An elementary school in Gaithersburg was named after Tubman as the state celebrates the 200th anniversary of her birth. https://t.co/lVTac2VcKX
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 31, 2022
President Joe Biden said Monday that the “Second Amendment was never absolute” and that, after the Texas elementary school shooting, there may be some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman. https://t.co/CZhZD9TxF7
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 30, 2022
President Joe Biden said Monday that the “Second Amendment was never absolute” and that, after the Texas elementary school shooting, there may be some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman.
“I think things have gotten so bad that everybody’s getting more rational, at least that’s my hope,” Biden told reporters before honoring the nation’s fallen in Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery…
In Congress, a bipartisan group of senators talked over the weekend to see if they could reach even a modest compromise on gun legislation after a decade of mostly failed efforts. That included encouraging state “red flag” laws to keep guns away from those with mental health problems. A congressional aide said the senators would meet virtually Tuesday and throughout the week.
“The Second Amendment was never absolute,” Biden said. “You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and buy a lot of weapons.”
Later, the president and first lady Jill Biden were joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier…
In his earlier statements to reporters on guns, Biden said he’d not spoken to Republicans on the issue “but my guess is … they’re going to have to take a hard look.”
There is nowhere near enough support from congressional Republicans for broader gun measures popular with the public — like a new ban on assault-type weapons or universal background checks on gun purchases. Still, Democratic advocates hope meaningful measures could still pass…
President Joe Biden grieved with the community of Uvalde on Sunday, mourning privately for three hours with the families of the 19 children and two teachers killed by a gunman.
Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: “We will.” pic.twitter.com/Gs0L7jEjhE
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 30, 2022
Betty Cracker
There was a lot of angst on Twitter yesterday about Biden’s “rational” Republicans line. Some claim Biden is ticking boxes so he can go scorched earth on Republicans after reasonable measures inevitably fail. Others claim he’s still living in the 1990s and needs to wake the fuck up.
Personally, I think Democrats from Biden on down to city council members should just tell the truth over and over: Republicans want gun manufacturers to have the unrestricted right to sell military-grade weapons, even though we all know that means periodic slaughter of innocents.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I would love that, except that, as you saw in the post, people are chanting at Biden to do something. What should he tell them: “No, I’m going to go scorched earth on the GOP instead and hope voters hold them accountable for once”?
Baud
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’ll believe in rational Republicans when I see Republicans act rational
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I can’t imagine how it’s helpful politically. He’s telling voters Republicans are rational on gun reform. If it fails that must mean that Democrats are either irrational or incompetent.
Unless he thinks there’s some actual value, that saying this sways X GOP Senate votes, all he’s doing is ensuring Democrats will be blamed when it fails.
WereBear
I’m no longer surprised that, after we fought a giant war to get rid of a king and elected Washington, a bunch of ultra-maroons wanted to make him the king.
I do think the Enlightenment raised the bar above a lot of heads still restricted by Authoritarian parenting, religions, and culture. And… by this point in the 21st century: that’s a freakin’ choice.
SO glad to see this place BACK! Now the Cheers theme song runs through my head…. “Where everybody knows your nym…”
Ceci n eat pas mon nym
OMG the site is back! Good morning, jackals! Hope all is well.
Baud
@Kay:
Democrats will be blamed when it fails in any scenario.
WereBear
I guess President Biden still thinks they are capable of shame. Let’s see it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kay: I think Biden is a naturally optimistic person. Also he spent years in a Senate that no longer exists
Dorothy A. Winsor
On a personal front, Mr DAW says his used paper coffee cups take up too much room in the trash. So he’s stacking them on the counter and plans to throw them away all at once. When? Who knows. There are 14 of them there right now
Ceci n eat pas mon nym
Is my previous post lost or in moderation? Only time will tell.
Oh I see what happened. Phone helpfully changed “n est” to “n eat”.
Spanky
Apparently, they’ll round up the usual suspects instead of asking Ginni.
eclare
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Your take makes sense to me.
Kay
@Baud:
Well then tell the truth and let the chips fall. Trust them. Stop telling them fairy tales. If he’s damned either way then telling the truth is the easy and obvious choice.
He’s under no obligation to prop up his end of this bullshit narrative. Drop it and let it fall. Let them prop it up.
Spanky
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Get him a Tunch mug and stop buying bad-tasting paper cups.
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Offering people a clear eyed, honest view of the state of play is not inconsistent with “optimistic”
He doesn’t have to go out and savage them and say all is lost. He has to identify the problem.
Baud
@Kay:
If we trust them, then we can tell them the truth after it fails. You can’t say “trust them,” and then claim they will misplace blame based on Biden’s optimistic rhetoric.
The fundamental problem is that our voters want fighters and they also want things done, and oftentimes those two things require diametrically opposite approaches.
Geminid
I think Biden’s statement about some “rational Republicans” was situational, addressing the outside chance that current discuussions among Senators might result in strengthening background checks nationwide. Senator Chris Murphy is participating in these negotiations and he’s no dope. If and when these talks fail Biden will not be inhibited by this statement when he calls out Republicans on gun safety.
Baud
The other problem our side online has is we flyspeck messaging and lose focus on the underlying issue.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Spanky: He gets the paper cups at the free coffee station in the cafe downstairs. I think he likes the various things they have to add to the coffee and uses the cups to haul them to our condo where he makes coffee. We have plenty of mugs here, though Tunch does tempt me
lowtechcyclist
A few jackals had mentioned Molly White over the weekend, and then of course Cole had a post about her yesterday afternoon. Seems like the Washington Post has noticed her too:
Molly White is becoming the crypto world’s biggest critic – The Washington Post
Nora
Just for the record, NO Constitutional right is absolute. No right ever has been. Anyone claiming otherwise has no knowledge of Constitutional law.
JPL
IMO Some form of gun regulation will pass, because the republicans know they lose on this issue. They won’t ban the assault rifle, but they might agree to a short waiting period.
Spanky
@WereBear: I had occasion this weekend to again tour the Maryland State Capitol, and the Old Senate Chamber where Washington resigned his commission and refused kingship, basically. He’d seen the cost of getting rid of a monarchy and wanted no part of it.
The greater mass of people today live in a fantasy world where there are no consequences.
Cameron
You’ll have to take my rational Republican from my cold, dead hands.
Brachiator
In addition to bad-mouthing the Republicans, why not take some action?
Progressive pundit David Pakman suggests gun control legislation which would include the following:
— End gun show loophole, require background checks
— Universal background checks
— Mandatory waiting period, unless person has a restraining order against someone
— No high capacity weapons for a person under age 25
— Mandatory gun insurance
— Ban some weapons
— Require periodic mental health evaluations
— Extensive licensing process
— Gun buyback program
Put it out for a vote. Let the GOP vote against it.
Are there any bills previously offered that were tabled? Could they be brought back?
Geminid
@JPL: Virginia Democrats used to be afraid of the gun control issue. That changed in 2017, when Ralph Northam and Democratic General Assembly candidates succesfully made gun safety a major issue. Democrats did this again in 2019, and their new majorities passed six good gun safety laws.
Glenn Youngkin kept firearms issues in the background last November because he knew that in this area Republicans are on the wrong side of public opinion, especially in the vote-rich suburbs. I think that in next year’s General Assembly elections Democrats will put gun safety front and center again, to their advantage.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Do we all have to be re-verified manually by WaterGirl? Tried a couple comments from the phone, now trying from the laptop.
NotMax
Media note.
Competent little legal drama currently on free-with-ads streaming channel Tubi, The Collini Case. Both a subtitled and a dubbed version found there, the later apparently done under the auspices of the studio and released simultaneously, so not too terrible a result. (Trailer, but be aware if choosing to click that it reveals a bit too much. Better to go in cold, IMHO.)
JPL
@Brachiator: This! Unfortunately, the leader of the Senate is Schumer and he won’t.
The republicans will agree to some weak type of regulation, so they can say they voted to increase gun safety. The issue will then fade.
JPL
@Geminid: My fear is that the democrats will agree to a weak compromise.
Matt McIrvin
@JPL: They don’t lose on this issue. They win on it, even though their position is unpopular nationwide. As with abortion, it’s because of unequal intensity: opponents of gun control are fanatically motivated single-issue voters; proponents of gun control are not. Turnout is everything, and it’s only swing districts that really matter. Whenever there’s a big mass shooting, there’s actually a huge spike in gun sales because they can convince their followers that there’s about to be some kind of gun ban. And the same energy gets them out to vote.
Betty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It is stuff like this that makes it somewhat miraculous that marriages survive. A good sense of humor is essential.
Baud
@JPL:
There’s no possibility of a strong compromise with the GOP. It’s either weak or it’s nothing.
Chris T.
Hm, can’t find Tubman school on the Maryland schools page. Did find my old Monkey County schools, and they’re pretty bad now by ratings. About 34/100 for the old elementary, about 50/100 for the high school…
Chris T.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Trash Day, presumably. That’s how I’d do it.
Betty Cracker
@Matt McIrvin: Exactly right. I don’t think we’ll see any progress at the federal level, not as long as the filibuster remains in place. The structural imbalance in the senate also works against us. Which 10 Republicans are going to vote for any type of gun safety measure?
NotMax
America’s attic obtains a mouseum piece.
;)
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone
rikyrah
In moderation
Another Scott
@JPL: Greg Sergent at WaPo said a few days ago that Moscow Mitch is trying (heh) his usual technique of saying that he might agree to some things now, when public passion is high, but will drag things out and accuse Democrats of over-reach and liberal agenda throat ramming and so forth and will ultimately kill anything meaningful.
It will take sustained effort to have a different, better outcome this time. It’s not a given, but I think that the tide toward progress might have finally turned.
Forward!!
Cheers
Scott.
rikyrah
Moderation
Honus
@Geminid: I really hope you’re right. It was also kind of under the radar but Youngkin also somehow quietly killed the republican marijuana recriminalization bill that passed both houses.
lowtechcyclist
If I were talking about this – and I think it would work for Biden, who is clearly a religious man – I’d start off with a certain story from Genesis, where the Lord consults Abraham about his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham starts off by getting the Lord to agree that he won’t destroy Sodom if there are fifty righteous men in the city, and ultimately bargains him down to ten.
I’d continue to say that “since the Republicans, in recent times, have been nearly unanimous in their opposition to even the most trivial gun control measures, so it’s beyond hope that there are fifty righteous Republicans in the Senate. But since Mitch McConnell automatically filibusters everything, we do need ten righteous Republicans in the Senate, in addition to fifty righteous Democrats, to pass just about any legislation at all, including gun control legislation.
“So the question is: can ten righteous Republicans be found to support gun control legislation, or will they continue to consider massacres like those in Uvalde and Buffalo – the deaths of nineteen small children, as well as so many others – will they continue to regard these massacres a reasonable price to pay for unrestricted gun ‘freedoms’? And if ten righteous Republicans cannot be found, what does this say about their party?”
This would put the onus squarely on them. And sweet would be the reaction of pro-gun evangelicals, of which there are far too many.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
@Honus:
Were thwre some turncoat Dems in the Senate?
Geminid
@JPL: I would take strengthening the Brady bill background checks over nothing. Considering the other measures that need passing, I guess that would be a compromise, but it would not inhibit Democrats from making stronger gun safety laws an issue in the fall.
Removing background check loopholes will hardly help Republicans in November because almost all of their candidates oppose this. The gun rights people regard any gun safety measure, no matter how modest or reasonable, as an assault on the 2nd amendment and will curse any Republican who goes along. Some will hold the entire party responsible. I think that McConnell will torpedo negotiations for this reason.
debbie
@JPL:
They need to raise the age to purchase. No one without a fully developed prefrontal cortex (usually by the mid-20s) has the ability for impulse control, to weigh consequences, and make sound decisions. Period. It.does.not.happen.
Why isn’t this the starting place for these discussions?
debbie
@rikyrah:
Just your first comment. You’ll be freed to roam like always!
(ETA: WG had to rebuild the site, which is why we go to. moderation with our first comments.)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chris T.: Bingo! He says he’ll throw them away tomorrow, which is, indeed, trash day.
Someone should warn anyone you live with
NotMax
‘@debbie
Tread carefully. Same argument could be employed as a basis for repeal of the 26th Amendment.
eclare
@debbie: I’ve mentioned this before, after my dad died my cousin came over to the house to get the guns. He said he would put them in his floor safe. I asked “you have a floor safe?” His response “I have a teenage son.”
His son seems well adjusted, has friends, a girlfriend, is heavily into his sport, but like you said, there is no impulse control at that age.
Brachiator
Canada gun control proposals…
debbie
@NotMax:
Facts are facts. Besides, the power of the vote doesn’t ensure a body will be torn to ribbons on impact.
Frankly, I think this unfettered access to guns is the Right’s way of fighting CRT and is why they’ll never let it go.
Bill K
First, no useful gun control will happen as long as the 2nd amendment stands. No matter the popularity of any gun control law, it will be fought by extremists that will take it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court majority has already demonstrated that they feel 2A means unlimited access to guns.
Second, the solution that everyone keeps missing is gun dealer licenses. There are as many gun dealers in the US as there are gas stations. Can’t see them? That’s because most of them are private individuals that sell from their homes or off the back of a truck. Probably half of these are straw buyers that ignore background checks. Greatly raising the cost and liability of becoming a dealer would go far in restricting guns.
Baud
@debbie:
Truth.
Geminid
@Geminid: An upcoming Supreme Court decision will play a key role in the gun control debate. At issue is a New York law regulating the carrying of firearms in public spaces. That’s the kind longstanding firearms regulation that Scalia explicitely said was allowed by the 2nd Amendment, in his majority opinion in Heller . If the current court rules against New York on this law, just about all firearms control laws will be at risk.
Kay
@Brachiator:
Canada has a domestic partner sign off for a gun permit, which I thought was really interesting.
You’re bringing the gun into the household. All the adults in the house should get a say on that.
JPL
One of the arguments that republicans used is the lack of a two-parent household and strong moral values. Just the week before a gunman mowed down ten in a Buffalo supermarket. They change the narrative to fit the occasion and the media allows them to do that.
OzarkHillbilly
US mass shootings will continue until the majority can overrule the minority -Rebecca Solnit
She says a whole lot more, about Roe, the GOP, and the American right wing in general. Well worth the 5 minutes it takes to read the whole.
JPL
@Geminid: f..k
Kay
America’s Fancy Lawyer Caucus getting ahead of the upcoming SCOTUS decisions gutting our few remaining gun laws. Don’t blame the fancy lawyers for the laws! Or the Supreme Court! In fact, they have no responsibility of any kind for America’s legal system! Which is The Best In the World.
Scalia is dead. They can stop kissing his ass now.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid: If SCOTUS rules that the states can’t stop people from open carrying, I really might move to Canada.
I can’t imagine living in one of the states that’s legalized open carry: to me, it just goes without saying that if you see someone openly carrying a deadly weapon, you call the cops and they apprehend the person. Open carry means that the cops can’t do anything until the armed person starts shooting people, which is of course too late.
I’d be afraid to live in a place like that. So if SCOTUS inflicts that on the entire nation, I’d be suggesting to my wife that we move north once the kiddo’s out of high school.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Re: your second quoted paragraph:
This is the same logic used for justifying burkhas. We mustn’t let our delicate men be tempted into betraying their precious bodies!
This shit really raises my hackles.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: I found that paragraph a little too on the nose to not quote it. She has some other gems in that piece.
JPL
@lowtechcyclist: How exactly is one suppose to know if they are a good guy with a gun? If I see someone with a gun, I’m removing myself from the situation.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Brachiator: How about letting citizens sue anyone who sold a gun that killed someone, a la Texas abortion laws?
David Collier-Brown
@lowtechcyclist: I don’t visit the ‘States any more, even though I once lived in Mineapolis and still have friends there.
We have good high schools, people send their kids here to prepare them to apply to US and Canadian universities.
–dave
Open-carry states? Hmmn, I wonder if I’m allowed to carry a mills bomb? (the British name for a hand-grenade)
lowtechcyclist
The argument would have to convince 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures, though, since the 26th Amendment is already in the Constitution, and while SCOTUS can chip away at amendments until they’re all but meaningless (see the 4th and 14th, for example), they can’t just repeal one.
We raised the drinking age to 21 nationally a few decades ago, and if anyone’s challenged it, it hasn’t gone anywhere. Can’t see that raising the gun possession age to 21 would be any more of a stretch.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Oh, I read the whole piece. She’s exactly right, but somehow omits her fury. Impressive!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lowtechcyclist: IANAL but in my mind the 26th Amendment is also associated with the culture of war and violence. I remember the arguments. If people were old enough to be drafted and sent to Vietnam, they were old enough to vote. I don’t quite know how to process that. I guess the US is willing to be violent in various forms?
rikyrah
@Kay:
If he told the truth, then the MSM would clutch their pearls about 46’s ‘tone’.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: The good guys all wear white hats. Don’t you watch movies?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lowtechcyclist: Again, I’m trying to remember this and I may be wrong. But I think the increase in drinking age was done state by state and was driven by the Federal govt saying they wouldn’t give highway funds to places where it was 18. IOW, the Federal govt said hey, we’re not making the rule. It’s the states
Doug R
@Betty Cracker:
Biden knows some measures like universal background checks have close to 90% support. He’s giving republicans a chance to be on the train or get run over.
rikyrah
@debbie:
If you can’t legally order alcohol, then why should you be able to buy a weapon of death?
NotMax
‘@lowtechcyclist
Already 21 in Hawaii. Just sayin’ that using immaturity in cognitive development as a raison d’etre is greasing the skids. Plenty of immature 30, 40 and 50 year olds, for example.
OzarkHillbilly
I resemble that remark, except that I’m 63.
debbie
@rikyrah:
Exactly. We also need to require liability insurance. If these are good and responsible gun owners, let them put their money where their mouths are.
debbie
@NotMax:
No, that’s a conscious choice, not a matter of brain development.
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Mr DAW is absolutely Machiavellian in his chore postponement. Well done, sir!
rikyrah
@debbie:
That was the reason for all the coordination in Texas, IMO.
Maybe the killer in Texas would have gotten his hands on the weapon death, but it matters that, at 18, he could LEGALLY get a weapon of death.
And Abbot and his cohorts celebrated when they lowered the age for purchase down to 18 from 21.
debbie
Also, Uvalde is clearly on Greg Abbott’s governance. He loosened the gun laws and created the kind of law system that stood by and did nothing because the children inside weren’t all white Christians. This has to be pinned on him at EVERY opportunity.
Geminid
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Among other reforms, I would like to see laws imposing strict liability for any damage caused by a firearm trasferred outside the legal background check framework. This would apply no matter how many times a gun was resold. That would greatly reduce straw purchases and informal sales. Besides Americans injured by these weapons, Mexico would be able to sue American gun purchasers who supply guns to smugglers.
NotMax
‘@Dorothy A. Winsor
My memory matches yours. For the record, was opposed to raising the drinking age then and my opinion remains unchanged.
debbie
@rikyrah:
He didn’t even BUY it! He leased the weapon! He maybe didn’t even make any payments yet! This is insane!
eclare
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That is correct. I remember because most states raised the age to 21 just before I turned eighteen. IIRC, Louisiana was the last state to raise the age.
MisterForkbeard
@Brachiator: They should do each of these as separate bills. Make the GOP vote on each one and don’t give them any excuse of “I would have voted for it if it were a clean bill!”
debbie
@NotMax:
I was living in MA back then. As I neared 18, the age went up to 21, and then as I approached 21, back down it went to 18. Oh well, it’s not like anyone was ever carding customers.
WereBear
Why I supported Baud! in the primaries.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Oh, they savage him regardless. I hope he’s not aiming to please them. They turned on him for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and it has been 100% criticism since then.
That cake is baked. Joe Biden will get no credit from political media, for anything.
NotMax
‘@
As I’m wont to say to cashiers who ask me for ID, “Look at me. If I was under 21 and looked like this you’d give it me for free.”
:)
NotMax
#90 meant to be @debbie
Mike in NC
Local rag reported that a guy who won $10M in a state lottery a few years back was just sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend in 2020. As George Takei would say: “Oh my!”.
WereBear
@lowtechcyclist: Seriously, that has brilliance in it.
Geminid
@Bill K: Some say that requirements for a “permit to purchase” firearms would be a good reform. These are required in many states including California, and impose a qualifying background check before someone is allowed to buy a firearm. One additional step might not seem like much, but when Missouri repealed their permit to purchase law around 2011 firearms crimes jumped. A permit to purchase also provides a framework for imposing other requirements like training, maybe even a mental health evaluation.
I don’t think any state requires such an evaluation. Israel does so for gun owners, and they must pass a new mental health evaluation periodically. Israelis are allowed only one firearm and 50 bullets. They have to turn in their spent cartridges when they buy new ammunition.
lowtechcyclist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
You remember correctly. But it’s a strong enough coercion (or was back then, at least) that all the states changed their laws. Seems like a distinction without a difference.
JPL
Home / Twitte
Maybe someone with keys to the place can show the pic
Kay
It would be good if they passed something because doing nothing just further erodes peoples faith in their ability to function at all. By “they” I mean the Senate. They all claim to love this “institution” – do they not understand that they’re the people undermining it?
Chop chop. Work harder.
sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Would he consider stomping them flat before the trash, like we used to have to do to cans
ETA I have some sympathy for hisvposition. My husband has none. LOL.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: I remember going to the local grocery and buying a few things for a wkend on the river including a 12 pack of good beer. This was in the pre-debit card days and I never carried a wallet, just left it in a pocket in my truck. I get to the cashier and she starts ringing things up, sees the beer and asks for my ID.
My guffaws echoed thru out the store, turning every head in our direction. She looked at me with bewilderment until I said something like, “Thank you. You just made my day, my week, my month, my year. I’m 42 and my driver’s license is out in my truck.” She turned to look at the manager for direction. He looked at my gray flecked beard and just nodded his head.
I thanked her again when she was done.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@sab: I’ll suggest that to him. We’ll see
Gin & Tonic
@debbie: I think I’ve mentioned this before, but some years back when I switched homeowners insurance carriers, someone came in from the new company, inspected my furnace and my water holding tank (I have a well), and complained about the absence of a railing on a 3-step staircase from the deck – literally like 2 1/2 feet above ground level. They did not ask about firearms.
Kay
No one will even care what they pass. The bar for performance on this is so low if they passed anything at all it would be proof of life, at least.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: I once had my son with me while I bought groceries that included a bottle of wine. He was maybe 8 at the time. When the clerk asked for my ID, I got excited enough that she laughed and didn’t wait for me to pull it out
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: “Acceptable Loss.”
eclare
@Gin & Tonic: Some insurance companies ask about dog breeds in the home.
narya
I am so glad this joint is open again!
The 500 was entertaining–of the four sets of folks around us, two sets were intact: trackarita guy (brings margaritas to share) and the guy who has a great singing voice (which is especially nice during Back Home Again in Indiana). There was a stiff breeze all day, which means most of the crashes occurred in turn 2, where there’s a gap in the bleachers, which changes the aerodynamics of the cars. Almost no one anywhere was wearing a mask. My vaxxed and double-boosted self nevertheless wore one, even in the stands. We found a great brewpub near our hotel.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: thoughts and prayers
gvg
@debbie: His party doesn’t care about the white Christian children either. don’t let him off the hook like that. They don’t care about anyone. They aren’t even as nice as racists.
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: I’m with you on the drinking age. My son went to McGill University in Montreal, and I think the drinking age in Quebec is 19 (maybe 18.) He said just being able to go someplace, have a burger and a beer like a normal person really reduces the incidence of binge drinking. He’d come back to the US in the summer, and have to go through a hassle to get beer, then basically sneak around drinking, and he said that’s really unhealthy. I’m inclined to agree. Because if there’s one thing a 21 drinking age will absolutely *not* do is prevent 18-19 year-olds from drinking.
Barbara
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Keep him away from my husband, who thinks the same way. If they put their heads together both our dwellings would be drowning in trash — those cups and heaven knows what else could be useful for something. I often find myself throwing things away when my husband is out of town. He never notices what is gone when he returns! When my daughter moved home she looked at the stack of cups and promptly bought me a personal travel cup that she insisted I use for my daily take out coffee. Cup trash has been greatly reduced.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@OzarkHillbilly: There’s something about me that causes people to underestimate my age. I don’t get carded any more (I’m 64) but we occasionally still get “is this your son?”. Just happened at the doctor’s office. It pisses me off, but my wife says she’s used to it by now.
My beard and sideburns are 100% white, but I still have a lot of hair on top and it’s still 90% black, and my wife’s theory is that people are somehow judging from the hair.
When I was in my 40s, I once dropped a backpack and somebody commented, “well, there goes the semester’s work”. And another time in my 40s, someone I was working with asked me if I was going home for Thanksgiving.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lowtechcyclist: I think you’re right that it made no practical difference. But I thought it might make a difference in the constitutionality of age limits for drinking and, by extension, for buying guns. I am, of course, NAL
Geminid
@Geminid: Another good aspect of permit to purchase is that it creates a framework for going after firearms held by purchasers who have since been disqualified from possessing guns. The NYT had a good article a few years about a unit of California’s State Police that does nothing but track down firearms owners disqualified by felony convictions or restraining orders.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Barbara: Mr DAW hides things from me so I won’t throw them out. I feel no guilt
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Gin & Tonic:
I went to university in New York when the drinking age was 18. There was a lot of beer flowing, especially in the frat houses. And I was under 18, so I was an underage drinker. But never a heavy one. I only once experienced enough drunkenness to feel a loss of motor control, and I hated it.
Sometimes I wonder what the beer and party situation is like on college campuses, especially the frat parties. I’m guessing that it’s pretty much indistinguishable from how it was back then, but they just get the seniors to buy the beer for them.
Chris T.
@NotMax:
The drinking age should be maybe 14, or even lower. The driving age should be after they’ve realized that drinking themselves into a stupor is less fun than it looks: maybe 30 or 40 or something.
NotMax
‘@Dorothy A. Winsor
“I’m a forgiving person but this bag of pork chops I discovered under the couch cushions is a step too far.”
//
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Probable groomer.
Betty Cracker
@Doug R: Get run over by whom, voters? The majority who favor basic gun safety laws have proved repeatedly they aren’t single-issue voters. Do you think there are 10 Republican votes to clear the Manchin-Sinema hurdle? I don’t.
I mean, I hope I’m wrong! But I’m not seeing a path to federal action on this issue in the current congress. Maybe on the state level. That’s possible even in a shithole Republican state like Florida, so maybe it’s possible in Texas too.
Redshift
@Bill K:
I agree with your general argument, but disagree with your opening statement. The second amendment isn’t the problem, the wingnut Supreme Court is. We had gun regulations with the 2nd for a couple of centuries until they made up a bullshit rationale for saying it prohibited them. If we got rid of the 2nd and still had a wingnut Court, they’d come up with a different bullshit rationale.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I didn’t realize all the guns in Mexico were coming from the US. The Canadian Prime Minister mentioned the same thing in his gun regs announcement – 70 to 90% comes from US. We’re exporting this cultural garbage. Spreading the death and mayhem, even to places with responsible gun laws.
Enraging that the whole GOP depicts Mexico as this violent hell hole when we’re the supplier.
Someone should ask JD Vance about that. What can Mexicans do to stop US gun pushers from entering their country?
UncleEbeneezer
“NEW: Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro complains that FBI agents served him with a grand jury subpoena — as he asks a federal court to declare the Jan. 6 committee unlawful.”
My not-a-lawyer understanding is that this is important because subpoenas issued from DoJ/FBI etc, are actually enforceable unlike ones issued by 1/6 Committee (which really aren’t).
Ceci n est pas mon nym
This is a test. Apparently FYWP forgot me and the Balloon Juice bouncers are blocking me at the door. WaterGirl is negotiating with them. Do I need to slip someone a quarter? Maybe even $1?
Edit: Yay, I got through!
JPL
@UncleEbeneezer: Although he did not show anyone the subpoena, he said it was the DC court. That’s good news indeed.
Eunicecycle
@Kay: I understand Mexico has very strict gun laws. And yes smugglers from the US are the reason they have so much violence.
Patricia Kayden
Yay!! Good to see Balloon Juice back up and running.
Thank you, President Biden for pointing out that the Second Amendment doesn’t mean that regular citizens can own guns without regulations. Unfortunately, our rightwing dominated SCOTUS may not agree with you.
Cameron
You think it’s only gun regulations that Republicans fight against? In Florida, anyway, they can multi-task. Check this out:
https://www.levernews.com/the-florida-gop-is-protecting-nursing-home-neglect-2/
Eunicecycle
@UncleEbeneezer: and he’s representing himself, and very badly, according to Twitter lawyers. One typo: “Formal President Donald Trump.”
Geminid
@Redshift: The Heller decision recognized an individual right to possess firearms that was subject to reasonable regulation by governments. A number of gun control measures have been challenged since, but almost all state laws governing firearms have survived. The six gun safety measures pased by Virginia Democrats in 2020, for instance, are still on the books. That could change if the Supreme Court decides to gut Heller in their pending decision on the New York state law.
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
Renter’s insurance definitely asks about firearms. The first time I applied, I chuckled when the agent asked, and he very defensively said he was required to ask.
artem1s
I predict the Glibertarians will come out as supporting defunding Government controlled police departments after the shitshow in TX. The aim is to establish completely unregulated private security firms – i.e. local militias. With the locally elected sheriff getting a piece of the contract action.
https://reason.com/2022/05/31/if-you-want-protection-for-your-loved-ones-do-it-yourself/
Cameron
@Eunicecycle: Maybe Mexico can hire the Uvalde police force to help out.
debbie
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Frat parties are pretty drunken affairs, based on news reports in this sizable college town. There’s also been an increase in deaths from hazing (alcohol poisoning) at fraternities and laws have been passed to stop it and hold the fraternities accountable.
hueyplong
I have long held the opinion that, because of Republicans, insurance companies do more for the public welfare (in their insuring requirements and/or making premiums prohibitive for certain activities) than Congress does. But the insurance companies can’t get after gun ownership until there is some kind of liability for insurance companies to be covering.
debbie
@Eunicecycle:
Ah, text to type! Gotta love it!
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: Also, this is evidence that a federal grand jury is looking at conspiracy at the highest level with regard to January 6. I haven’t followed so closely, but I think this may be the first report that there is such a grand jury, or at least that it’s investigation has that wide a scope.
Eunicecycle
@Cameron: That’s a good idea! And they are pretty close to the border.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Reading now that this is related to Contempt of Congress (according to Navarro, so grain of salt). If that’s the case then I’m not sure we can reach your conclusion, just yet. I’d have to see more information and analysis from former attorneys on what exactly this might signal. Either way, I celebrate ANY/EVERY attempt by our Justice Dept. to hold these fuckers accountable.
Wapiti
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My FIL did that in the senior living place where they lived in Indy. When we visited, we helped build the stack. He dumped the stack every day. (Old Navy guy: a place for everything and everything in its place).
Geminid
@Kay: I read recently that more than two thirds of guns found to be carried or used illegally in Chicago come from out of state, mainly Wisconsin and Indiana.
raven
@Geminid: Plenty of them come from here in Georgia.
raven
@Kay: I’ll tell you one thing there are roadblocks with Federales, Mexican Soldiers and phony Red Cross girls ratting their cans all of Mexico. I had a fishing rod holder with “Bazuka” on the side than they flipped out. I don’t know how they stop smugglers in either direction.
debbie
I can’t link from FB, but here’s Chapter 5 of Andrei’s My Ukraine Is In Pain!”
oldgold
When asked to negotiate with individuals that have negotiated in bad faith with me previously, I condition any new negotiations on an affirmative showing of good faith.
Before negotiating with Senate Republicans on gun control, Democrats should demand some affirmative showing of good faith. For instance, a vote , on a one sentence bill : “No individual under the age of 21 may acquire an AR-15.” If they won’t do that, don’t waste time negotiating with them.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
Back before the drinking age became 21 nationwide, one good argument I heard for 19 rather than 18 was to raise the level of difficulty for high school kids to get alcohol.
The idea is this: say your cutoff for entering kindergarten is that the kid’s 5th birthday has to be on or before August 31. Then you’ve got seniors in high school turning 18 on September 1st, and an increasing number of them turning 18 as the year progresses. So they can buy booze and share it with their friends, whether or not they’re 18. So potentially you’ve got 14 year olds drinking.
Raise the drinking age to 19 and since almost nobody is still in high school at the age of 19, that flow is cut off.
There are obviously other ways that underage kids can get booze, like raiding their parents’ liquor lockers, but might as well choke off the supply lines that you can.
The downside is that you can’t buy a beer or a drink for your first several months in college or out in the working world, but that makes more sense than trying to prevent college drinking almost altogether.
Geminid
@raven: And plenty of Georgia guns come to the Northeast on I-85 and I-85. Virginia was a big source also, but one of its new laws restricts gun purchases to one a month and that hopefully has cut down smuggling from here.
Like I said above, I think laws imposing strict liability on people who sell firearms under the table would suppress straw purchasing a substantial amount. The liability would attach to anyone selling a gun outside reporting and background check requirements, no matter who ultimately uses it.
This could also apply to people who fail to report a stolen gun. That reporting requirement was imposed in my state by one of the 6 gun safety measures that went into effect July 2020. Another one of the six requires all firearms to be locked up in any home where minors are present, whether they live there or not.
Kay
@Eunicecycle:
But the whole US dialogue is an “invasion” at our border. This moronic cult and their companion industry are also ruining other countries.
Good for Canada. Crack down on the US gun cult and industry. Save yourselves from our sickness. Stop the contagion.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
What do you think of that US court ruling that Ohio can use the rejected maps that the GOP controlled redistricting commission approved, despite the OSC saying they were unconstitutional? Why wasn’t the remedy from the federal 3 judge panel to use better maps?
Frank Wilhoit
@Chris T.: I went to Bethesda Elementary 1963 — 69; it had a good reputation at the time but did not deserve it. There were still poor neighborhoods in its territory back then.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: It’s been a while since I’ve traveled in Mexico. It was always a little dicey feeling pulling up to a checkpoint at 2 AM. One couldn’t know for sure if the police manning it were real or not.
My last trip there was via bus. Got awakened in the middle of the night by a man in fatigues with an AK over his shoulder. I woke up real quick that time.
One thing I’ve got to say, they were always super polite, and unlike some friends I never got shook down.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
That doesn’t surprise me. You probably remember that the one-gun-per-month law that Virginia used to have was passed in response to Virginia having become notorious as the source of illegal guns throughout the Northeast.
TriassicSands
That’s the advantage of being a thoroughly corrupt, right wing SCOTUS justice. You can do whatever you want and pretend your mindless justifications are real.
Scalia, famous for his “originalism” and “textualism,” simply made up the personal right to gun ownership, by ignoring both the wording and intent of the 2nd Amendment. Now, it’s the law.
For the Supreme Court radicals, “constitutional law” is what they say it is. Period. The document itself is just a prop to be used, ignored, or distorted as needed to fulfill the agenda.
Frank Wilhoit
@debbie: Please assess the neurological maturity of a handful of prominent Republican Congresspersons and refine your threshold accordingly.
oldgold
@TriassicSands:
Over the next decade we are going to pay a steep price for the power grab Marshall pulled off in Marbury.
dnfree
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Does Mr. DAW rinse out used paper towels if they’re not too dirty and drape them over kitchen objects to dry for reuse? Count your blessings.
I wash out plastic bags and arrange them on the counter to dry for reuse, but that’s completely different.
Old School
@debbie: Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Sure Lurkalot
@TriassicSands:
Agree. And since then it’s escalated from the idea of protecting your home to the right to carry any and every where. And from weapons “suitable” for self defense to weapons designed to kill vast numbers quickly and horribly. From an op-ed in the FTFNYT by clerks of Scalia and Stevens re Heller:
“…Heller also gives the government at least some leeway to restrict the kinds of firearms that can be purchased — few would claim a constitutional right to own a grenade launcher, for example — although where that line could be constitutionally drawn is a matter of disagreement….”
How nice, we’ll draw the line at grenade launchers.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I would think the quickest way around the 2nd Amendment Worshipers would be to slap a 100% tax on nonsense that has no civilian use like Assault rifles , call it the “Child Firearms Safety Act just to spite Ted Cruz”, that would be pretty hard to run against, I mean just think of it “My opponent wants Ted Cruz to be happy, do you want Ted Cruz happy? No, no one wants to see Ted Cruz happy, even Ted Cruz’s family doesn’t want him to be happy. That’s why you should vote for me, Ted Cruz won’t be happy and god help us all if Ted Cruz is ever happy.”
Old School
@Sure Lurkalot:
How many votes do you think there are on the Supreme Court for allowing grenade launchers? Or in Congress?
Ruckus
@WereBear:
Still capable?
They never actually were capable of shame. At least not in my 70+ yrs have I ever seen it. They want to hate something, someone, they always have. They don’t come at life the way we do. Sure we get mad at some people, that’s a normal human emotion. But we normally get made when they don’t respect others. They get mad when we (as the hated) don’t agree with them and subserviate ourselves. It’s not two sides of the same coin. They have just taken it to higher levels in the last few years as the rest of us have grown in numbers and power and they are desperate to have their way and hate for hates sake.
Amir Khalid
@Geminid:
Who the hell needs12 new guns a year? I’d cut that to just one every other year, with an ownership cap of three firearms at any one time..
Enhanced Voting Techniques
This would also make certain types of guns sleazy, equate it to crack. Which would help getting this under control.
La Nonna
Among the primary reasons to emigrate and retire in Italy, no 2nd amendment craziness, and universal healthcare. Despite the early Covid struggles, and the “normal” chaos that can be Italian politics (and driving), can I tell you how much less stress even lower-class Italians live with? Americans are indeed ruled by a heartless minority. Now my 3 grown children in their 50s, and a number of the grandchildren will be piggybacking on my citizenship to move to a better life.
KM in NS
In April 2020, there was a mass shooting in Nova Scotia. The inquiry has found out that the shooter got some of his weapons from the US and smuggled them across the border.
If you’re interested in what the inquiry has turned up so far, here’s the link to the Mass Casualty Commission: https://masscasualtycommission.ca
Ruckus
@Nora:
Isn’t that the reason they have to be spelled out and codified into law, because actually the only thing in life that is absolute is that it has a beginning, middle and end.
How long, how good or bad, how well or poorly it goes, none of that is absolute or anywhere close to it.
TriassicSands
@Sure Lurkalot:
I want an F-22 Super Raptor!
trollhattan
BBC interviewed one of the Uvalde families. They had met with Biden and he asked for a piece of her art, which they took with them to hang in the White House.
Is it wrong to ask that our leaders be human beings? For four long years I wondered.
CNYExpat
@Chris T.: Here’s a link to the new school’s page on the MCPS Schools website:
https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schoolodex/schooloverview.aspx?s=02580
Ruckus
@Spanky:
The greater mass of people today live in a fantasy world where there are no consequences.
There are always consequences. They are nowhere near as deadly as they used to be. That may be part of the issue with conservatives, everything about their premise of life has consequences and they don’t want those consequences to ever change. We want them to lessen, to make life less full of consequences that take away from life. They think that is life. Being born black for example, that is all the fault of the person that’s black and the consequence for that, according to conservative people is massive suffering and death and that can never change. We believe in change and betterment and see this example as bullshit. We know it’s wrong, they are invested in it. It’s not two sides of the same coin, it is a different concept of life. They are the chosen, everything else is wrong and goes against their “principles.”
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Spanky:
F***ing favor-grubbing law review nerds. I can’t say that I’m sad for them – they chose to go to that hotbox of pretentious dorkism.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m sure. LOL
zhena gogolia
I just got a $20 bill from my wallet to pay somebody. On the side with a picture of the White House, somebody has taken a stamp and stamped “CLOSED” in red ink over the White House. It makes me sick to my stomach. (Somehow I don’t think it was a never-Trumper who did this.) I even wonder if it’s legal tender any more, although I think it was my local bank that gave it to me.
Jackie
@NotMax: When I’m asked for ID, I look them in the eye, and with a straight face, tell them I’m NOT 21. I’ve flustered a few young cashiers – until they “get it!”
TriassicSands
@Old School:
Well, Crazy Clarence for sure — and maybe Sotomayor, for somewhat different reasons (local, in-house use).
And probably Kavanaugh, for use at parties.
And Barrett to fight the armies of Satan at Armageddon.
That’s four.
If Alito could be convinced that it would ensure the theocracy he so desperately craves, he might be on board.
Obviously, I’m not serious, but grenade launchers aren’t really the issue. And in the event of a shooting civil war, I’m pretty sure China and Russia would be willing to supply the Right with everything they want and the 2nd Amendment will be irrelevant.
As with climate change, we’ve almost certainly already passed the point of no return. I see no plausible way to get semi-automatic assault rifles out of general circulation.
If, beginning today, we don’t inject any more carbon into the atmosphere, we’re still going to face massive problems, likely including mass migration and species extinctions, in the future. If there were never another AK-15 style rifle sold, the future would still look bleak on that front. I doubt we could ever stop black market ammunition.
WereBear
@Ruckus: You are sadly correct.
Easier than ever to live only in one’s own head, as well.
Ruckus
@debbie:
The military likes 18 yr olds. Because they are moldable to a greater degree than say 25 yr olds. Don’t know if still true but they allowed 17 yr olds to enlist. Couldn’t actually go into a war zone and that I didn’t understand. I went in at 20, almost 21, and that made me one of the oldest out of 80 guys in my company. The outlook is entirely different in those 2-3 yrs and it was never more obvious than in boot camp, where you are expected to do everything together and you really don’t think the same way.
Chris T.
@CNYExpat: Huh, not far from where I grew up (but further away than the elementary school I did go to).
dnfree
@Dorothy A. Winsor: you are correct on the drinking age. The federal government just withheld funds from states that didn’t raise the age. Wisconsin held out for quite a while, resulting in the deaths of northern Illinois teens who would cross the border to drink and then drive back.
For a long time before that, the Illinois drinking age was 21 for males, 18 for females. Figure that out.
JPL
Looks like the Durham investigation was a bust. Sussman acquitted after six-hour deliberation.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Sussman acquitted.
The gigantic mustache of harrumpiness is greatly saddened.
Sure Lurkalot
@Old School: Well, the “few would claim a constitutional right to own a grenade launcher” posits the number that would is non-zero. And the “where that line could be constitutionally drawn” leaves a lot of room between the types of guns we appear to have accepted now and the grenade launchers for a lot of horrific weapons.
zhena gogolia
WaPo is reminding me that inflation and gas prices are the most important things happening in the world right now. I miss Marty.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@JPL: @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Excellent!
dnfree
@lowtechcyclist: I was still 20 when I graduated from college, so I couldn’t even drink legally until I’d been working several months. That was in the sixties, but these days there are college students who get their high school and associate (junior college) degree at the same time, as well as kids who took a lot of AP classes. So that’s probably not as unusual as it was in my time.
Geminid
@JPL: I followed that trial some via Marcy Wheeler’s Twitter account and the acquittal is not surprising. Durham’s team grasped at straws and tried to make a criminal case out of them. Testimony did show deficiencies in the FBI’s investigation of the Trump-Alfa Bank connection which the defendent tried to alert them to.
taumaturgo
@Baud: One doesn’t exclude the other, to wit, the MAGA movement and before them the patriots. I guess my question is, where is the democrats “movement?”
AncientOne
The “militias” spoken of in the Second Amendment were actually “slave patrols.” The slave-owning states refused to sign on to the Constitution unless they were given assurances their slave patrols wouldn’t be disarmed by the federal government. Slaves outnumbered slave owners and without their “militias,” there would have been slave uprisings all across the South. The Second Amendment was never meant to put guns into the hands of every person who wanted a gun. It was meant to protect slave owners. My personal opinion is, the Second Amendment is Karma gettin’ us for our unrepentant sins of the past.
CNYExpat
@Chris T.: I’d seen the WaPo headline but hadn’t realized that the new school is in Gaithersburg. We were in that neck of the woods just yesterday, hiking in Seneca Creek State Park (my first visit: gorgeous).
Kay
My husband is an extrovert so really suffered during the pandemic. Like my youngest child he was diminished – they really require other people- which is fine. But now he’s accepting every single invite anywhere, and that’s on top of the plans he’s instigating himself- often complex plans that involve travel and coordination – a kind of pent up demand. I wonder if this is true for other extroverts- this kind of frantic socializing.
Fair Economist
@lowtechcyclist:
That makes sense.
Kay
“We’ll fly into Syracuse…” to see these people I barely remember from 20 years ago for like…9 hours. It’s like he has six months to live and has decided to spend it seeing everyone he has ever met. Just VOLUME.
stinger
@La Nonna: Please adopt me.
Steeplejack
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Yes, everybody needs to be reverified, since we, uh, lost our goddamn database, which includes the table of nyms and email addresses. Once a front-pager approves your moderated comment, you should be good to go for future comments, assuming you checked “Save my info” beneath the comment box.
You may be interested in this to prettify your nym. (The first comment will go into moderation, of course.)
Steeplejack
Okay, now I saw this. And I lost my previous comment, which I was trying to edit. Just as well, probably.
Miss Bianca
@lowtechcyclist: I must say, I like this approach.
Doug R
@JPL:
Pictures on the internet?
Is this the 21st century or something?
We’ll take our stories with onions on our belts, thank you very much.
StringOnAStick
We had thought hard about moving to Canada when Bush was re-elected, mainly because we had good friends there. Life and ailing relatives stopped us, and now that we’re over 50, immigration is not allowed, so those of you who are kicking around the idea need to take a hard look at what it takes before it’s too late.
Calouste
@StringOnAStick: If you have 350,000 euros to buy a house, you can get a residency permit in Portugal, and citizenship in a few years. No age limit. And life’s pretty cheap there.
lowtechcyclist
@Miss Bianca: Thanks!
I figure it didn’t need to be said flat out that if there aren’t ten righteous Senate Republicans, then the GOP should be nuked from orbit, but the implication is certainly there.
lowtechcyclist
@Calouste: I think you mean *living* is cheap there. ‘Life is cheap there’ has a whole different implication.
Citizen Alan
@StringOnAStick:
Tell me about it. I had actually taken the preliminary steps towards moving to Canada in 2005, and my mother guilt tripped me out of it. Made me promise not to leave Mississippi until she and my father were dead. My father died in 2014, and she died this past Saturday. And here I sit, too old, too sick, and too poor or to go anywhere.
artem1s
@debbie:
The starting place really needs to be with insurance. Auto insurance rates are based on risk. Homeowners and health insurance should also be based on risk. You want the death machine in your house? Pay more liability insurance for it.get caught making a claim without having declared you have a death machine in your house? denial of claim.
want to buy a gun – prove you have insurance to cover the lawsuit when you accidentally on purpose go on rampage
Dopey-o
The reason that Mexico has so much gun violence is the direct consequence of Americans buying cartel-supplied drugs.
Mexico has long had an unfathomable murder rate, but American drug users have sentenced thousands of Mexicans to death.
We could put an end to this, but like the 90% in favor of background checks, getting up from the couch is just too much damned work for some.
lowtechcyclist
Well, shit. Both of us are well past 50, so that takes care of that idea. Canada also has the appeal of being habitable for longer as the world continues to heat up.
Two rabbits
@lowtechcyclist: you might dig into it deeper. Pretty sure there is an investment option at any age. But you must put $1 million Canadian into some business.
or certain professions were in short supply and exceptions are made.
The cheap standby is to go for 6 months, come over the border (how long?) then go back. Cheap flights to Cuba or Mexico might help. And there is a French island off the east coast that might count.
Hamlet of Melnibone
@OzarkHillbilly: The thing that fascinated me about the bribes that the Mexican police took when I was there for Spring Break back in the day is that they seemed to have rules that they followed about them.
We never got hassled if we weren’t doing anything wrong, which was nice.
I had a friend drive drunk who paid a $50 bribe to go on his way.
My favorite was my friend who got caught smoking pot though. Apparently he was too scared and messed up to really understand that they were asking for a bribe, so eventually they just took his wallet from him, took one of two fifties he had, and then sent him on his way. They left one of the fifties. It was like a fine with a set amount. They could’ve taken both fifties, but they didn’t.
That has always fascinated me.