One of their favorite rhetorical tools in this and other social policy debates is to compare America, land of high tuition, to other countries that have publicly-funded free tuition. In a Washington Post op-ed from October of last year, for instance, 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders argued: "In Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Mexico, public colleges and universities remain tuition-free. They're free throughout Germany, too. ... Governments in these countries understand what an important investment they are making, not just in the individuals who are able to acquire knowledge and skills but for the societies these students will serve as teachers, architects, scientists, entrepreneurs and more."

In other words: these countries are prepared to eat America's lunch economically because they are enlightened enough to have free public higher education.

Enrollment rates: Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicate that the U.S. is tied for 12th out of 18 countries with available data when it comes to the share of citizens 25 and under that enroll in college, at 47 percent. Not so good, right? Especially compared to Denmark (56 percent) and Slovenia (68 percent) – two free college countries – that rank near the top. However, the countries nearest the U.S. – Germany (45 percent), Austria (47 percent) and Iceland (49 percent) – have free or very low tuition. And two countries at the bottom of the list – Sweden (40 percent) and Finland (41 percent) – offer free tuition. (The U.S. is ranked higher on the World Bank's measure of enrollment).

Attainment: Educational attainment tells a similar story. When it comes to the share of workers aged 25-34 who have finished tertiary education, the US is tied for eighth with Sweden, Switzerland and Israel at 46 percent. Korea (68 percent) and Canada (58), who both charge relatively high tuition, are at the top of the list. On the free college side, Ireland and Norway make the top six, but Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Germany and the Czech Republic finish behind America.

“This course isn’t pro-gun or anti-gun; we teach kids how to be safe around guns, and not to be passive bystanders,” fourth grade teacher Daniel Krestar, who teaches the course at Forest Hills Elementary School in Sidman, tells Yahoo Parenting. More than 80 percent of homeowners in the school’s Cambria County county own a gun, according to WTAJ, which profiled the local program this week.

Gun Stop was first introduced by the Cambria District Attorney’s office two decades ago, and is taught each October. In it, students in kindergarten and again in third grade are educated on what to do if they see a gun and how to engage in non-violent conflict resolution. “We wanted to teach the course because statistics showed that 80 percent of local home owners kept guns in their home,” says Krestar.

But according to Jennifer Hoppe, deputy director of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a campaign of the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, the best way to reduce gun deaths among children is to be keep the weapons out of children’s hands altogether. “It’s atrocious to put the onus of gun safety onto children — this is an adult problem,” Hoppe tells Yahoo Parenting. “Every gun that’s gotten into the hands of a child has first been under the control of an adult. A program that tries to dodge that is disingenuous.” 

Gross overstates the (gun control) case. (Among his tipping-point evidence: supportive tweets from Kim Kardashian.) But there is some truth to what he says. From the legislative debacle following Sandy Hook, the gun-control movement has retreated to a limited but pragmatic approach. Gone is the notion of “gun control,” replaced by “reducing gun deaths” or “gun violence prevention.” Gone, for now, are efforts to restrict any type of gun or ammunition. Instead, the movement has found a laser focus on background checks.

In six months, benefits now being received by spouses, divorced spouses or children on the work record of a spouse, ex-spouse or parent who has suspended his or her benefits will be eliminated until the worker restarts his/her retirement benefit. I’ve never heard of a change in Social Security law that eliminates benefits for people already collecting, but this is what’s in this bill. This will cost millions of households tens of thousands of dollars. Worse, it will induce those who have suspended their benefits in order to collect higher benefits at 70 to restart their benefits at permanently lower levels in order to maintain their family’s immediate living standards.
...

We’ve been paying 12.4 percent of our income to Social Security since our first job in exchange for a variety of benefits … Now, with a couple of sentences, our government is reneging on what for many households can amount up to $50,000 in lifetime benefits.

Bobby was also abusive. One night, my girlfriend called me to ask if Diane could stay with us because Bobby had beaten her up (again). Diane said she was finally fed up with the abuse and was going to leave. She was scared for her life and needed a place to stay.

I didn't hesitate to say yes, but I understood that this positioned my girlfriend and me for a potential conflict with a terribly violent man. (Not to mention a man more than capable of hurting us: The first time I met Bobby, he picked me up and fireman-carried me up a full flight of stairs on a lark. Then, as now, I was 6 feet tall and weighed more than 200 pounds. I hadn't been picked up so easily by anyone since I was a child.)

Bobby knew where we lived and, because controlling abusers often limit the number of people allowed in their victims' personal lives, almost certainly knew where Diane sought shelter. I couldn't take him in a fight if I wanted to, and any non-firearm weapon I could use would require close contact and increase my risk of being overpowered, endangering everyone.

Still, for whatever they are worth, here is a list of some such incidents (which deliberately excludes killings stopped by people who were off-duty police officers, or police officers from other jurisdictions, at the time of a shooting, as well as some other cases which struck me as borderline):