By David E. Petzal

Imagine a newspaper story on automobiles in which the writer confused camshafts and driveshafts. Or a piece on investing in which the words “stock” and “bond” were used interchangeably. Or one that referred to Marines as soldiers (which will get you a punch in the mouth from any self-respecting Jarhead). Not likely, you think. No reporter is that ignorant or that careless. Wrong. They are when they turn their attention to guns. Cartridge and bullet are used interchangeably, clip and magazine mean the same thing; submachine gun and machine gun are synonyms. And it gets worse.

When the M-16 was first issued during the Vietnam War, Americans were informed that it was deadly because its bullets tumbled through the air, creating terrible wounds when they hit. Anyone who has ever thrown a football knows what a crock this is. Apparently, news reporters do not throw footballs.

In a recent article in The New York Times, a reporter quoted a police officer as stating that a Smith & Wesson revolver went off when it was dropped. The handgun was made in the 1970s, so there is a problem: No Smith wheelgun of post-World-War-II manufacture can go off unless the trigger is pulled. Even if the revolver was cocked, it’s highly unlikely that it could fire. It sounds like the police officer told a Great Big Fib, but the reporter did not know enough about the subject (or, probably, anything about the subject) to call him on it.
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By David E. Petzal

Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed a law last week forbidding pediatricians to ask kids if their parents have guns in the home. The impetus for the law came when a Florida pediatrician allegedly refused to treat a kid when he learned that said urchin’s family were gun owners. (This was probably illegal as hell, but no one is talking about prosecuting the doctor.)

Florida’s legislators have already been called toadies of the NRA and dealt all the usual insults, but I can see their point. Let us say that Dr. Rubella questions little Timmy and learns that his daddy has a handgun.
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By David Maccar

Texas isn’t the only state has recently tried to pass a bill allowing college students to carry concealed handguns on campus, citing the Virginia Tech shooting as a strong reason. A similiar bill was shot down in Louisiana before opponents even got a chance to speak.

From this story on TheNewsStar.com:
A House committee Wednesday shot down a controversial bill that would have allowed guns on college campuses.

HB413 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, I-Belle Chasse, would have allowed anyone with a permit to carry a concealed handgun to have a weapon on public college and university campuses, including in classrooms and dormitories.

Wooton, the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, declared handgun permit holders “the safest individuals in this nation.” [ Read Full Post ]

By David Maccar

While students at the University of Iowa  are being trained to survive a violent incident while unarmed in response to the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and similar incidents, Texas is taking a different approach.

More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns for students and teachers. With 38 public universities and more than a half-million students in the Lone Star state, that’s a lot of potential firepower.

Those supporting the measure argue that examples of gun violence on campuses show the best defense against a gunman is students who can shoot back.

From this story in the Huffington Post:
Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms. More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns. The Senate passed a similar bill in 2009 and is expected to do so again. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who sometimes packs a pistol when he jogs, has said he's in favor of the idea.
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By David E. Petzal

On the weekend of February 12, Maksim Gelman, a 23-year-old Ukranian immigrant with a history of drug arrests, went on a rampage in Brooklyn, NY that left him charged with four murders, two assaults, and two robberies. His weapon of choice was an 8-inch kitchen knife. Four other kitchen knives were found in his car. On February 14, New York City’s Mayor for Life Michael Bloomberg released the following statement:

“This tragic event demands that America inject some sanity, some kind of reasonable controls, into its kitchen-knife laws. No one but a professional chef needs an 8-inch kitchen knife. No one but a professional chef needs an entire collection of kitchen knives. Why was this person, who had a criminal record, able to buy kitchen knives with no sort of background check? Because anyone can walk into a hardware or kitchen-supply store and buy any knife they want as easily as they can buy a blender or a colander.
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By Chad Love

--Chad Love

An Oklahoma City woman with a concealed-carry permit used her husband's gun to shoot and kill two neighborhood dogs that were attacking her dog.

From this story on the newsok.com:
Charolotte Maughan was too flustered to find her gun, so she grabbed her husband's. “It's a 9 mm,” she said. “I had said to him, ‘We need to go to the range and let me practice with this gun.' I didn't know if I could shoot it. Well, I can.” She walked out of her southwest Oklahoma City home, told the crowd to step back and shot and killed two dogs attacking her family's dog. “I didn't know what else to do,” she said. Maughan was not cited, but the owners of the two attacking dogs were.
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