoot those U.S. senators who blocked background checks, well, then the 2nd Amendment means nothing! So to protect the 2nd Amendment those of us who don't support the 2nd Amendment are going to have to shoot those U.S. senators who do support the 2nd Amendment. It makes perfect sense. (Via Political Wire.)

Jesus Christ. Two people were shot in the legs, reports Denver Post.

Posted by news intern Ben Steiner

Nate Bell, a Republican state representative from Arkansas, tweeted this insightful message this morning:

I would like to apologize to the people of Boston & Massachusetts for the poor timing of my tweet earlier this morning. As a staunch and unwavering supporter of the individual right to self defense, I expressed my point of view without thinking of its effect on those still in time of crisis. In hindsight, given the ongoing tragedy that is still unfolding, I regret the poor choice of timing. Please know that my thoughts and prayers were with the people of Boston overnight and will continue as they recover from this tragedy.

UPDATE: Never mind. Such unfounded speculation I should leave to CNN and the NY Post, especially after being awake 20+ hours, working two jobs, and having a few empty-stomach beers (that's my excuse. . . .)

When the word broke about the MIT shooting, my first thought was "I bet the Marathon bombers are from there. . . "

My second thought was: "Bullshit, it won't be so pat."

Now that, as Paul says above, media are saying that one of the Marathon Bomber suspects is in custody and that's what the firefights and bloodshed in Watertown are about, I think:

Remember Leopold and Loeb? I wonder if the Marathon bombers were high-IQ college kids out to pull off a perfect crime.