gun violence

Without doubt, the gun rights lobby is a formidable force. It is backed by a truly grass-roots network of committed and well-organized supporters who are willing to make calls to legislators and turn out in even low-turnout elections to back pro-gun candidates. This “intensity gap” bedevils gun-control groups, which, however well some of their proposals poll, have trouble getting voters to agitate and to prioritize the gun issue the way that gun-rights defenders do.

Last week, a portion of President Obama's Eulogy for Reverend Pinckney went viral when he broke into Amazing Grace and sang with the church. The rest of the eulogy is a deep look into America's past and future, and worth thoughtful and careful consideration in this present moment for all citizens. Full transcript and video of Obama's remarks below.

President Barack Obama reacted with grief and anger to the mass shootings of people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries,” said Obama. “It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. I’ve had to make statements like this too many times,” he said. “Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.”

6 people shot at a high school in Seattle, Washington: Another tragedy with little to no response from a public grown inured to the horrors of daily gun violence.

Numbers tell stories. Based on statistics from 2010, "24/7 Wall St." ranked Missouri eighth for overall gun violence. Missouri had 14 gun injury deaths per each 100,000 people — only 11 states had a higher rate. The story these numbers tell isn't surprising. Almost all of these states are poor, Southern or Western and deep red or getting redder. Missouri isn't quite as poor or — maybe — as red as some, but given the inclinations of the Republicans who run our legislature, we'll soon be charter members of the hard-scrabble, hand-to-mouth, red-state contingent.

After mass shootings, like the ones these past weeks in Las Vegas, Seattle and Santa Barbara, the national conversation often focuses on mental illness. So what do we actually know about the connections between mental illness, mass shootings and gun violence overall?

Federal funding for research on gun violence has been restricted for nearly two decades. President Obama urged Congress to allocate $10 million for new research after the Newtown school shooting. But House Republicans say they won't approve it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget still lists zero dollars for research on gun violence prevention. One of the researchers who lost funding in the political battle over studying firearms was Dr. Garen Wintemute, one of only a dozen researchers across the country who have continued to focus full-time on firearms violence.

For nearly 20 years, Congress has pushed the CDC to steer clear of firearms violence research. As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that traditionally sets CDC funding, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) 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 U.S. Senate seat, the congressman is no longer talking about common ground.

Did you know R. Lee Ermey – the drill sergeant in the movie Full Metal Jacket – was also an NRA board member? He is! And with that position apparently comes the ability to put your foot in your mouth. The rabid second amendment nut made some choice comments about bullied children recently.

The Multnomah County Republican Party is pumped that Martin Luther King Day and Abraham Lincoln's birthday are both on the way. To kick off the celebrations they are raffling off an AR-15 assault rifle.