Guns

An excerpt from the New Yorker’s explosive expose: According to interviews and to documents that I obtained — federal tax forms, charity records, contracts, corporate filings, and internal communications — a small group of N.R.A. executives, contractors, and vendors has extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from the nonprofit’s budget, through gratuitous payments, sweetheart deals, and opaque financial arrangements. Memos …

Birmingham’s ABC affiliate reports: A father has died after last weekend’s accidental shooting in the parking lot of Chuck E. Cheese’s in Vestavia Hills. The Jefferson County Coroner has identified the victim Timothy Roshun Smith Jr. He was 22. Lt. Michael Keller with Vestavia Hills PD confirms Smith and his daughter were shot in the restaurant’s parking lot while Smith …

The Associated Press reports: New Zealand’s Parliament on Wednesday passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons, less than a month after mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch left 50 people dead and dozens wounded. A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banning components that modify existing weapons was passed by a vote …

The Associated Press reports: Facing a newly revived wrongful death lawsuit in Connecticut over the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, gun-maker Remington is going to the U.S. Supreme Court to argue it can’t be sued because of a much-debated federal law that shields firearms manufacturers from liability in most cases. The Connecticut Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling last month …

The Daily Beast reports: The letter came in early March and the message was dire. The National Rifle Association could shut down “very soon,” according the four-page fundraising letter, signed by the group’s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. He blamed the dire straits on steps Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken to pressure banks and insurance companies that …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: The murder of 50 Muslim worshipers in New Zealand, allegedly by a 28-year-old Australian white supremacist, will be long scrutinized for the way violent hatreds are spawned and staged on social media and the internet. But now the world should learn from the way Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, has …

NBC News reports: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on sales of “military-style” semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines in the wake of a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers. Ardern said the sales ban was effective immediately to prevent stockpiling and would be followed by a complete ban on the …

NPR reports: New Zealand’s cabinet has agreed “in principle” to tighten gun control laws, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday, promising the changes will make the country safer. “We’ve unified, there are simply details to work through,” she said. The attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, which left 50 people dead, “has exposed a range of weaknesses in New Zealand’s …

Vox reports: New Zealand Attorney General David Baker, who announced Friday that the country would ban semiautomatic weapons, said Saturday the government has not yet reached that conclusion, Radio New Zealand reported. “Those decisions have yet to be taken but the prime minister signalled that we are going to look at that issue,” Baker told the RNZ, adding that he …

The New York Times reports: The Connecticut Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the firearms industry on Thursday, clearing the way for a lawsuit to move forward against the companies that manufactured and sold the semiautomatic rifle used by the gunman in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The ruling allows the lawsuit brought by victims’ relatives to …

The Washington Post reports: Debate on gun legislation reached a crescendo at the Arkansas State Capitol on Wednesday when a senator fervently denounced a bill that would make it easier to use lethal force in the name of self-defense. The bill, sponsored by three Republican state senators, would remove a clause from the current law that required a “duty to …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: There’s a new push to allow North Carolina teachers to carry guns in school that some state lawmakers think has a chance of being approved this year. The School Security Act of 2019 would boost the salaries of teachers who underwent specialized police training to carry firearms on campus. The same bill was filed …

The New York Times reports: State legislatures, both Republican- and Democratic-controlled, passed 76 gun control laws in the past year — from bans on bump stocks and caps on magazine sizes to new minimum-age requirements and expanded background checks. Among the victories for gun control advocates was an omnibus bill in Florida that raised the minimum age to purchase a …

“This hearing on so-called gun violence, which is a sham of a word anyway, is getting underway here in Washington. There you see Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York who will chair this Judiciary Committee. A frightening thing to see a Democrat, especially one like Nadler, in charge of the Judiciary Committee in the United States Congress. But that’s the …

The Dallas Morning News reports: A Texas judge has decided that victims and families of the Sutherland Springs church massacre can sue the sporting goods store where the shooter purchased his gun and ammunition. In a case that could have implications for gun laws here and across the country, Bexar County District Court Judge Karen Pozza on Monday denied Academy …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Justice Department is effectively banning rapid-fire bump stock devices, like the ones used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre, making them illegal to own or sell and likely setting the stage for long legal battles with gun owners and manufacturers. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker signed and submitted a regulation prohibiting the firearm accessory …

Media Matters reports: The National Rifle Association is encouraging people to buy its membership by playing on the fact that service members will be away from their families during the holidays. In the two-minute spot released on December 12, NRA President Oliver North points out, “As we gather with loved ones this holiday season, tens of thousands of American soldiers, …

Media Matters reports: A veteran producer for the National Rifle Association’s media operation, Cameron Gray, announced today that he and several of his colleagues had been laid off from NRATV. The layoffs follow reporting on the NRA’s most recent tax filings, which show a $55 million drop in revenue between 2016 and 2017. The launch of NRATV in 2016 presaged …

The Daily Beast reports: The nation’s leading gun rights organization saw its income dip by $55 million last year, after a record-breaking 2016 in which the group and its political affiliates spend unprecedented sums to elect President Donald Trump. The National Rifle Association of America reported $98 million in contributions in 2017, down from nearly $125 million in 2016, according …

Mother Jones reports: The National Rifle Association is doing away with free coffee and water coolers for employees at its Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters—a cost-cutting move that has NRA insiders perturbed. “The whole building was freaking out,” said one former employee who remains in contact with current staffers. The coffee cutback is the just latest indication that the NRA is hurting …