Tag: guns

Posted on

Georgia Strips Tax Breaks From Delta Airlines Over NRA Discounts

After Delta Airlines announced the company would end its discount with NRA members after the deadly gun massacre at a Florida high school, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle of Georgia threatened the airline with retaliation via tax legislation.

Casey made good on his threat as this week state lawmakers killed a proposed tax break that would have saved Delta Airlines millions.

The new tax bill passed in both chambers with the fuel exemption stripped out. The state Senate voted 44-10 with only Democrats opposing. The House approved the measure 135-24.

Republican Gov. Nathan Deal criticized the Delta kerfuffle but has signaled he would sign the tax measure.

Based in Atlanta, Delta Airlines is the state’s largest single employer with 33,000 employees in the state.

Now, that was a pretty strong position to take – basically a $38 million slap to Delta.

You have to wonder how many NRA members have actually used their Delta Airline discount…?

Well, Delta confirmed to USA Today that only 13 discounts had ever been used by NRA members.

So, Casey and company have threatened the state’s largest employer over 13 discounts?

I can’t imagine that makes for smart economic growth. And I’m not the only one.

Several governors around the country sent clear messages they would be happy to welcome Delta.

Check out just a few of the invitations the airline has received.

Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia:

Gov Andrew Cuomo of New York:

Lt. Gov Kathy Hochul of New York:

Gov. Cyrus Habib of Washington state:

Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio:

Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham, Alabama:

Posted on

News Round-Up: March 1, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Awesome illustrator Silverjow (above) reminds us that this is the lunar year of the dog! Make sure you check out his totally woofilicious art on Instagram.

• Washington state will be next to ban so-called “conversion therapy.”

• Donald Trump says we need more teachers with guns in schools. And then yesterday, an actual teacher with an actual gun went nuts at a North Georgia high school. I guess that answers the question, “What could possibly go wrong?”

• Four-time married Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis has laughably penned a book about her “courage” to stand up for “traditional marriage.” You’ll recall she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her “deeply held religious beliefs” about marriage. #SanctityOfMarriageMyAss #ROTFL

• Out Olympian Adam Rippon has been invited to the Oscars!

• Actor Lee Pace, who plays “Joe Pitt” in the Broadway revival of Angels In America, kinda-sorta comes out in an interview with W Magazine.

•  A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll shows 47% of Americans would vote for a Democrat today versus 32% who would vote Republican. This is the third recent poll to show Dems with double-digit lead in upcoming 2018 mid-terms.

• Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts $6.8 billion from the US Housing department budget. But they’ve still got enough scratch hanging around to buy HUD Secretary Ben Carson a $31,000 dining table for his office.

• The new “Fab 5” from Netflix’s Queer Eye offer their advice on how to throw a – what else? – FAB Oscar party.

The cast of Queer Eye

Posted on

Walmart Raises Age To Purchase Guns To 21

Via press release retail giant Walmart says they will voluntarily raise the age restriction for buying firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age.

In light of recent events, we’ve taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change.

In 2015, Walmart ended sales of modern sporting rifles, including the AR-15. We also do not sell handguns, except in Alaska where we feel we should continue to offer them to our customers. Additionally, we do not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories. We have a process to monitor our eCommerce marketplace and ensure our policies are applied.

We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm. The law would allow the sale of a firearm if no response to a background check request has been received within three business days, but our policy prohibits the sale until an approval is given.

We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys. Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.

Posted on

Liberal Redneck: “The Right To Bear Harm”

Trae Crowder, the “Liberal Redneck,” is back with a YouTube rant on the idea of more guns in schools.”

First porch rant is awhile is about guns again. Gettin hard not to talk about guns yall. Call me a radical, but I could do without wholesale slaughter. But that’s just me.

And Crowder is not shy on his funny but also clear-headed opinions on guns in schools.

“Look, I love teachers – noble profession. But in my time as a student I saw enough of those mothersf*ckers show up too hung over to operate a VCR. And you want to give them an AR-15?”

 “It’s funny to me that when Democrats want to give medications to poor kids the GOP screams ‘This is not a socialist country.’ But when someone mentions making art class into a Sylvester Stallone movie, well all of a sudden they’re Bernie-f*cking-Sanders.”

Crowder also takes on the Lt. Governor of Georgia who literally threatened Delta Airlines (largest employer in his state) for putting an end to NRA travel discounts.

Watch Trae’s spot-on commentary below.

Posted on

Trump Says He’d Have Run Into School Shooting “Even If I Didn’t Have A Weapon”

Speaking to the nation’s governors today about the deputy sheriff who failed to intervene during the gun massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School, Donald Trump said, “I really believe I’d run in there, even if I didn’t have a weapon.”

This would be the same Donald Trump who dodged the Vietnam draft five times claiming he had “bone spurs” in one of his feet (he can’t seem to remember which foot).

Posted on

White House Holds ‘Listening Session’ With High School Students On Gun Violence

Donald Trump hosted a “listening session” at the White House today inviting students who were present at the Parkland, Florida, shooting last week as well as parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook massacre five years ago.

I’ll say up front the crowd seemed to be very “Trump-friendly” in makeup.  Lots of “I think you’re doing a great job” was heard throughout the discussion.

One of the prevailing ideas seemed to be arming and training teachers with guns as a solution. Trump calls it “concealed carry for teachers.”

My first thought upon hearing that is that every on-duty police officer who was shot in the line of duty was armed. Armed and trained to use their firearm.

What is a 7th grade social studies teacher with 30 frightened students going to do with a Glock?

I don’t know what the answers are although I think universal background checks for all gun purchases would be a good start.

And 97% of Americans agree with that concept according to the latest polling.

Additionally, sixty-six percent of Americans support stricter gun laws.

I think if you can’t legally buy a drink or are on a ‘no-fly’ list, you shouldn’t be able to buy a gun.

I do think sane adults should be able to buy the hunting rifle they desire after passing a background check.

The founding fathers had no idea when they penned the Constitution we would have such weapons of mass destruction like AR-15s.

There will be an open Townhall on CNN tonight airing at 9ET/6PT.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Less than two years ago, Trump argued AGAINST more guns in schools:

Posted on

Donald Trump Orders Ban On “Bump Stocks”

President Trump says he’s signed a memorandum directing Attorney General Sessions to propose regulations to ban “all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns.”

From The New York Times:

President Trump ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to propose regulations to ban so-called bump stocks, which can convert a semiautomatic gun into an automatic weapon like the one used last year in the massacre of concertgoers in Las Vegas.

Speaking at the White House days after a mass shooting at a Florida high school that killed 14 students and three teachers, Mr. Trump said that he had directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to develop the regulations, saying that the step would help prevent future mass shootings.

The White House had said last year that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was performing a review of whether it could regulate bump stocks after the shooting in Las Vegas, which killed dozens of people. Even as Mr. Trump was speaking on Tuesday, a bureau official told a reporter that the review was continuing.

But the president said that he had signed a memorandum on Tuesday effectively short-circuiting that review.

Watch Trump’s comments below.

Posted on

Ohio: 7th Grader Shoots Himself In Middle School Restroom

Gun advocates say there should be MORE guns in schools.

And that’s how these kinds of incidents happen.

From the CBS affiliate in Cleveland:

Schools in the Jackson Local School District in Stark County are on lockdown after a seventh grade student shot himself on a middle school campus.

Just before 8 a.m., a student shot himself in the men’s restroom at Jackson Memorial Middle School, according to Jackson Township Police. The school is about 55 miles south of Cleveland.

Police say the boy was transported to a nearby hospital. His condition is not known at this time.

Police have not said if the shooting is accidental or intentional, but they are calling it self-inflicted.

All other students and faculty members were no injured.

Posted on

White House: Trump Is “Supportive” Of Efforts To Improve Background Checks For Gun Purchases

The White House has announced Donald Trump “is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system” in the aftermath of the Florida shooting last week which left 17 dead and dozens injured.

Via CNN:

Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said in a statement on Monday that Trump spoke with Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, on Friday about a bill he introduced with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, that aims to strengthen how state and federal governments report offenses that could prohibit people from buying a gun.

“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” Shah said. Students, teachers and lawmakers have urged Trump and other Republican lawmakers to take action on guns in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting.

Trump, however, ran for president as a pro-gun candidate and tied himself to the National Rifle Association throughout the campaign. The White House didn’t vigorously push the Cornyn-Murphy bill when it was introduced, and the President also said he was open to banning bump stocks, devices that enable rifles to fire more rapidly, in the wake of last fall’s Las Vegas shooting — but there hasn’t been significant further action by the White House on that front, either.

To date, the only action taken by Donald Trump on the issue of guns was to roll back regulations that made it more difficult for those with mental health problems to get firearms.