Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Let’s finish the job.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

T R E 4 5 O N

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

This really is a full service blog.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    Old Man Shadow

    Is the “background check” just

    1. Are you a convicted felon, check Yes or No.
    2. Do you plan to kill anyone? Check Yes or No.
  3. 3.

    citizen dave

    Republicans R Gun Murderers.

     

    Policies I support:

    Minimum assault ( very wide class) gun age: 100

    Minimum other guns age: 50

    Tons of annual training required, like a week or two.

    Ammo minimum cost: $  5000/round (using an old Chris Rock routine).

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    @citizen dave:

    Some additions.

    Should be one month of training, 40 hrs per week, any day or time missed requires starting over, to get a permit to purchase a weapon.

    Minimum 2 weeks of annual retraining in the safe storage and use of a projectile weapon.

    All purchases are cash only, no checks or credit of any kind for gun or ammunition purchases.

    No permit issued if any felony convictions of any resident of the permit location.

    No semi automatic long guns.

    No semi automatic pistols can hold more than 6 rounds.

    OK that’s a start.

  5. 5.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @citizen dave: Ammo minimum cost: $  5000/round (using an old Chris Rock routine).

    Tax the shit out of it like with tobacco.

  6. 6.

    Raoul Paste

    Well, of course he went out and got an AR 15.  He was having pain from back surgery, and he was  mad at his doctor.  What other possible solution was there?

    Devo was right

  8. 8.

    germy

    Saratoga Sheriff: Golf course fireworks lead to Ballston Spa school lock downs Thursday morning

    Fireworks at a golf course Thursday morning led to lock downs at three Ballston Spa schools as the fireworks led to reports of shots fired, Saratoga County Sheriff’s officials said.

    An investigation into the shots fired reports quickly led to the golf course and fireworks set off to signify the beginning of a tournament, officials said.

    https://dailygazette.com/2022/06/02/saratoga-sheriff-golf-course-fireworks-lead-to-ballston-spa-school-lock-downs-thursday-morning/

  10. 10.

    Ruckus

    @SpaceUnit:

    I like it but shouldn’t it be seven minutes? That’s how long it took for George Floyd’s body to relax as he was being murdered. (The last 2 1/2 minutes were just done to insure that the murder was successful)

  12. 12.

    Alce_e_ardillo

    @Ruckus:

    Should be one month of training, 40 hrs per week, any day or time missed requires starting over, to get a permit to purchase a weapon.

    Minimum 2 weeks of annual retraining in the safe storage and use of a projectile weapon.

    All training done a Parris Island with the meanest loudest Marine DI available.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    Require liability insurance. I don’t see how that contradicts whatever bullshit they say is in the Second Amendment. Require it for each weapon; imagine the hoarders’ horror!

  17. 17.

    oatler

    I  remember Homer Simpson  on gun control. “Five days? But I’m mad now!”

  19. 19.

    Bill K

    All the guns used in crimes in this country were legally made and legally sold.

  20. 20.

    piratedan

    always imagined the best way to solve the guns issue was to make it an insurance issue.  Your gun gets used in a crime, you’re liable.  You own a gun, your insurance rates go up, say three to four times what they are now.  You have to get training and show proof or proper storage to get a 5-10% discount.  The more rounds it holds, the higher the cost.

    no one is saying you can’t own a gun, its just now that it COSTS a damn sight more and if you go off the deep end, you’re liable, for all of the fallout.

    If they can ping you for unhealthy eating habits and trampolines, they can damn sure figure this out too.

  21. 21.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ruckus: And a couple of my own:

    No open carry on public property or in sight of a public thoroughfare, except for during hunting season in areas where hunting is allowed.

    No concealed carry without a permit.  The permit must specify the need, and cannot authorize carry at places and times when that specific need does not apply.

    Also, if the need for the concealed carry permit consists of having to visit a neighborhood that the applicant claims is dangerous, then that need also applies to the residents of that neighborhood, who have to live with that danger continually.  If such a concealed carry permit is approved, the residents will be informed that, should they wish to apply for a concealed carry permit, they are not required to demonstrate a need, as that has been done for them.

  22. 22.

    Deputinize Eurasia from The Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @piratedan:

    But then how could every slackjaw in a shitty trailer afford an arsenal?

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    @Old School:

    On occasion the FTFNYT does surprise.

    @debbie:

    And set the minimum insurance amount for each weapon.

    Of course that does mean that only rich cocksuckers could have arsenals.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    @Alce_e_ardillo:

    All training done at Parris Island with the meanest loudest Marine DI available.

    There is still MCRD in San Diego.

    I believe that is every single one of them is the meanest, that’s the minimum requirement to become a Marine DI.

  27. 27.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ruckus:

    And set the minimum insurance amount for each weapon.

    Of course that does mean that only rich cocksuckers could have arsenals.

    I’d be OK with that: doesn’t seem like many of these mass shooters are rich.

    Sure, if we have a civil war or everything falls apart, they’ve got the guns, but if either of these happens, that’ll be the least of our worries.

  28. 28.

    lowtechcyclist

    @GoBlueInOak: Well of course, the answer to guns is always more guns.  Like dealing with one’s alcoholism by going out and getting drunk some more.

  29. 29.

    TriassicSands

    @Old Man Shadow:

    1. Are you a convicted felon, check Yes or No.

    2. Do you plan to kill anyone within 500 feet of this shop? Check Yes or No.

    3. Have a nice day.

  30. 30.

    leeleeFL

    @debbie: One might say that’s under “well regulated”.  I wish I could stop being as angry as I am, for just a few minutes. But, no, that’s not gonna happen again, EVER!

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    @Deputinize Eurasia from The Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    Not sure the trailer is the cause of the problem.

     

    Also, just as an aside, there will likely always be projectile weapons of some type in our lives. We’ve had 4 presidents assassinated, all of them by being shot and if that doesn’t get projectile weapons better controlled, I doubt anything will.

  33. 33.

    Poe Larity

    They would not let me take my comfort Glock in for my blood test.

    And the real problem isn’t that the legal age is too low, it’s that there are age limits. McCardle Gunman swarming playbooks aside, if just one student had been packing no one would even think to go into a classroom.

  34. 34.

    Another Scott

    Pierce is covering the House hearings.

    Jim Jordan is howling about hardening the schools. Jim Jordan knows something about hardening in schools.#Buckeyes

    — Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 2, 2022

    Ooof.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    I can’t imagine Louis was just an ordinary calm and collected guy when he purchased the AR-15 shortly before going on his murder spree. Don’t dealers have the discretion to refuse to sell to someone they think might be a bit hinky?

  36. 36.

    TriassicSands

    @piratedan:

    Red States would create funds to help finance the purchase and maintenance of weapons.

    Peter Thiel donates $5,000,000.00. $500,000,000.00.

    No American should be without a semi-automatic assault rifle.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    @GoBlueInOak: 

    Teachers aren’t going to do it though because they’re sensible. The “teachers packing guns” gambit has been a big flop, even here- rural, red and lousy with guns.

    It’s just more of their bullshit. They can say they did 15 minutes worth of work on something gun-related.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Alternate headline: Unarmed Mountain Lion Kills no Children after Entering School thru Unlocked Door.

    A mountain lion entered a California school on Wednesday morning and was safely confined in a classroom, authorities said. All students and staff at Pescadero high school in the town of Pescadero were safe, the San Mateo county sheriff’s office said in a social media post.

    “Staff and Deputies have been able to isolate the puma to a classroom and there is no immediate threat,” the post said. The USFish and Wildlife Service was notified to come to the school and remove the cougar.

  41. 41.

    Kevin

    Tax it like crazy and require liability insurance like a car. No issue with the second amendment. You wanna play, you pay. At least it’s something.

  42. 42.

    Ohio Mom

    I remember reading — guess I could google it to confirm my memory — that there were efforts to scientifically research gun safety but that’s been blocked.

    The analogy is cars. There are always going to be collisions and accidents, some are going to be lethal. But we’ve methodically researched car and road design and made driving safer by increments, and continue to do so.

    I’d like to base gun policies on data. Though no argument that we have all the data we need to ban semi-automatics or assault rifles or whatever you want to call them.

  43. 43.

    SpaceUnit

    Ultimately, of course, we need to just repeal the 2nd Amendment.  It’s archaic as fuck.

    And that’s a political impossibility now, but a boy can dream.

  44. 44.

    TriassicSands

    @Kay:

    I saw a national poll that said that 18-20% of teachers would gladly be armed in their classrooms.

    Frightening.

  45. 45.

    TriassicSands

    @debbie:  Don’t dealers have the discretion to refuse to sell to someone they think might be a bit hinky?

    The dealers are all a bit hinky.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ohio Mom: We were talking about this the other day at OTB:
    As the GOP made sure of for 25 years: “An awful lot of untouched questions.” The state of U.S. gun violence research

    In the past two weeks, the United States has seen two horrific high-profile mass shootings: A racially motivated attack at a Buffalo grocery store left 10 dead on 14 May, and a shooter at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killed 2 adults and 19 children on 24 May. Guns are now the number one cause of death in U.S. children, overtaking automobile accidents, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    For years, researchers including Rebecca Cunningham, an emergency room physician and gun violence researcher at the University of Michigan, have been sounding the alarm on the need for more scientific study of the causes of gun violence and ways to prevent it. But “historically, funding was very kneecapped,” says Cunningham, because beginning in 1996 Congress barred the CDC from spending money “to advocate or promote gun control.” In 2020, however, lawmakers set aside $25 million for the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the issue.
    “Now, there is some money for this research — but it’s still massively underfunded,” Cunningham says, especially compared with research for cancer or other diseases that kill children. ScienceInsider recently spoke with Cunningham about the current state of U.S. gun violence research and what she thinks is needed. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.​

    eta: As I pointed out in a later comment, I would expect there would be further appropriations for research, but in my limited googling I found no mention of any. $25 million ain’t shit.

  47. 47.

    different-church-lady

    @citizen dave: 2nd amend says right to bear arms shall not be infringed.

    Doesn’t say a thing about the right to make or sell arms.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    We had a wingnut superintendent make a big deal out of it when it first came out but it’s a dumb idea and luckily individual staff members are smart enough to know that, and declined the offer.

    They’re now just recycling the dumb ideas on a loop.

    I listened to (now Senator) Mark Kelly testify on what an attack with one of these weapons is like in Congress. It’s seconds and scores of people are dead. I would assume he had a lot of training as an astronaut and he said people are WILDLY overestimating their ability to respond. He was unsure any effective response in the moment was possible because by the time you register it’s happening it’s well underway.

  50. 50.

    Mike in NC

    Old enough to remember a Far Side cartoon in which an angry clown is looking at a display case filled with pistols and saying, “Laugh at me, will they?!”

  52. 52.

    Jager

    @Alce_e_ardillo: 
    Don’t forget the daily PT, limited visits to the PX, and no passes during training. No beards and white sidewall haircuts are required, and you must pass the PT test to graduate.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I’ve seen a couple of tweets suggesting minds could be changed if photographs were published showing the condition of bodies after they’ve been torn to shreds.

    I’m sure it would change minds, but jesus. Last week’s This American Life highlighted a Sandy Hook parent’s fight against Alex Jones and other trolls. Among other things, the trolls said the attack was fake because no one ever saw any photos of the bodies. This tells me they have zero idea what those weapons can do to a body. Maybe they need to be forced to see them.

  54. 54.

    BRyan

    One thing that truly puzzles me in all of this back-and-forth about gun control is that all the while we’re talking about background checks and waiting periods and the like (none of which seems likely to happen anytime soon, if ever) — which measures, while they would be a start, are, to my mind, just nibbling around the very edges of a massive problem —

    state after state keeps blithely loosening what few restrictions there are.  26 states have adopted permitless concealed carry? Frequently with an attendant abandonment of requiring any training whatsoever in the use of firearms?  And perhaps because this is happening at the state level, seems to happen under the radar. But it doesn’t seem like there’s any correlation between what gun control advocates are minimally pushing for and the reality in the individual states where controls are becoming more and more lax. The directions are completely in opposition to each other, and I don’t see how what’s being suggested at the national level addresses that reality.  I’d sure like to be wrong.

  56. 56.

    Kathleen

    I fully expect Ohio Rethuglicans will next pass “Stand Your Womb” legislation which will require fetuses to carry guns. You heard it here first.

  57. 57.

    lee

    @lowtechcyclist:

    No open carry on public property or in sight of a public thoroughfare, except for during hunting season in areas where hunting is allowed.

    Honestly this right here would prevent a significant number. Just being able to call the police and point out a nutter walking down the street with a weapon might be enough (as long as they actually did something).

  58. 58.

    lee

    @SpaceUnit: I’m been pointing at that solution for several years.

    It seems to be getting slightly more traction recently (still won’t happen).

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    An interesting review of historical state gun laws – Duke.edu (29 page .pdf):

    A. Gun Bans

    A handful of laws established outright, categorical bans that criminalized the sale or exchange of firearms.33 All were enacted in the post–Civil War era. Six of the seven state bans— in Arkansas,34 Kansas,35 Texas,36 and three in Tennessee37— were of pistols. The seventh, from Wyoming, banned all firearms— both handguns and long guns — from “any city, town, or village.”38 Arkansas also banned any sale or transfer of pistols, except for those in military use.39

    Subsequent categories of gun laws also include specific bans on particular types of weapons, like automatic weapons, and on weapons accessories, like silencers.  These laws, and a few to come, make clear that gun banning — while not common—was not the sole province of 1960s anti-gun liberals.

    Much more at the link.

    The SCOTUS did a huge disservice to the country in DC v Heller, but even there they said that regulation was permitted.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    Lapassionara

    @Ohio Mom: safer cars resulted from several trends that began in the 1960’s, when Congress passed the National Highway Transit Safety Act and when courts began adopting the crashworthiness doctrine. Once auto manufacturers were liable of injuries linked to unsafe vehicles, they began to focus on occupant protection. Insurers also brought pressure, through the Insurance Institute for Highway safety.

    when Congress gave gun manufacturers protection from lawsuits, it interrupted any similar process that might have taken place with respect to assault rifles.

  62. 62.

    Kay

    @debbie: 

    The Dayton attack was probably best case. In the street, so not a contained area, cops really close by – five responded and killed the shooter in 35 seconds. Still. Nine dead, 17 wounded.
    That’s what Kelly was trying to get across. That it’s simply too fast and deadly for people to respond to in the way they see in movies. He didn’t think he could respond quickly enough.

  63. 63.

    debbie

    Well, not even cemeteries are safe spaces anymore:

    At 2:26pm there were multiple shots fired at Graceland Cemetery. There are victims but unknown how many at this time. The scene is still active and being investigated.

    We will update you when more details become available.

    Thank you!
    — Racine Police (@RacinePD) June 2, 2022

  65. 65.

    SpaceUnit

    @lee:

    Not in the foreseeable future.  The gun is the political right’s most precious symbol.

  68. 68.

    TheOtherHank

    I still think forbidding private ownership of semi-automatics or guns with detachable magazines is the way to go. You can own as many guns as you want, but you have to load them one bullet at a time and manually chamber a round every time you fire.

  69. 69.

    Matt McIrvin

    @piratedan: Laws actually forbidding insurance companies from engaging in rational behavior that conflicts with right-wing principles seem to be all the rage now. It’s understandable–we consider higher principles than maximizing profit when regulating health insurance–but the “free-market” right can evidently play this game too.

  70. 70.

    Matt McIrvin

    @TheOtherHank: That would definitely help with mass shootings. It would not help with the vast bulk of gun homicides/suicides, which are done with handguns. But one thing at a time, I guess.

  71. 71.

    debbie

    The real mental illness is not being able to see how flooding the streets with automatic weapons is the problem.— Really American (@ReallyAmerican1) June 2, 2022

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    @Ruckus:

    We’ve had 4 presidents assassinated, all of them by being shot and if that doesn’t get projectile weapons better controlled, I doubt anything will.

    It did, though.  There was a substantial gun control movement after the Kennedy assassination, which resulted in notable reforms like banning gun sales through the mail.  But like so many reforms in this country, the people who wanted to undermine them kept working at it while the people who had enacted them relaxed.

  77. 77.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Kay:

    The Dayton attack was probably best case. In the street, so not a contained area, cops really close by – five responded and killed the shooter in 35 seconds. Still. Nine dead, 17 wounded.
    That’s what Kelly was trying to get across. That it’s simply too fast and deadly for people to respond to in the way they see in movies. He didn’t think he could respond quickly enough.

    How could anyone?? Like you say, I think that’s as good as it gets in terms of ‘good guy with a gun’ response.  The solution is to make sure nobody owns a gun capable of firing 26 bullets in 35 seconds, or even close.

    I don’t have to know shit about what’s a clip and what’s a magazine to know that that’s way too many bullets and way too much killing in too short a time for people to have a Constitutional right to own a weapon that can ruin so many lives on the spur of the moment.

    They say the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Would be nice if the Bogus Scotus backed that up with their upcoming ruling. But I’m sure not placing much hope in it.

  79. 79.

    Mike in NC

    I got an email that linked to a story about tough guy Governor Death Sentence, who plans to create a Florida State Guard of 400 volunteers. I thought it was a joke, but NO! A personal bodyguard but no clarification on whether they’ll be issued with brown shirts or orange ones.

  80. 80.

    emrys

    In case no one has mentioned it yet, Eleven Films has a new short out called Awaken Dawn.  Well worth the 3 minutes.  No I don’t have a url.  I saw it on Kevin Kruse’s Twitter feed and I am too much of a Luddite to figure out how to post it here.

    if someone has already posted this, never mind.

  81. 81.

    Gravenstone

    @TriassicSands: 18-20% of Americans are unreconstructed and unrepentant assholes. So that prospective cohort of armed teachers are just filling their statistically mandated roles. 

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    @emrys: Thanks for the pointer.  To Embed a Tweet, go to the Tweet of interest, click the 3-vertical-button menu, click “Embed Tweet”, follow the prompts.

    Return here, click the Text tab on the Leave a Content edit box, paste the embedded code.

    Do any additional comments, and you’re done.

    NEW ELEVEN FILMS: #AwakenDawn

    No more thoughts and prayers.

    Only action will save our kids.

    It's time to #AwakenDawn

    SOUND UP pic.twitter.com/zoe7sMQxQH

    — Eleven Films (@Eleven_Films) June 1, 2022

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    the pollyanna from hell

    My roommate said, “I know your bitter disappointment that you couldn’t witness tfg and cruz congratulating each others manly courage to attend nra.”
    Two healthy predators, I replied, conspiring to advance the population cycle to its catastrophic inflection point. A metaphor, or my theory of the mechanism that brings Cole’s metaphor of epitaph?

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @The Moar You Know:

    Right – which is why he was testifying- but his point was that people think there is going to be some hero opportunity and there just isn’t time.

    Because even if you were trained you are not, in fact, on a battlefield with a mental state of readiness – you’re wandering around a grocery store – you won’t expect it and you won’t be able to recognize it, recover and then do something. It’s over by then.

  86. 86.

    Quiltingfool

    @Kay: I think the school insurance companies will charge districts that allow teachers to carry guns a shitpot of money.  Insurance companies don’t want the big payouts that would inevitably follow if someone gets shot by a teacher at school.

  87. 87.

    Peale

    @Kay: Armed volunteer veterans patrolling the halls! I wonder what happened to all those armed volunteer veterans who were the solution trotted out ten years ago. Did they ever show up?

    of course those armed volunteer veterans wouldn’t do jack crap after weeks and weeks of nothing ever happening. And there’s be dozens killed before the armed volunteer veteran jumped to action.

    I’ll bet a fair percentage of those police standing around doing nothing last week were veterans.

  89. 89.

    cain

    @GoBlueInOak: ​
     
    What happens when it is the teacher that goes nuts and starts shooting people? What will they do then? What happens if a child grabs a gun and shoots a lot of people, what will they do then?

  90. 90.

    cain

    @TriassicSands: Yes, frightening – which means that many others are not going to be want to be in a school with other teachers perhaps teachers they don’t like packing heat.

    ETA – I mean, maybe my employer should also let me pack heat – I bet my performance reviews will be so much better with my gun. Especially if my gun is better than my manager’s gun.

  94. 94.

    Ella in New Mexico

    I’m really interested in hearing details about the Oklahoma killer’s medical and psychological history.

    In my experience patients in severe pain don’t usually resort to mass murder to get pain treatment. He had to have other issues.

    I’m guessing a previous history of violence or mental illness, and given his back pain diagnosis that I’m sure has been around a while, even more likely had gotten a lot of opioids in the past. This meant he needed even higher doses to help post-operative pain and either his doc wasn’t comfortable prescibing them or he wasnt’ getting them fast enough.

  95. 95.

    Lyrebird

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    I wish I could find what I think was an old LGM post.  Mental illness in general is correlated with LESS violence, last I’d heard, and the poster had found research saying that the previous violence history, like you were wondering, was the best predictor.

    Maybe someone here has more accurate or up to date info.  The original poster was understandably frustrated that one of the best predictors, having been caught fighting at bars or beating up your family members, was one that would probably never fly.

     

    IANAL.  I forget which is more frequent: being arrested, charged, booked, etc.  And I think the research looked at the most frequent one, and it definitely went with higher rates of gun violence.

  96. 96.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @Lyrebird: just because the majority of mentally ll folks won’t be violent doesn’t mean that a significant proportion of violent people are not also mentally ill.

    I’m also betting we need updated research on this as that research is decades old. Esp given the incredible amount of outreach to homeless and mentally ill over the past 1-2 decades, we should be seeing a drop in crime amoung this population, instead we’re seeing increases across the nation.

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