Today's @NRA #FAIL

When will they ever learn? Here's one more to file in the "Totally Ironic Department": The NRA cares about safety! And even better, "NRA News" commentator Billy Johnson endorses socialism!

Oh, yes. That's right. "Everyone gets a gun."



Billy Johnson thinks more guns and "proper gun education" can magically solve all our problems and make our world a safer place. What could possibly go wrong? Who could ever imagine...

Oh, wait. Did we just hear something from Sparks Middle School?



"More guns" in the hands of minors didn't save Michael Landsberry. Actually, the opposite occurred. And 2 other kids were badly injured last October. Oh yes, and the shooter skillfully demonstrated his "gun education" by committing suicide after killing Landsberry and wounding his 2 other victims.

Look, we get it. The NRA will do and/or say anything to sell more firearms and thereby boost its membership rolls. That doesn't mean the NRA is correct. After all, we've seen what happens when "heat packing" comes to school.

Perhaps instead of setting up the framework for the next Troutdale, Sparks, or Newtown, can't we consider taking action to prevent more of these horrific tragedies? Perhaps instead of creating an environment of even more fear and bloodshed, can't we ensure our schools actually provide a safe and welcoming environment where our kids can focus on learning?

This Is @Everytown.

We've heard the talking heads argue over it. We've seen the polling on it. We've survived all the political spin of it. And that's because we know the real facts about it.

And of course, there's something else to keep in mind. While many politicians and media pundits treat gun violence like just another political football, it's very real to those who have personally experienced its very real carnage. For them, gun violence isn't theoretical. It isn't esoteric. It's quite real, and they're reminded of this painful reality every day.





Erica Lafferty is one of these people. She lost her mother last December. Her mother was a principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. She lost her life that fateful day, but Erica won't let her mother's legacy be forgotten. And she doesn't want others to meet the same fate her mother did.

This is why she showed up at the Grant Sawyer State Building yesterday. Is isn't just about Newtown. This happens at Everytown.



Newtown wasn't the last school shooting, far from it. Right here in Nevada, shots were fired at Sparks Middle School. And 8th grade math teacher Michael Landsberry lost his life that day. The Sparks Middle School Shooting was a horrific reminder that Sparks is @Everytown.

Of course, Las Vegas is also Everytown. On the same day Michael Landsberry lost his life while trying to protect others at Sparks Middle School, Kenneth Brown lost his life while trying to protect others at Ballys Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Also on the same day, two people were shot dead at an apartment complex in East Las Vegas.

This is why Teresa Crawford became a Champion of Change. And this is why showed up at Grant Sawyer yesterday. Far too many people here in Nevada suffered due to gun violence. This doesn't just happen "somewhere else". This happens in Everytown.



This is Everytown. #WeAreEverytown. Throughout Nevada, we've seen people lose their lives to senseless gun violence. But whenever we've had a chance to change this sorrowful reality, all we hear are the same old tired excuses.

We've heard so many speeches from politicians and spin from "industry" promoters over the years that we lost count about a year ago. No matter what Rep. Joe Heck (R-NRA) has said about theoretical legislation and philosophy of process, there's a real bill waiting for his cosponsorship. No matter what Senator Dean Heller (R) says about "legislation he supported recently", he can't hide his filibuster of basic background checks legislation. And no matter what Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NRA) says about theoretical "threats to liberty", he can't spin away the fact that he was what stood in the way of Nevada taking even modest action on gun violence prevention when Congress wouldn't act on federal legislation.

No matter what they and other gun lobby backed politicians say about theories and concepts and philosophy, they can't change reality. Every town has had to grapple with gun violence. Every town knows someone who's lost loved ones to gun violence. And every town deserves a better future without worrying about becoming another headline grabbing armed battlefield.

This is @Everytown. And this is why we can't ignore the reality of gun violence.

The Price of Inaction

Over the weekend, the nation commemorated a tragic anniversary. It's now been a year since the Newtown Massacre. Communities across the nation came together to mark the saddening anniversary, and to pledge to continue working for a better future for our children.

There was even a vigil in Southern Nevada. It was a chance for the local community to reflect on what's happened in the past year.

Licensed family therapist and retired teacher Linda Cavazos says she sees more fear and generalized anxiety disorder in younger children. Some of them are fearful of violence in their schools, she says, so parents need to talk to their kids often to assess their physical and emotional needs.

"The danger signals are there. They're calling out for help, but sometimes people stick heads in the sand," Cavazos said. She added that parents know their kids best and should encourage them to seek mental health treatment if necessary.

"I find if you do not answer their questions (about violence in schools), they (the children) become more fearful because they don't know what's going on. Explain it to them as simply as you can," said Cavazos.

Imagine hearing gunshots at your school. Wouldn't that be frightening? It certainly was for the students at Sandy Hook Elementary School... And for the students at Sparks Middle School.

Keep in mind that gun violence is not some faraway concern. It regularly occurs here, too. It happened in Sparks. It's happened several times this year on the Las Vegas Strip. And it continues to endanger communities across this state.

Yet when Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) had the opportunity to do something to protect Nevada's kids, he just ran away. And when Rep. Joe Heck (R-NRA) had the opportunity to take steps to keep dangerous weapons away from dangerous criminals, he made excuses. And when the Nevada Legislature passed S 221 in an attempt to compensate somewhat for Congress' failure to pass the most basic gun safety measures, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NRA) vetoed it and attempted to cover it up with legalese mumbo jumbo. They all had the chance to do something, but they chose to do nothing instead.

And now, we're all paying the price of inaction. And we all must relive the memories of horrific incidents of gun violence. And we all must continue to bury those who passed "before their time". The price of inaction is turning out to be quite steep.

Match the Words With Action

It seems to be the never ending tragedy. Every day, seven children die from gun violence. That's why the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Demand Action campaign and local OFA volunteers paid a visit to Senator Dean Heller's Southern Nevada office in the Southwest Vegas Valley.





In April, Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) actually filibustered rather modest gun safety legislation. The background checks provision was actually designed by two Senators with NRA "A" ratings! Yet despite that and the overwhelming support among Nevadans for expanding background checks for gun purchases, he nonetheless took the gun lobby's bait.

Yet since then, Senator Heller has occasionally spun his filibustering of even the most modest gun safety reform as "supporting expanded background checks". Yep, he's actually tried to spin away his own record. And he seems to be inspiring Rep. Joe Heck's take on gun safety.

This is why two local gun owners asked Senator Heller to finally match his words with action. Ron Nelsen and Bob Cavazos both have experience with guns. And they both explained how rights come with responsibilities.



Tyron Boldon also spoke. He wanted to relay to Senator Heller the same message he gave to Rep. Heck last month. He lost his brother to a horrific outburst of gun violence on the Las Vegas Strip. How many more Nevadans must lose loved ones to such senseless brutality?



Newtown, Connecticut, parent Neil Heflin also spoke up today. He lost his son, Jesse, in the Sandy Hook Massacre. He knows all too well what happens when dangerous weapons fall into the wrong hands. That's why he urged Senator Heller to match his words with action on gun safety.



After the speeches outside, everyone went inside to deliver constituent petitions to Senator Heller. Staff would not let them in the office. How nice (not).







This issue may not always be in the headlines, but it's far from over. As long as people keep dying from senseless gun violence, this issue will still be awaiting actual action from Congress. When will Senator Heller be ready to match his words with action?

Craven Veto

Ever since the 77th session of the Nevada Legislature came to an end earlier this month, we've been monitoring the final decision on SB 221. State Senator Justin Jones' (D-Enterprise) bill to expand background checks for gun purchases made online and at shadowy gun shows. Just moments ago, Senator Jones tweeted this.

Jones4Nevada: Disappointed with Gov. @BrianSandoval's veto of common sense legislation to keep guns out of hands of felons & mentally ill. #nvleg #SB221

Perhaps it was inevitable. Perhaps he's just unable (and/or unwilling) to get it. Whatever the case, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NRA) just vetoed SB 221. Oh, and he couldn't have picked a better time to do so.

mikeconlow: Desperate for attention, #NV Gov Sandoval vetoes background checks on eve of Sandy Hook 6 mo anniv. Stay classy, Gov #nvleg #NoMoreNames

Tomorrow will be the six month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. 26 people died that day. And just last Friday, we saw a college massacre unfold in Santa Monica, California. And apparently, Governor Sandoval feels it's important to continue to allow dangerous criminals easy access to dangerous weapons so they can commit more massacres.

Sorry, but I couldn't candy coat this. That's all this comes to. And we can thank Governor Sandoval and his craven veto of SB 221 for that.

The Disconnect

This can be very confusing. Sometimes, it seems like a deal is near on gun safety reform. Even former REPUBLICAN National Committee Chair Michael Steele said this morning on MSNBC that he doesn't understand why a few gun owners (prodded by the NRA) fear background checks and registration.



And on the US Senate floor yesterday, US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) vowed to press on for floor votes on a wide array of gun safety measures. And not only did Reid demand a floor vote on his own bill, but he even went as far to suggest that the Assault Weapons Ban deserves a floor vote as well (as an amendment). Perhaps all the G-O-TEA filibuster threats truly are getting to him. And unfortunately for Senate Republicans, it's happening the opposite effect of what they had desired. (No really, think about it.)



Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) had been planning to effectively give the NRA veto authority over any and all gun safety legislation. And he's willing to do so because he's currying the gun lobby's favor just in time for his own reelection campaign in 2014.

“Sen. McConnell opposes the Reid bill,” the minority leader’s spokesman, Don Stewart, told TPM. “While nobody knows yet what Sen. Reid’s plan is for the gun bill, if he chooses to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the Reid bill, Sen. McConnell will oppose cloture on proceeding to that bill.”

In other words, if a bipartisan deal is struck, McConnell may very well forgo the filibuster and possibly even vote for the final version. But his threat is weighty because he’s an extraordinarily clever strategist and has a proven track record of unifying Senate Republicans behind his will. And so his filibuster threat will likely force Democrats to win his approval for any passable bill.

Crucially, McConnell is up for reelection next year in bright-red Kentucky, and is carefully watching his right flank. That means he won’t dare get on the NRA’s bad side, but he could also be on the hook if any wayward Republicans decide to buck the party line and join Democrats on a bill the powerful gun industry lobby dislikes. In other words, McConnell seems to have taken it upon himself to make sure any new gun legislation will be NRA-compliant.

On that score, lawmakers have an escape hatch to say they support background checks without actually doing anything doing anything to make it harder for people to avoid them when buying a firearm at gun shows or in private sales. The NRA supports enhancing mental health reporting in existing background check systems, a policy that some pro-gun senators back and point to as evidence that they support background checks

And here's the most depressing story from yesterday. While the Senate was debating whether to even allow for votes on gun violence prevention bills, a 4 year old child shot a 6 year old child in New Jersey. No really, that happened.

Authorities are deciding whether to charge anyone after police say a 6-year-old was shot in the head by a 4-year-old in New Jersey.

The older boy is in serious condition.

Authorities are still investigating how the younger child obtained the .22-caliber rifle from his family’s Toms River home Monday night.

Police Chief Michael Mastronardy says the children were outside the 4-year-old’s home when the boy went inside, got the rifle and shot the 6-year-old about 15 yards away. It’s not clear if the 4-year-old pulled the trigger or if the rifle accidentally discharged.

The parents of the 4-year-old were home at the time.

Yes, this actually happened while Congress was wrestling over gun violence yesterday. What also happened yesterday was this.

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In context, [President Obama] was noting the overwhelming public support for support universal background checks -- "How often do 90 percent of Americans agree on anything?" Obama said to laughter -- and the fact that public opinion on the issue crosses partisan boundaries. Even large majorities of gun owners and NRA households agree with the American mainstream. [...]

"If our democracy is working the way it's supposed to..." is a phrase that stuck with me, largely because it seems our democracy is not working the way it's supposed to.

Indeed, as of yesterday, 15 Republican senators said they're prepared to prevent the Senate from even debating any bill that changes any gun law in any way. Forget voting for or against efforts to prevent gun deaths, the GOP lawmakers are prepared to ignore the overwhelming will of the American mainstream and kill popular legislation in its infancy.

In fairness, I should note that this is not a universal attitude among congressional Republicans, and just this morning, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said pending legislation "deserves a vote, up-or-down." Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) added that his party's filibuster threats are "wrong."

But the larger trend is hard to miss. As Ezra Klein explained this morning, "Gun control has emerged as an unusually clarifying test case for how Congress really works. On one side of the ledger is most everything that we think moves Congress: Public opinion, a national tragedy, the president's bully pulpit, elite opinion. On the other side is everything we wish didn't move Congress: a powerful but increasingly controversial interest group and, arguably, the minority's natural incentive to foil the majority's agenda. Guess which side is winning?"

I suspect many Americans have a rudimentary Schoolhouse-Rock-style understanding of how a bill becomes a law, and may expect something like background checks to pass, given the larger circumstances. But, once again, our democracy isn't working the way it's supposed to.

That's what's perhaps most frustrating about what's happening in Congress now. While there's broad consensus among the American people on gun safety reform, a rigid minority refuses to even allow votes on it. And while calls for action continue from constituents, some Senators are clearly ignoring their constituents. (Does Senator Dean Heller [R] really want to go there?)


Something must change.

"Second Amendment Remedies"... Revisited

I know it may seem like such a long time ago, but it's important to remember what happened here in Nevada during the 2010 Election. During that year's US Senate campaign, Sharron Angle actually said this.



And just seven months later, an armed madman attempted to assassinate then Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona). Jared Loughner succeeded in shooting her and eighteen other people, and six of them were killed. And Loughner used a Glock pistol with a high-capacity magazine.

Fast forward to December 2012. In the wake of the horrific Newtown elementary school massacre in Connecticut, we saw renewed demand for gun safety reform. And despite some DC pundits' spin to the contrary, the solid majority of Americans are still demanding action on gun violence today.

And now, all of a sudden, the violent rhetoric and actions that plagued the country in 2010 and boiled over horrifically in Arizona in January 2011 have returned in a major way. Some even wonder if the violent rhetoric and actions really waned for very long in 2011. Take into consideration this...

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And this...

A sheriff known for cracking down on the drug trade in southern West Virginia’s coalfields was fatally shot Wednesday in the spot where he usually parked his car for lunch, a state official said, and a suspect was in custody.

State Police told Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin that Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum died of his wounds, said his chief of staff Rob Alsop. The suspect, who was also shot, was taken to a hospital in Logan, Alsop said.

The courthouse was evacuated, streets into the city were blocked off and officers held white sheets around the crime scene, Crum’s body further shielded by two vehicles.

The shooting occurred within a block of the county courthouse, said Office of Emergency Services head dispatcher Willis Spence. Officials planned a news conference for 6 p.m. in the county in the southwest corner of West Virginia, on the border with Kentucky.

And this.

“Yesterday, several death threats were phoned into my New York office in response to news reports about a bill I authored requiring gun owners to have insurance,” the congresswoman said in a statement Wednesday morning. “The calls were fielded by young interns, who were understandably shaken by this experience.” [...]

“They said they were going to kill me,” she told the [New York Daily News]. [...]

In her statement, Maloney said she’s proud of her work to stem gun violence and strongly supports President Obama’s gun control initiatives. “100,000 Americans are injured by guns every year,” she said. “Carrying insurance is the responsible thing to do.”

“Given all the acts of gun violence we have seen in the past two years, the shootings in Aurora and Newtown, the attack on my friend and colleague Gabby Gifford (sic), I take the threat of more gun violence very seriously,” the congresswoman continued. “But it is not something that I will allow to stop me from doing my work.”

Yes, this actually happened this week. Here we go again.

And again, Sharron Angle's words return to haunt us. We're now seeing "Second Amendment Remedies" materialize. Once again, Members of Congress are receiving death threats. And law enforcement leaders are being shot dead. And even schools are again vulnerable.

I'm sure Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) is trying to blame Hollywood for all of this. Yet despite his & the gun lobby's best attempts to spin away all this violence, the fact remains that it's here. So what will we do about it?

Sure, taking hunting rifles away from law abiding citizens won't help. And no one's talking about doing that. The problem, rather, is with extremely violent rhetoric paired up with easy access to dangerous military grade weapons. And especially when those military grade weapons fall into the wrong hands at the wrong time, (even more of) these horrific tragedies happen. And the violent rhetoric that's seeped into our politics in recent years has made this problem even worse.

So when will we do something?

Something's Happening (on Gun Safety.)

On Tuesday, we noted US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nevada) decision not to include the Assault Weapons Ban in what's supposed to be his comprehensive gun safety reform bill. He's actually gotten some blowback on this since Tuesday. Yesterday's news just seemed fo exacerbate this.

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Perhaps the blowback compelled Reid to say this on Twitter just moments ago.

Tonight, I'll start the process of bringing gun violence prevention bill to Senate floor. It will include provisions on background checks.

I will ensure that a ban on assault weapons, limits to high-capacity magazines, and mental health provisions receive votes.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) has been working on a new Assault Weapons Ban since December. And she's not the only one who wants it. So does President Obama. And so do these parents of Newtown massacre victims.

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Don't mistake what's happening now. The tide is finally turning. After enjoying nearly two decades of unchecked power on Capitol Hill, the gun lobby is finally being checked. And not only that, but Members of Congress are now noticing.

Of course, gun safety activists can't get too giddy just yet. After all, they will have to fight to include the Assault Weapons Ban and the high-capacity magazine ban via amendment(s). But at least now, even Senator Reid is recognizing the changing tide of public opinion and new momentum for gun safety reform.


There's clearly more work to be done. Not all of it may get done this year. But at least now, something's happening. And it's smart gun violence prevention legislation for a change.

Yet Another Horrifying Reminder

So it happened again. Yes, sadly, it happened again.

As firefighters made their way to battle the blaze, the police said, a man made his way to a barbershop at the heart of the village and then a carwash, about one mile away, in the neighboring village of Herkimer, killing four people and wounding two others before fleeing and setting off a manhunt that still was unresolved by late afternoon. [...]

"We saw a guy walking around the shop," one woman who was at the gas station told WKTV. She said she saw two people who were shot on the ground.

"Then he took off in a Jeep Wrangler," she said of the gunman, adding, "There were empty rifle shells on the ground."

Greg Beasley, 70, who was near the carwash when the shooting took place, said he heard at least five gunshots around 10 a.m.

"I saw people running out from the one-store building in panic," Mr. Beasley said when reached by phone.

Another day, another mass shooting. This is just so wrong on so many levels.

Just yesterday, a group of citizens from Connecticut rode their bicycles from Newtown to Washington to ask Congress to act on gun violence prevention. One of the riders, Monte Frank, explained to Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC last night why he took part in this.

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Remember, the Newtown massacre happened last December. And since then, we've seen even more gun violence across America. Yes, we've even seen it happen here in Nevada. Just last month, four people died in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip.

Yet despite the growing demand for action and the overwhelming public support for expanded background checks, Congress still can't get its act together on even the most basic plank of gun safety reform. Even with the overwhelming supermajority of gun retailers demanding action to curb illegal gun trafficking, Congress still can't get its act together on that, either. See a pattern here? Isn't it looking awfully disturbing?

How many more of these massacres must occur before Congress takes action? How many more shootings must happen in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Southern California, and elsewhere before Congress takes action on gun violence? How many more innocent people must die?

The Needed Reality Check

It finally happened today. The Assault Weapons Ban finally had its day (of hearings) in the Senate Judiciary Committee. And there was plenty of explosive testimony on this key aspect of gun safety reform.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), the Chair of the Judiciary Committee who has also introduced the new Assault Weapons Ban, oversaw testimony from various experts. One was a doctor who actually treated



Also on hand to testify was Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Chief Edward Flynn. Unfortunately for him, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) tried to derail his testimony by badgering him over prosecutions of people who fail background checks. Nonetheless, Flynn was able to make his point by correcting Graham on what police officers are supposed to do.



Neil Heslin also testified today. He lost his son in Newtown. And he asked a simple question, the same one that we keep asking here.



Basically, today's hearing refuted what Joe Heck asserted during his town hall in Henderson last week. Assault weapons are truly dangerous weapons meant to kill masses of people in a very short amount of time. The kind of "recreation" they were created for is illegal in civilian society (hint: murder).

Heck should know better. And so should Harry Reid & Dean Heller. They need to look beyond the twisted politics of Capitol Hill and notice what's happening here in the real world.

Remember this: The NRA is NOT the victim. Look at the real victims. This is what our Members of Congress must do.

Victims, Guilt, & Guns

A manhunt is now underway for Ammar Harris, the lead suspect for the Las Vegas Strip shooting last week. Another person of interest is also being sought. The search for Harris is now nationwide.



Police believe an altercation at Aria led to the shooting. Yet despite this, there's been media speculation about victim Kenneth Cherry and his personal life. "Oh, he was a pimp! It was all just a pimp war." (Never mind that Cherry was never arrested for any crime, and that he's one of the slain victims in this crime.)

It's not as if this hasn't happened before. Still, it's disturbing to see certain victims of gun violence villainized in some corners of the media and treated like perpetrators. Why go there?

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin near Orlando, Florida. Even though he was the slain victim, some in the media were ready to villainize Trayvon. Why? He was wearing a hoodie!



The NRA pushed hard for Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, the statute that George Zimmerman now uses to justify the murder of Trayvon. The NRA & ALEC then pushed more states to pass similar "Stand Your Ground" law. Even Nevada now has a modified version of it.

For decades, the NRA has (mis)used its juice in Carson City and Washington to weaken gun safety standards. They've essentially bribed lawmakers in the not-so-distant past with campaign contributions and prestigious "A" ratings. Meanwhile, victims of gun violence were all too often marginalized, forgotten... And in some cases, even treated like criminals.

Last night in Illinois, we saw a groundbreaking development. As mentioned above, the NRA has enjoyed immense political clout. But now, that's being called into question as former Illinois state legislator Robin Kelly won the Democratic Primary for the 2nd Congressional District spreading from Chicago's South Side to exurban Kankakee County.

Kelly ran against Debbie Halvorson, herself a former Member of Congress who lost her old seat in 2010. Because she had some name recognition from that and challenging Jesse Jackson, Jr., in this seat before he resigned, she was considered the early frontrunner. But in the wake of Newtown and increased gun violence right in Chicago, this special election to replace Jackson became a referendum on the NRA. And the gun lobby hasn't been used to taking criticism on the campaign trail.

To be sure, this is a heavily Democratic district, and messages that resonated in Illinois' 2nd district may not be equally as effective elsewhere. But that doesn't negate the fact that this was the first race in recent memory in which a major party's candidates felt the need to distance themselves from the NRA. The far-right lobbying group's "A" ratings for some of the candidates practically became "a scarlet letter," forcing some Democrats who'd previously bragged about NRA support to scramble in the other direction.

Even in reliably "blue" districts, that just hasn't happened in recent years. Democrats, at nearly every level, had been led to believe that supporting gun control was a recipe for electoral failure, so they reflexively avoided the issue. This race set out to challenge those assumptions, and the results were unambiguous.

Indeed, Kelly was only too pleased to tout her "F" rating from the organization, which in turn led to support from Bloomberg and progressive groups like the CREDO super PAC. It helped separate her from the pack and positioned her to become a member of Congress in April.

And because of this, Capitol Hill must rethink its relationship with the gun lobby. And in fact, it will have a chance to do so today as the Senate Judiciary Committee finally gives the Assault Weapons Ban a hearing. The gun lobby has attempted to blithely dismiss calls for gun safety reform as "The Connecticut Effect", but that strategy may not be so effective any more.

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We've just seen too many untimely, unnecessary, and uncivilized deaths across the country. From Tucson to Sanford, and from Newtown to Las Vegas, the shootings have piled up. And the gun lobby's excuses are wearing thin.


Driving down Las Vegas Boulevard is not a crime. Wearing a hoodie outside is not a crime. And for goodness sake, going to school is not a crime. But you know what? Murder is. And while protecting criminals' right to murder, it can be just as dangerous and dastardly.

From Newtown to Vegas, a Sober Warning

Early this morning, we found out about the horrific Las Vegas Strip shooting and car crash that left 3 dead and 3 seriously injured. Now, we have a few more details on what happened. And we have shocked tourists up and down The Strip.

Police said a confrontation at a Strip resort spilled onto Las Vegas Boulevard, leading to sporadic gunshots being fired from the Range Rover as the vehicles traveled north. The accident occurred near Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, the site of several major casinos, including Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally's.

"This doesn't happen where we come from, not on this scale," said Mark Thompson, who was visiting from Manchester, England, with his wife. "We get stabbings, and gang violence, but this is like something out of a movie. Like 'Die Hard' or something."

Police were contacting authorities in three neighboring states about the Range Rover Sport with tinted windows and paper dealer plates that fled the scene about 4:30 a.m.

Metro Police Sgt. John Sheahan said the vehicles were seen pulling onto Las Vegas Boulevard near East Harmon Avenue, near City Center, then heading north. Although authorities initially said gunshots were fired from both the SUV and the Maserati, Sheahan clarified that gunfire came only from the Range Rover.

Police said the Maserati hit the taxi cab, which went up in flames, and the driver and passenger were killed. The male driver of the Maserati also died, and his passenger was shot.

"What is the genesis of this, when did this all start? We don't know yet," Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said.

One of the passengers in the Maserati was injured in the shooting and taken to University Medical Center, where he was being interviewed by detectives.

We've especially been seeing many shocked tourists today. They've had a rude awakening of what's actually possible on The Strip.

"This is something we never see in our country, drive-by shootings on the street. This is a completely different world. We're allowed to have guns in Norway, but it's very restrictive. You can't carry guns on the street, and the police don't carry guns. We're not used to this at all."

- Ellen Singh; Oslo, Norway.

•••

"I live near Illinois. You see this kind of thing all the time, and we came here to get away from it. We had a hostess with us who just yesterday had said, 'Oh that kind of thing never happens here.'"

- Selena Pratt; Bettendorf, Iowa. [...]

•••

“This is a little different. These things don’t happen in our country. Nobody carries guns, because it’s quite illegal. But in different countries you see different things. This is a shooting in the street. Does this kind of thing happen all the time? It’s quite — impolite.”

- Jose Antonio Zepeda; Chile.

That's because America has both a high gun ownership rate and a high gun violence rate. Oh, and we also have one of the most permissive sets if gun safety laws (both federally and here in Nevada) in the world. So we can especially understand why foreign tourists would be shocked and horrified by what happened this morning.

Of course, LVCVA is doing its best to downplay this. It doesn't want scared tourists to stay away from Las Vegas. And perhaps this incident alone won't hurt tourism. However, this is not the only recent Strip shooting. And if this level of violence persists, it's hard to see how it doesn't affect Strip tourism. No wonder why LVCVA is trying to downplay this latest outbreak of gun violence.

Mere hours after this latest Las Vegas Strip shooting, Vice President Joe Biden addressed gun safety reform to an audience in Connecticut. Many there are still reeling from the Newtown shootings. And families there and across the country are demanding action from Congress on gun safety.

And Biden particularly had something to say about politicians fearing a "political price to pay" for supporting gun safety reform.

That’s a big change in the conventional wisdom, which has long held that taking on the gun rights lobby is at best risky and at worst suicidal. But Biden’s not the only one saying it — Democrats are gearing up to make support for gun control a key plank in their 2014 platform.

The “standing assumption” today is that “this is kind of the third rail of politics,” Biden said. “That if you take this on, somehow, there will be a severe political price to pay for doing it. Because that’s what’s happened in the past.”

The old rules no longer apply after the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn., Biden said, calling inaction on gun control “unacceptable.”

“What I say to my colleagues … I say to you, if you’re concerned about your political survival, you should be concerned about the survival of our children,” he said. “And guess what? I believe the price to be paid politically will be to those who refuse to act, who refuse to step forward. Because America has changed on this issue.”

Even though Biden was speaking in Connecticut, he could have very well used that as a rebuttal to much of what Joe Heck said on the radio and at his town hall on Tuesday. It could also serve as a pep talk to Senators Harry Reid & Dean Heller as they weigh their options on gun safety legislation pending in the Senate. As many Members of Congress keep dragging their feet on gun safety, we're continuing to see these troubling shootings across the country. And as we've been finding out the hard way, Nevada is not immune to this.

Something must change. We're already paying the price for past inaction. Can Nevada and the nation afford any more?

More #SOTU

7:40 PM: Shorter Marco Rubio: "OBAMA SUCKS!!!"

So that's the Republican response. Oh, that and putting "middle class" in front of policies meant to destroy the middle class. And this is supposed to be "Republicans' rising star". Oh, and he also apparently is OK with violence against women.

7:59 PM: Here's Ed Kilgore on what we just witnessed.

I thought speech clever in how he handled challenge to GOP; very Clintonian in policy offerings (and better than past SOTUs); and pretty good at taking advantage of areas where public opinion pretty much already on his side. Minimum wage increase good example: Republican pols and business leaders hate it, public loves it. [...]

But while Obama’s speech probably won’t move public opinion mountains, and he may have been a mite subtle in calling out the GOP, it was a strong performance that left Republicans looking either clueless (Rubio) or uncomfortable (Boehner). On the big issues, Obama and Democrats were already playing from a stronger hand, and he strengthened it on a pretty broad front tonight.

President Obama's speech clocked in at exactly one hour. And in that hour, he addressed the very issues on the top of most Americans' minds. He evoked the broad consensus among the American people on gun safety, immigration reform, economic justice, climate change, civil rights, and more.

In a funny way, Marco Rubio served as the perfect foil. He just seemed to throw a temper tantrum because Republicans lost last November. And he attacked essentially an artificial straw man of the President. And he used occasionally pretty language to conceal some ugly and unpopular policies, like gutting Medicare and protecting "billionaire bailouts".

Need I say more? Well, I will tomorrow morning.

8:18 PM: Meanwhile in Southern California, an update on Christopher Dorner.

A body was found inside the burned-out cabin Tuesday night where Christopher Jordan Dorner was believed to have kept law enforcement authorities at bay before officers fired tear gas into the structure, a source told The Times.

The body, which was found in the charred rubble of the mountainside cabin, was not positively identified, the source said. The process of determining whether the body is that of the former Los Angeles Police Department officer could take hours or even days, the source said.

As authorities moved into the cabin earlier Tuesday, they heard a single gunshot.

It will likely take days to definitively identify this body, but there are clearly already strong suspicions as to what happened.

Again, it was so jarring to see this story unfold just as President Obama was about to enter Congress. Yet it reinforced what President Obama had to say on gun safety. Dorner may have accumulated his weapons here in Nevada. At the very least, there's evidence suggesting he purchased dangerous accessories like suppressors at Lock N' Load here in Henderson.

However Dorner got his assault weapons, he used them to kill four people and injure three more. The entire nation was reminded again of what happens when dangerous and deadly weapons fall into the wrong hands. And this comes on the heels of the Newtown tragedy where Adam Lanza killed 20 children and 6 adults with an AR-15 assault weapon in December. And yet, the Assault Weapons Ban is "controversial" on Capitol Hill? President Obama clearly wants to change this calculus.

And perhaps tonight can change that. It rests on Congress. And it ultimately rests on the people. What will the people do to make their Members of Congress act on gun violence prevention?

#SOTU Open Thread

5:50 PM:

This certainly isn't your typical State of the Union night. President Obama is speaking right on the heels of the epic final battle in Big Bear, California, between Christopher Dorner and law enforcement. Two San Bernardino County Sheriffs were shot earlier today. One died, while the other is still alive and undergoing surgery in a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the cabin that Dorner was occupying is burning to the ground as I write. It's unclear yet whether Dorner himself is dead or alive.

Obviously, everyone will be awaiting what President Obama says on gun safety. However, that won't be the entirety of his speech. Obama will also be calling for jobs programs and more economic recovery, as well as for action on climate change and comprehensive immigration reform (CIR).

Stay tuned here for more updates on #SOTU, as well as for any new updates on the Dorner case in Southern California.

6:00 PM: Notice all the green ribbons in the House chamber? They're honoring victims of gun violence. It's especially poignant tonight considering what's still unfolding in Southern California.

6:20 PM: The President is starting with a conciliatory tone in stating his willingness to be a "partner in progress" with Congress. He's also noting recent economic improvement, as well as the end of the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars. And of course, he says the state of our union is strong.

6:22 PM: And here it is. The President is talking about "restoring the middle class. It's our task to make sire this government is working for the many... & opens the doors of opportunity to all our children." The President is hitting hard on economic justice... & hinting at his strategy to fend off threats of double dip recession.

While Obama touts recent deficit reduction, he also wants economic growth. Simply put, this is why we can't afford "The Sequester", aka Fiscal Cliff 2.0. It's imperative on Congress to stop the austerity madness.

6:27 PM: Obama is trying to thread the needle on Medicare & Social Security. He says he's open to reform, but he won't accept hurting seniors in need. Progressives will probably remain on the edge of their seats as Congress keeps wrangling over "The Sequester"... And Medicare & Social Security are still on the table.

6:29 PM: And here come taxes. Obama demands more revenue and fewer synthentic fiscal crises. Again, if we have to pursue deficit reduction, we must be careful in doing so while the economy is still in early stages of recovery. And the super-rich are the ones who can most afford to pay for it.

"Deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan."

6:33 PM: President Obama is talking about the real deficit problem we still face: the jobs deficit. He wants to continue beefing up manufacturing here in America. And he's promoting scientific research! Yes, it works. And you know what? It also helps the economy.

Again, we can't afford austerity.

6:35 PM: Yay, energy time! But boo, fossil fuels.

Oh yay, he says, "We must do more to combat climate change." So what will we do? He offers an olive branch to one-time rival John McCain on cap-and-trade. Remember when Republicans liked that?

But if Congress won't act, the President must do something. And Obama is promising that. He's offering executive action on expediting renewable energy programs, an "energy security trust", and some sort of carbon cap should Congress decline to implement a cap-and-trade system.

6:42 PM: "We can get this done". That's what President Obama said on infrastructure repair & reinvestment. That will be nice. Check out our roads, our libraries, our schools, and more. We need it. Oh, & we need jobs!

6:45 PM: "The sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road."

Ah, universal pre-school. I'm down with that... But are #NVLeg & Brian Sandoval? They've yet to agree on universal kindergarten.

But really, more education tends to mean less crime and less poverty. If we're serious about crime prevention and economic empowerment, we need to do better in supporting our schools.

6:48 PM: Obama also talks about higher education. He wants to reform the Higher Ed Act so that the feds consider affordability of colleges when determining federal funding.

6:50 PM: And now, #CIR! Obama again demands reform... Including a "responsible path to earned citizenship". He again shouts out bipartisan efforts in Congress to tackle this issue. Will they take kindly?

He's also addressing the Violence Against Women Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, & ending the overall War on Women. See, he hasn't forgotten.

6:54 PM: Here, Obama returns to economic justice. He calls for investment in hard hit (by the recession & decades of neglect) communities. And in a surprising twist, he also calls on a raise in the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour. When was the last time we heard poverty discussed in a State of the Union speech?

7:00 PM: In the foreign policy portion, Obama talks North Korea, arms reduction, drones, bringing home 34,000 troops from Afghanistan, and continuing to support flourishing "Arab Spring" democracies.

7:07 PM: In discussing the military, Obama shouts out #DADT repeal and equal service for women. The military is (again) becoming a catalyst for civil rights.

7:10 PM: Obama also shouts out the fundamental right to vote. Remember that? And remember all those efforts to block people from voting?

7:15 PM: Obama is closing with gun safety. Obama is hitting all the major policy points: assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, gun trafficking, and background checks. He evokes Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago, along with the 20 kids of Newtown. And Gabby Giffords & Tucson.

"They deserve a simple vote. Our actions will not prevent every senseless violent act in this country... But we weren't sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to do what we can... We were sent here to look out for our fellow Americans."

And while he's speaking, Southern California is still reeling from the Christopher Dorner manhunt.

7:17 PM: Obama closed in calling for collective action. And he closed in reminding the audience of our duty to help each other. Again, he evoked economic justice. And he reiterated his drive to solve CIR, gun safety reform, climate change, and more. This was a moving speech, especially considering the saddening backdrop of tonight.

Witness Tonight

Yesterday, Rep. Joe Heck's district office heard from constitutents on gun safety reform.

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Tonight, he will be listening to President Obama making his case for gun safety reform at tonight's State of the Union Address. And not only that, but he will also be seeing several gun violence survivors in the audience. One of them will be Heck's former colleague in Congress, Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords herself as plenty to say about gun violence, and she isn't waiting until tonight.



I've already caught this ad on local cable here. Constituents of Heck, and of Senators Harry Reid & Dean Heller, are seeing this. And they're reminded of the horror of what happened in Tucson just over two years ago. Can we really afford any more of that, or of what happened in Aurora & Newtown last year?

That's not the question that the gun lobby wants us to think about. That's why a NRA lobbyist tried to dismiss current efforts for gun violence prevention as "The Connecticut Effect". You see, it's easier for the NRA to sweep this under the rug when it's just some distant, esoteric, and sterilized philosophical debate. It becomes much more difficult for gun industry lobbyists to defend what they're doing when confronted with actual reality.



Yet that's what's happening today. The gun lobby, along with Members of Congress, must confront reality. Harry Reid, Dean Heller, and Joe Heck must see those who lost loved ones to gun violence tonight. And they must ask themselves if we can go any longer without significant gun safety reform.

Flashpoint

Yesterday, Assembly Member Steven Brooks was arrested. Again. This time, it was on domestic violence charges. Police also accuse him of attempting to take an officer's weapon when fighting arrest.

Police on Sunday again have arrested embattled Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, this time after a report that he allegedly attacked a family member.

Officers arrived at Brooks' home around 12:30 a.m. at 6007 Turtle River Avenue to find that he was “agitated and refused to obey officers’ commands,” Metro Police said.

As officers tried to take him into custody, police said, Brooks fought them. In a news release, Metro said the 40-year-old “at one point attempted to secure one of the officers' weapons.”

Police arrested the Las Vegas resident on counts of obstructing police and domestic battery.

Steven Brooks was arrested last month for allegedly making death threats on Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. And since then, he's exhibited plenty of bizarre behavior. And amidst all the bizarre behavior and lurid scent of scandal, some started asking new questions on the state of mental health care and gun safety here in Nevada.

Even more questions have arisen since last week's Southern California shootings that police suspect Christopher Dorner of committing. Dorner has owned a home in the Southwest Vegas Valley since 2007. And he frequented Lock N' Load, a gun store just south of The 215 in Henderson. Lock N' Load owner Tony Melendez insists his store never sold any actual weapons to Dorner, but he has admitted that the store sold him accessories. Melendez wouldn't specify what they were, but Dorner himself declared in his manifesto that Lock N' Load sold him suppressors. These are often used in gun crimes to reduce the noise of the bullet release, and California is one of 11 states to ban civilian possession and use of them.

The manhunt for Christopher Dorner continues as the City of Los Angeles has now offered a $1,000,000 reward for information leading to his capture. LA police were actually stretched quite thin yesterday as they were simutaneously continuing the manhunt, providing extra security for the Grammy Awards, and proceeding with regular police activity.

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Ever since news broke of the Dorner manhunt, more questions are being asked on how and why this is happening. And again, issue of easy access to firearms has become the central flashpoint. The Los Angeles Times' George Skelton examined how the Dorner incident may soon unravel the gun lobby's central argument for resisting gun safety reform.

Dorner seemingly was law-abiding — until he wasn't.

And that brings up a larger point: At minimum, he is another example of a so-called law-abiding, innocent gun owner who apparently went berserk and used his arsenal to kill people.

It makes such comments as this one recently uttered by National Rifle Assn. executive Wayne LaPierre look particularly inane and off target: "Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals."

News flash: Some law-abiders do become violent criminals. And their kill rate too often increases with their firepower.

Of course, this gets into the whole definition of "law-abiding." Unfortunately, you don't need to be exactly law-abiding to legally purchase a gun.

"It's one of the really pervasive myths," says Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. "If you ask people the question, 'Can criminals legally buy guns?' they laugh and say, 'Of course not.' But a large segment of the population has a criminal recordandcan still buy guns."

The NRA has claimed that the only way to "stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun". Supposedly, Christopher Dorner was one "good guy with a gun". And supposedly, Steven Brooks was one as well. So what went wrong?

The NRA has already dismissed the push for real gun safety reform as "The Connecticut Effect". Apparently to the gun lobby, the merciless slaughter of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has just been a political nuisance. I guess they will do the same today with the courthouse shooting in Wilmington, Delaware.

Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack confirmed three people died in the shooting Monday morning at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington. He said the suspected gunmen and two women are dead. Shavack said police had not confirmed that one of the women was the shooter's estranged wife, though earlier in the day the city's mayor said that was the case.

Two police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Shavack said officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter in the courthouse's lobby before he passed metal detectors. Shavack did not say whether the shooter killed the two women or whether they were killed in the gunfire. Shavack also did not say how the shooter died.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that the nation has a serious problem with gun violence. And it's becoming increasingly obvious that gun industry lobbyists can't simply sweep this matter under the rug. Newtown won't let them. Neither will Wilmington. Neither will Southern California. And neither can Nevada.

While various states are working on gun safety reform legislation, it's become painfully obvious that we ultimately need a national solution. Nevada's Members of Congress must keep this in mind as they tackle this issue on Capitol Hill.

A Sober Reality Check on Gun Violence

So it happened again. We saw yet another shooting yesterday. This time, it hit very close to home.

For years Jim McCarty hid whatever troubles that may have weighed on him behind the rhythms of normalcy.

He lived in a single-story home with his wife and her two children at 2225 La Sombra Street, an aging residential neighborhood. Neighbors say he never missed a day of work as a tractor-trailer driver, leaving each morning at 7 a.m. and coming home at 5 p.m. like clockwork. When he wasn’t at work, they saw him obsessing over his lawn making sure it stayed lush and green despite the dry desert heat. He loved that lawn.

Work and the yard, the “everyman” routine. They were his constants — until Tuesday.

That day, Catrina Garrett, who lives across the street from the family, noticed he missed work. Then, around 3:45 p.m., next-door neighbor Andrew Newkirk heard gunshots. [...]

The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the first two victims as Jim McCarty’s stepchildren, Bonnie Scherrer, 38, and Robert Scherrer, 41. The third victim, neighbors say, is his wife, Linda McCarty.

It is impossible to know what may have caused McCarty to snap and allegedly shoot his family and then himself, but neighbors who know the family well say underneath his routine was a bleak life.

Believe it or not, gun deaths often occur by way of victims' own guns. Accidents happens. And then in this case, Jim McCarty turned his gun on his own family, then on himself.

This wasn't a topic discussed at yesterday's US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun safety, but plenty of other issues were brought to the table. What was perhaps most chilling about yesterday's hearing was how the typical decorum of a Senate hearing was interrupted by reminders of all the recent bloodshed from epic gun violence. Salon
's Joan Walsh has more.

I’m sure he never dreamed that barely a month later the carnage would claim a 15-year-old majorette who’d just marched in his inaugural parade. Hadiya Pendleton is only one of 42 people to die of gun violence in Chicago this month, the deadliest January in 10 years. And there’s still another day to go.

Nor did he likely envision that a popular school bus driver in rural Alabama would be killed by a man the Southern Poverty Law Center listed as an anti-government “survivalist,” after he tried to stop him from taking two boys off his bus as hostage (he wound up getting one, a six year old who’s still his prisoner.) The rampage after an office dispute in Phoenixis a little more common: Too many “office disputes” are settled by gunfire.

Hadiya Pendleton’s godfather had a searing if unintended rejoinder to LaPierre’s post-Newtown nonsense that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Duane Stewart, a police officer, told the Chicago Sun-Times about his happy honor-student god-daughter: “As usual, the bad guy aims, but he never hits the other bad guy . . . He hits the one that hurts the most to lose. I changed her diapers, I played with her growing up. My heart is broken.” [...]

But the same forces that block sensible gun laws also block action on other social problems. We have too many guns in this country; we also have too much poverty and inequality and mental illness, and they’re all tied together. It’s galling to watch LaPierre and others on the right pretend they care about mental health treatment, for instance. The same political stalemate that’s blocked action on guns has also made it harder to deal with other social problems that fracture us. While Hadiya Pendleton went to a good school and was shot in an upper middle class neighborhood not far from the president’s Chicago home, her assailants are reportedly gang members, and the plague of gang violence —which springs from generations of chronic, festering and unanswered urban poverty and violence –has been ignored for too long because it rarely touches the people deemed to matter in our country.

Durbin mentioned Pendleton during the hearing, noting that her inaugural parade appearance was “the highlight of her young life.” Then she returned to a city “awash in guns,” he said. “The confiscation of guns per capita in Chicago is six times the number in New York City,” said Durbin. “We have guns everywhere and some believe the solution to this is more guns. I disagree.”

Gabby Giffords didn’t mention Pendleton in her moving testimony, but she did talk about children. “Too many children are dying. Too many children,” Giffords said haltingly. “We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.”

Last night, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) was on "Ralston Reports" last night to discuss a variety of issues. One of them was gun safety. And while noting the unique challenge of tailoring gun laws to Nevada, he nonetheless made clear why President Obama and various Members of Congress are pursuing gun safety reform.



No one is talking about doing what's described in the gun lobby's crazed conspiracy theories. Rather, Congress is debating common-sense gun safety measures meant to protect communities. It's about preventing unnecessary deaths. It's about taking basic steps to stop the slaughter of innocent children.

The New Republic's Walter Kirn is a gun owner himself. He recently wrote about his own experience with guns, and he explained why he and many more gun owners really don't see eye to eye with NRA lobbyists. Are military style assault weapons actually necessary for "recreational shooting" and deer hunting? Are background checks really "unreasonable"? Is gun trafficking truly a "civil right"?

That's all we're talking about. And that's what Members of Congress should keep in mind... That, and the continuing count of people who've lost their lives to gun violence.

Pay Attention, Senators.

Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee invited a very special guest to testify. And her testimony was quite moving, even with it lasting less than two minutes.

"Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats and Republicans. Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard but the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you. Thank you."

Gabrielle Giffords knows firsthand the pain of gun violence and the horror of a mass shooting. She was nearly assassinated just over two years ago, when she represented Southern Arizona in Congress and was conducting a "Congress at Your Corner" event just north of Tucson. While Giffords survived the shooting, eight other people passed away. Her husband, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, explained to the committee the impact of the Tucson Massacre, the shock following the Newtown massacre, and why they & other gun owners support common sense gun safety reform.



Of course, the latter particularly frightens the NRA. After all, they claim to be the monolithic voice of America's gun owners. And they really don't like being called out on their nonsenical, idiotic "ideas".

"My problem with background checks is you are never going to get criminals to go through universal background checks. And all the law-abiding people, you'll create an enormous federal bureaucracy, unfunded, hitting all the little people in the country, will have to go through it, pay the fees, pay the taxes," LaPierre said. "We don't even prosecute anybody right now that goes through the system we have. So, we're going to make all those law-abiding people go through the system and then we aren't going to prosecute any of the bad guys if they do catch one. None of it makes any sense in the real world. We have 80,000 police families in the NRA. We care about safety. We support what works."

After a brief interlude by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the committee chairman, Durbin went after LaPierre.

"Mr. LaPierre, that's the point," Durbin fired back. "The criminals won't go to purchase the guns because there'll be a background check. We'll stop them from original purchase. You missed that point completely. It's basic."

Strangely enough, as the hearing continued and Mark Kelly was being questioned, news broke of another Arizona shooting. This time, it was at an office complex in Phoenix. So far, three people have been wounded.

Truth can so often be so much stranger than fiction.



Before today's hearing, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-It's Complicated) insisted he will bring gun safety legislation to the Senate floor. Yet so far, he still hasn't said whether he would vote for the Assault Weapons Ban favored by his good friends, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) & President Obama. We don't even know for sure how he will vote on universal background checks & efforts to curb illegal gun trafficking.

Meanwhile, Nevada's other Senator, Dean Heller (R-46%), has hardly said a peep on gun safety since Newtown. Even with a mountain of evidence illustrating the need for gun safety reform along with overwhelming public support for it, Heller has kept his silence. Wait, isn't "Senator No Labels Postpartisan" supposed to ditch his "tea party" past in favor of a "moderate" new agenda? Well, now is a good time for both Heller and Reid to demonstrate that.

Hopefully, at least some of their staff are paying close attention to today's hearing. This should be a learning experience for the entire US Senate.

Rethinking Gun Safety & "Freedom"

While we were busy enjoying a lazy, rainy Saturday, this happened in Washington. Yep, that's right. People showed up for a rally for gun safety.



About 1,000 people showed up in the nation's capital, and there were even more "satellite events" across the country. One of the groups that organized yesterday's event was One Million Moms for Gun Control. They've grown from one simple Facebook page to a nationwide movement.

And yes, they're now here in Southern Nevada as well. Yes, even here we're seeing growing support for gun safety reform.

Nationally, there's broad national support for what's essentially President Obama's gun safety plan. Yes, that even includes the Assault Weapon Ban. Yet even after so many polls have been showing so much support for gun safety reform, we're still supposed to believe it's "impossible". Why?

That's what Rachel Maddow asked on Thursday. Both of the US Senators who represent Newtown, Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) & Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), responded with hope for meaningful action.

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Yet even while most Americans demand comprehensive gun safety reform, the conversation in Washington has mostly revolved around how "impossible" this is. Why?

Even worse has been the conversation in Carson City. While Nevada legislators may be justifiably upset over the media circus that the Steven Brooks affair has become, they can't use that as an excuse for ignoring the real public policy questions behind it. Coolican wondered this morning if the Brooks affair will finally force the Nevada Legislature to better fund mental health care. I'm wondering the same, but I'm also wondering if this will force the Legislature to ask why it's easier in this state to access firearms than mental health care.

On one hand, I get it. I see the "reality" in Carson City and DC where politicians fear the wrath of the gun lobby. Harry Reid doesn't want to jeopardize the reelection of vulnerable US Senate Democrats in 2014, and he doesn't want to hurt his own likely reelection campaign in 2016. Meanwhile, a bunch of freshmen in the Nevada Legislature want to curry good favor with the NRA. Some Democrats don't want to be seen as "anti-gun", and most Republicans don't want to be seen as "betraying their base".

Yet while these politicians live their "reality", we live ours. Children are terrorized in their own schools. Shopping malls become armed battlefields. Inner cities have already felt like war zones for some time. Not even houses of worship seem safe.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again today. This level of armed violence is not conducive to a functioning democracy. Keep that in mind when gun lobbyists cry about "Obama's attacks on FREEDOM!!!" Are we really free when we don't feel free to share ideas at the college campus, buy a gift for the best friend's birthday party, send the kids to school, and/or even visit the Legislature? Think about it.