Tag Archives: gun control

“Furious” Gabrielle Giffords Says Senate Shamed Itself

NewserApril 18, 2013 //

It was “political fear” and “cold calculations” that drove a Senate minority to block a gun background-check measure yesterday. But “that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets,” writes Gabrielle Giffords in a blistering New York Times op-ed. Some of those senators have met with Newtown victims, “have looked into my eyes” as Giffords discussed her own shooting. Yet, despite polls showing overwhelming support for the measure, “then they looked over their shoulder at the powerful, shadowy gun lobby—and brought shame on themselves by choosing to do nothing.” Read more on Newser…

President Obama Responds To Senate Gun Control Vote

Amelia McDonell-ParryApril 17, 2013 //

"This is a shameful day for Washington."

Today, in a 54-to-46 vote, the Senate voted against a compromised proposal that would have expanded background checks on firearm sales. This, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans, including card-carrying NRA members, supported the measure. The parents of many of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, four months ago sat in the room as the Senate voted. Above, President Obama reacts to the vote and has some strong words for those politicians who voted against the proposal, calling it “a shameful day for Washington.” But he’s also clear that this fight is not over. (The playlist above breaks Obama’s remarks into two parts.)

Fearing Guns

How a gun-loving West Texas girl learned to fear assault weapons. Read More »

Teachers With Guns

Meet the Texas town which allows teachers to carry guns. Read More »

The Soapbox: Gun Control

You don't have to be a parent to worry about guns. Read More »

Senate Rejects Tougher Background Checks

NewserApril 17, 2013 //

As predicted, the Senate today rejected a bipartisan effort to expand federal background checks on gun purchasers. The proposal would have required checks for all transactions at gun shows and online. The 54-46 vote was a blow to the drive to curb firearms sparked by December’s massacre of children and staff in Newtown. The roll call was also a victory for the National Rifle Association, which opposed the plan as an ineffective infringement on gun rights. Read more on Newser…

“If Babies Had Guns, They Wouldn’t Be Aborted,” Says Republican Politician

Jessica WakemanApril 12, 2013 //

PP Attacked With Ax

Man vandalizes Indiana Planned Parenthood with an ax. Read More »

Tiller Clinic To Reopen

The Kansas abortion clinic operated by Dr. George Tiller will reopen. Read More »

Our Favorite Republican

... says male legislators "shouldn't even vote" on abortion bills. Read More »

Yeah, that’s an actual thing an elected official said. Like, for real. Republican Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas tweeted the remark today, which is cringeworthy on multiple levels — not the least of which shooting people with guns doesn’t sound very “pro-life” to me. Perhaps in his own well-documented twisted mind Stockman thinks that owning guns means you’re just protecting yourself, ergo fetuses (“babies”) need protection from big, bad Planned Parenthood; but this reads to me as an allusion to clinic violence against doctors who perform abortions. Dr. George Tiller was, after all, murdered by an anti-abortion extremist with a gun.

Ugh. There’s believing in a right to bear arms and there’s being a gun nut who suggests children should have guns. [Raw Story]

Ann Coulter Calls For Meghan McCain To Be Killed. Yes, Really.

Jessica WakemanApril 11, 2013 //

Meghan In Therapy

The talking head saw a therapist over trashing of her body. Read More »

Slutshaming

Don't call Meghan McCain a "slut." Read More »

Glenn Beck Hurts Meghan

Glenn Beck made barfing noises talking about Meghan McCain's body. Read More »

wtf?!?!

Remiss as I am to give Ann Coulter any attention, this is just obscene: the Fox News commenter wrote a blog post in which she suggested Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain and a Republican commentator, should be killed.

Coulter blogged on Fox about MSNBC host Martin Bashir, mis-stating (as NYMag.com explains) that he had suggested Republican senators wouldn’t support gun control unless they had members of their families killed:

“MSNBC’s Martin Bashir suggested that Republican senators need to have a member of their families killed for them to support the Democrats’ gun proposals. (Let’s start with Meghan McCain!)”

Yup, she just suggested that John McCain’s daughter should be murdered. Really, Ann Coulter? Keep reading »

RIP Society: Fifth Grade Boys Plotted To Rape, Murder Female Classmate

Jessica WakemanApril 1, 2013 //

Teach Boys Not To Rape

On Steubenville High School and teaching boys not to rape. Read More »

CNN on Steubenville

They're mourning the lives of the rapists. Read More »

Teaching Boys Feminism

How to teach boys to be feminists. Read More »

rip society

When I was a 10-year-old, the worst thing a boy did to me was put Scotch tape in my hair. If only! Proof that society is going down the toilet: two fifth grade boys in Colville, Washington, have first-degree murder conspiracy charges against them for plotting to rape and kill their female classmate. They were discovered on February 7 after a child saw one of the boys playing with a knife on the school bus; in a backpack, the kids had a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol (stolen from a family member) and ammunition. One of the boys explained, “She’s rude and always made fun of me and my friends.” Keep reading »

Meet Natalie Foster, The Woman The NRA Thinks Will Make You Buy A Gun

Jessica WakemanMarch 29, 2013 //

Domestic Violence & Guns

Vice President Joe Biden says we need to reduce domestic violence via guns. Read More »

Fearing Guns

How a gun-loving West Texas girl learned to fear assault weapons. Read More »

The Soapbox: Gun Control

You don't have to be a parent to worry about guns. Read More »

Meet The NRA's New Commentator

This week, the National Rifle Association debuted Natalie Foster as the new video commentator for its website, the NRA News Network, to drum up support for the Second Amendment.

Blonde and telegenic, Foster already blogs for her own site, Girls Guide To Guns, “dedicated to women who dig fashion and fire power,” in which she writes about gun ownership as well as girly tips, like New Year’s cocktails and how to look “extra cute” at a gun range. Her site also includes a list of female-friendly shooting ranges. The NRA News Network (which, by the way, is not exactly espousing “news” if these people are editorializing commentators, which they are) also debuted two other new commentators who are both men. Colion Noir, who is black, is an “urban gun enthusiast” and Dom Raso is a veteran. Altogether, the three are meant to appeal to demographics the NRA desperately wants to reach.

But it’s Natalie Foster who is most disconcerting. I don’t doubt the sincerity of her love for shooting at all. In fact, her website is actually kind of cool. But Foster’s involvement with the NRA is calculated to only pose gun ownership as good for women, appropriating the language of the feminist movement to do so. In her intro video, she drops the E-word, explaining how she was “empowered” by learning to shoot a gun. She also poses gun ownership for women as a choice akin to abortion: “Our culture is all about women being able to choose for themselves and if you’re going to be able to choose what you do with your body, why aren’t we able to defend our bodies?” Foster isn’t free from gun-related machismo, either: She swoons over her favorite gun and says shooting it makes her “feel like a badass.” Keep reading »

Addressing Domestic Violence Means Addressing Gun Violence, Says Joe Biden

Jessica WakemanMarch 14, 2013 //

Vice President Joe Biden announced 12 grants to programs around the country to protect potential victims of domestic violence at the hands of their abusers. Noting that between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings began with a man shooting an intimate partner, Biden emphasized, “The issue of domestic violence and reducing gun violence are connected.” [Think Progress, USA Today, White House]
Survivors of military sexual violence testified before the Senate this week. [Los Angeles Times]
Anna Wintour got a promotion within Conde Nast and already people are “concerned” about what this powerful woman is going to do. [Madame Noire] Keep reading »

Domestic Violence Advice

... from a prosecutor who has seen it all. Read More »

I Witnessed DV

Jessica watched a man commit domestic violence while bystanders did nothing. Read More »

I Was Abused

Judy McGuire was physically abused by a boyfriend. Read More »

Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt Are The Best Argument For Gun Control

Julie GersteinFebruary 19, 2013 //

Speidi Ready For Doomsday

Because nothing says "it's the end of the world" like Speidi. Read More »

Speidi's Fake Divorce

The "Hills" couple faked splitting up -- to get a TV show. Read More »

Speidi Frolics!

They're not getting divorced after all, rawrrrrr! Read More »

Remember Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, the hydra-headed beast that terrorized Lauren Conrad, Brody Jenner and America during the mid-oughts via their appearances on “The Hills” and “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here”? Well, guess what? Despite going broke after spending all their money on crystals, plastic surgery and pre-Mayan Apocalypse tomfoolery (really), these two jackals are back. With guns. The now-bankrupt pair say that they keep guns in their California home in order to protect themselves from crazy fans that may break in. Which, HAHA, Speidi fans. The pair were recently featured in a UK documentary, appropriately titled “Speidi: Scandal, Secrets And Surgery,” where they bragged about their well-stocked gun room.

“I didn’t feel safe especially with crazed fans and stalkers out there but if somebody broke into our home, this is the only thing that could actually save my life,” said Heidi, while Spencer boasted that though England was an “amazing country,” his gun arsenal was proof of “the amazing laws in America.”

The pair are set to appear on a second season of the UK’s “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here,” because the British have apparently not reached their Speidi quota. Okay, what’s going on over in England? [Daily Mail UK]

90 Women Murdered By Intimate Partners Or Family Members In The 8 Weeks Since The Newtown Massacre

Jessica WakemanFebruary 6, 2013 //

The gun lobby says us ladies need guns to protect ourselves. But reporter Melissa Jeltsen at the Huffington Post paints a different picture: guns in the hands of abusive partners kill women. A lot of women. People who have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence or who have a DV restraining order against them can’t legally purchase guns — so how do you explain far too many women being murdered with guns by partners or family? [Huffington Post]
Did former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just launch a website for her her 2016 presidential run? Or is it just, you know, a pretty website? [The Stir]

Keep reading »

Color Of Domestic Violence