NRA Twitter goes silent

UPDATED: Online voices of the National Rifle Association still have nothing to say to the victims or the country

BY DAVID DALEY


A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher, following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. (Credit: AP/Jessica Hill)

UPDATED: As of 4 p.m. eastern, there’s still nothing new on either the NRA’s Facebook or Twitter pages.

Since state police were called by a Newtown elementary school this morning a little before 10 a.m., the National Rifle Association has gone quiet on Twitter.

Here is their last tweet today, which seems to have been sent just before the news broke from Connecticut.

NRA
✔
@NRA
10 Days of NRA Giveaways - Enter today for a chance to win an auto emergency tool! tinyurl.com/8ufn35h pic.twitter.com/p04kwRE3


http://www.salon.com/2012/12/14/nra_twitter_goes_silent/?source=newsletter

Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States

When we first collected much of this data, it was after the Aurora, Colo. shootings, and the air was thick with calls to avoid “politicizing” the tragedy. That is code, essentially, for “don’t talk about reforming our gun control laws.”
Let’s be clear: That is a form of politicization. When political actors construct a political argument that threatens political consequences if other political actors pursue a certain political outcome, that is, almost by definition, a politicization of the issue. It’s just a form of politicization favoring those who prefer the status quo to stricter gun control laws.

Since then, there have been more horrible, high-profile shootings. Jovan Belcher, a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, took his girlfriend’s life and then his own. In Oregon, Jacob Tyler Roberts entered a mall holding a semi-automatic rifle and yelling “I am the shooter.” And, in Connecticut, at least 27 are dead — including 18 children — after a man opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

If roads were collapsing all across the United States, killing dozens of drivers, we would surely see that as a moment to talk about what we could do to keep roads from collapsing. If terrorists were detonating bombs in port after port, you can be sure Congress would be working to upgrade the nation’s security measures. If a plague was ripping through communities, public-health officials would be working feverishly to contain it.

Only with gun violence do we respond to repeated tragedies by saying that mourning is acceptable but discussing how to prevent more tragedies is not. “Too soon,” howl supporters of loose gun laws. But as others have observed, talking about how to stop mass shootings in the aftermath of a string of mass shootings isn’t “too soon.” It’s much too late.
What follows here isn’t a policy agenda. It’s simply a set of facts — many of which complicate a search for easy answers — that should inform the discussion that we desperately need to have.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/

House Republicans Refusing To Approve White House-Requested Sandy Aid


NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are putting out a strong message to Congress: don’t leave for the holidays until you decide on aid for states battered by Superstorm Sandy.

The House has refused to approve $60 billion in funding to help in recovery efforts, and homeowners have been left to rely on volunteers to rebuild their homes destroyed by the storm.

The Jersey Shore was nearly obliterated and without the money from the government, there’s no telling when rebuilding can begin there.

Several major tourist spots damaged in the storm, like Ellis Island, are also at the mercy of federal funding, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday.

For the hurricane-ravaged residents of Staten Island who have been flooded out, dislocated and disposed it may be the final straw. Word came down Thursday that some house Republicans aren’t willing to ante up the storm aid dollars sought by the White House, but something far smaller.

“That’s disgusting to me. How is that possible? You walk through the streets, people are fending for their lives right now and it’s like a third world country. They’re going to take money away from that?” said Farid Kader of Bay Terrace.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/12/13/house-republicans-refusing-to-approve-white-house-requested-sandy-aid/