guns

Arizona Has an Official State Gun

Jeff Neumann · 04/29/11 06:28AM

If there's one thing in the world that Arizona needs right now, it's an official state gun. Another totally normal state, Utah has one, so it's only fitting that Arizona followed suit. Governor Jan Brewer yesterday signed the important bill into law making the classic Colt Single Action Army Revolver the state gun. That's cool and everything, but we want to know which state will be the first to choose an official taser/stun gun/mace?

Why We Should Arm Police With Lollipops

Max Read · 04/23/11 04:00PM

Confronted with a 6'4", 350-pound "agitated mentally disturbed" man wielding a razor and, apparently, a broom, police in Macon, Ga. used a handful of lollipops to subdue the subject, offering them as bargaining chips in exchange for the man relinquishing the razor and allowing himself to be handcuffed. We therefore support arming police officers everywhere with lollipops, attached to their utility belts in small lollipop-bags, for use in violent confrontation. As the saying goes, "you subdue more huge violent men with lollipops than with vinegar, or guns." [Macon Telegraph; image via Shutterstock]

A Sane Moment in Texas Politics?

Jeff Neumann · 04/12/11 05:35AM

You know what's a really bad idea? Allowing college kids to carry concealed handguns on public university campuses. For the second time, a Texas Republican state senator, Jeff Wentworth is trying to get a bill passed that would allow this to happen. But as of last night, according to The Austin American-Statesman, the bill appeared to be almost dead. Wentworth told the paper, "I didn't have the votes" to get the bill on trigger happy Governor Rick Perry's desk. Good.

Why Booze and Gun Shows Don't Mix

Jeff Neumann · 04/11/11 05:11AM

What's dumber than a gun show? A gun show that allows people to bring their own weapons. Especially when someone decides they're going to bring a .45 caliber handgun after they've been drinking, load said handgun, and then accidentally shoot an old man and a teenager. According to the AP, 30-year-old Joshua Wilkinson went to the Tri-State Gun and Knife Show on Saturday in Evansville, Indiana, where:

Arizona Votes to Allow Firearms on Campus

Seth Abramovitch · 04/08/11 12:49AM

In a landmark piece of legislation that once again demonstrates their profound capacity for out-of-the-rational-box thinking, the Arizona House of Representatives has voted to allow guns on campuses.

Mayor of New Mexico Border Town Indicted for Gun Smuggling

John Cook · 03/15/11 12:47PM

Running easily purchased American guns to Mexican gangs is all the rage these days in the Great American Southwest, so you know it couldn't be long until a border town's mayor, sheriff, and city council got in on the fun.

NRA Blows Off White House Invitation

Jim Newell · 03/15/11 11:30AM

Just when you thought he was too busy to deal with anything else, especially something with annoying culture-war implications, Barack Obama went and published an op-ed in this past Sunday's Arizona Daily Star to start a conversation on gun reforms. That does not mean, as he anxiously rushed to note in his column, that he wants to take everyone's guns and repeal the Second Amendment. He just wants "commonsense" reforms, of some sort. Unfortunately, this political process starts by reaching out to the NRA, and guess what? The NRA does not give a fuck about Barack Obama.

New Mexico City Officials in Evil, Dumb Gun-Running Ring

Hamilton Nolan · 03/14/11 08:43AM

From the "You think your local politicians are bad..." department: the mayor, police chief, and a town councilman in the border town of Columbus, New Mexico have been arrested and charged with running an illegal gun-smuggling ring. The mayor allegedly bought dozens of pistols and stored them, and the police chief allegedly bought body armor. The Feds say that much of the material was destined for violent Mexican drug gangs that operate just across the border. Nice.

Iowa Lawmaker Jokes About Party's 'Give a Handgun to a Schizophrenic' Bill

Jim Newell · 03/11/11 05:23PM

Republican Iowa State Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, speaker pro tem of the Iowa State House, was caught joking on a hot mic that a proposal which would allow state residents to carry weapons in public without permission from a sheriff and without any training or a background check might better be called the "give-a-handgun-to-a-schizophrenic-bill."