Bill Maher and his Real Time panel ripped Democrats again on Friday for not setting themselves apart from Republicans when it comes to gun safety laws, pointing out that even Fort Hood shooter Ivan Lopez questioned how easy it was for a person with mental health issues to have access to firearms months before attacking the base.

“Our gun laws are so crazy, even crazy people know that they’re crazy,” Maher said.

Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon agreed, mentioning the bipartisan gun bill that could not make it into law despite overwhelming public support following the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

“They were trying to close a loophole reflecting mental health,” Avlon said. “It is so nuts that we aren’t able to get through a law with 90 percent support? That shows how paralyzed we are.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/26/bill-maher-our-gun-laws-are-so-crazy-even-crazy-people-know-that-theyre-crazy/

Say what you will about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but don’t you dare accuse of him of being modest.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Bloomberg plans to spend $50 million of his estimated $31 billion fortune this year to combat the National Rifle Association. Speaking of his advocacy of liberal causes like gun-control and preventing New Yorkers from enjoying “Big Gulp” sodas, Bloomberg told the Times, reportedly with a grin, “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed.”

“I am heading straight in,” he went on. “I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

In pursuing his self-professed heavenly mission to fight gun rights, Bloomberg says he plans to be ruthless in opposing politicians who refuse to fall in line on the issue.

http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/15/bloomberg-on-his-liberal-advocacy-ive-earned-my-place-in-heaven-its-not-even-close/

At the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis Friday, six potential Republican candidates for president touted their pro-gun bona fides and pledged allegiance to the Second Amendment.

But none got quite as personal as Rick Santorum, a runner-up for the 2012 nomination. The former Pennsylvania senator said every member of his family is an NRA member, including 5-year-old daughter Bella. He and his wife, Karen, have conceal-and-carry permits. She even owns more guns than him now.

“The default gift for most men is to buy flowers on a special occasion,” Santorum said. “For me, the safe bet [is] ammo.”

He wasn’t done.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/nra-meeting-2016-election-106039.html#ixzz2zz53UrU4

After the Sandy Hook school shooting, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) was one of a few congressional Republicans who expressed a willingness to reconsider the need for gun control laws.

"Put guns on the table, also put video games on the table, put mental health on the table," he said less than a week after the Newtown shootings. He told a local TV station that he wanted to see more research done to understand mass shootings. "Let's let the data lead rather than our political opinions."

For nearly 20 years, Congress has pushed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to steer clear of firearms violence research. As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that traditionally sets CDC funding, Kingston has been in a position to change that. Soon after Sandy Hook, Kingston said he had spoken to the head of the agency. "I think we can find some common ground," Kingston said.

More than a year later, as Kingston competes in a crowded Republican primary race for a US Senate seat, the congressman is no longer talking about common ground.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/republicans-say-no-cdc-gun-violence-research

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. - A Minnesota man who killed two teenagers after they broke into his home called them "vermin" on an audio recording shortly after the shootings.

Sixty-five-year-old Byron Smith of Little Falls is on trial for first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady. Smith claims he feared for his life and shot them in self-defense when they broke into his house on Thanksgiving Day 2012. But prosecutors say he planned the killings, which stunned the central Minnesota city of about 8,000 people and stirred debate about how far people can go to defend their homes.

Smith had an audio recorder running during the shootings, and prosecutors have been playing the recording at trial. On the part played Wednesday, Smith was heard saying, "They weren't human. I don't see them as human. I see them as vermin."

Smith was alone when the teens broke in and didn't alert anyone about the shootings until the next day.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/minn-homeowner-2-teens-shot-were-vermin-not-human/

WASHINGTON — Anxious Senate Democrats quietly celebrated former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement this week that he plans to spend $50 million this year to build a grass-roots network pushing for new gun controls.

“If he is successful, the people he will motivate to vote are extremely likely to vote for Democrats, period, end of story,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide.

“It could help drive Democratic turnout,” said another national Democratic strategist.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/senate-dems-celebrate-bloomberg-50-million-gun-control-push-article-1.1762487

NEWARK — A 23-year-old Indiana man was arrested for trying to carry an assault rifle and 70 rounds of ammunition onto a flight at Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday night, the Port Authority of New York a and New Jersey said.

The man was stopped by Transportation Security Administration screeners after he entered a checkpoint in Terminal A at 6:40 p.m., carrying the weapon and three high- capacity magazines in a soft-shell gun case, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police. Pentangelo said the man was headed for a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago.

TSA called Port Authority Police officers to the checkpoint and the man was arrested without incident, Pentangelo said.

The man, Adam Urbano of Valparaiso, Ind., was charged with unlawful possession assault firearm, a 2nd degree crime, and possession of large capacity ammunition magazine, a 4th degree crime. Pentangelo said Urbano did not have any paperwork for the gun.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/assault_weapon_newark_airport_arrest.html

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer for a third time in four years has vetoed legislation that would have allowed residents to carry guns into public buildings and events.

Brewer also vetoed a bill that would have made local officials personally liable for passing gun statutes that are more restrictive than the state's.

Gun advocates said they will try again next year under a new governor.

Brewer vetoed House Bill 2339, which would have allowed guns in public buildings and events that do not provide security guards and metal detectors at each entrance. It did not apply to K-12 schools, community colleges or universities.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/23/arizona-governor-brewer-vetoes-gun-bills/8053753/

There was a day before Bluetooth and hands-free cellular phone communication when if you saw someone talking to themselves walking down the street, you might think that person was emotionally disturbed. I must admit that sometimes when I see someone, in public, walking and talking to themselves, I still do a double take to see if that person is talking on a phone or trying to beam themselves up to the mothership.

Now let’s consider that same person talking to themselves walking down the street with a holstered handgun. Would you think this was odd or suspicious? What if that person was walking toward a school, mall, place of worship, through a neighborhood, on a beach, in a park or parking lot? Would you call the police?

In times like these, many of you would call the police, because you would not want to have it on your conscience that something terrible was about to happen and you did nothing. Bravo! You should call and have the police check it out, if you believe that anyone appears out of sorts, armed and potentially dangerous.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the police officer who just received the “man or woman with a gun” call. “Officer” you will no doubt be thinking of Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Fort Hood or any other school, theater, mall, fast food restaurant or parking lot where some deranged pathetic loser has opened fire and killed or wounded innocent citizens or children for whatever reason their twisted mind concocted.

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/04/rich_kinsey_column_open_carry.html

Franklin Co.,VA - Franklin County Deputies say it was an accident Monday, when a 12 year old boy got a hold of a handgun; it accidentally fired and killed his 7 year old brother.

"We need everyone to just make sure that they're putting their guns in a safe location. That doesn't mean on top of the hutch, in the top of the closet, or in the back of a closet. Kids are curious” said Lieutenant Phillip Young of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Monday morning, a 7 year old Franklin County boy, was killed after his brother, deputies say, got a hold of a loaded handgun. It accidentally went off, killing him instantly.

In a special ABC News report exposing the lethal combination of kids and guns, it was revealed that every other day in the U.S. a child is killed by a firearm. The report also revealed that the old mainstay, when a child comes across a gun, to not touch and tell an adult, is far from what happens when they're left alone.

http://www.wset.com/story/25313841/avoiding-tragedy-keeping-kids-away-from-guns