Bryan Schatz and Mark Follman at Mother Jones writes
The Gun Lobby Blames the Charleston Mass Shooting on "Gun-Free Zones":
In the aftermath of the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, gun rights activists and their allies in the conservative media are once again blaming "gun-free zones," arguing that an armed citizen could have otherwise been at the church to stop the attack. As Mother Jones has previously reported, there has never been any evidence that mass shooters picked their targets based on gun regulations; to the contrary, data from scores of cases shows perpetrators had other specific motivations for where they attacked, including racial hatred, as is strongly suspected to be the case in Charleston. The idea that armed citizens stop crimes in the United States has also been wildly exaggerated by the gun lobby, as a new study reaffirms.
One of the gun lobby's key talking points is that firearms are frequently used in self-defense—as often as 2.5 million times per year. The widely repeated claim has its origins in a 1993 telephone survey conducted by a pro-gun researcher, and while the numbers have since been walked back to some degree, the National Rifle Association asserts there are at least three-quarters of a million defensive gun uses per year. But a new report from the Violence Policy Center analyzing federal data shows that even this claim is way overstated. America's legions of "good guys with guns," in other words, are a myth (and not least when it comes to mass shootings). [...]
Using FBI data, the study shows citizens are far more likely to use guns to commit violent crimes than to defend against them.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2003—It's a quagmire:
Things are going from bad to worse, and we don't even have a full-fledged guerilla war on our hands yet.
In another violence-wracked day, another US soldier was killed, while US troops shot two protesters dead.
Protesters throwing stones at military convoys. Massive crowds protesting the US occupation. Temperatures in the 110s. Out of work, desperate former Iraqi soldiers. Heavy-handed US tactics. Lack of basic services.
With these ingredients, is it really surprising that we have lost 52 soldiers since Bush's GI Joe moment on the USS Lincoln?
Update: Jesus, two more. What's distressing is that these attacks will further embolden future attacks, as the mighty, invincible American military machine exposes its weaknesses.
Against a set foe, there is little any enemy can do against US military hardware and cash. But against guerilla fighters, our guys are nothing more than sitting ducks.
And the worst part is, we have seen NOTHING to justify this war. Not even "freedom" -- it's clear that Iraqis do not have any freedom of protest, lest they're willing to brave a face full of bullets. Freedom to choose their own government? Not going to happen. A free press? No way.
Tweet of the Day
White killer: "I am a racist. This was racially motivated."
Media: "Woah there buddy!!!! We don't know all the facts yet. Give us time."
— @See_Say_92
On
today's Kagro in the Morning show, the Charleston shooting dominated the news today, as we knew it must.
Greg Dworkin joins us to discuss it, along with other headlines, including the latest on the pope's encyclical and how the named plaintiff in
King v. Burwell has found himself some nice, socialist health insurance. Carly Fiorina's SuperPAC had to change it's name because duh, you're not supposed to have a SuperPAC. Boehner boots whips who voted against the trade rule. A pithy gun cartoon from
rebeccahendin. Still more nuttiness from the Texas gold bugs.
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