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Assuming that there are good and bad people on both the right and the left and that everyone is horrified by mass shootings, how is one to explain the great divide between the Right and the Left on the gun issue as it relates to mass murders, such as the one recently committed at Umpqua Community College? Why does the Left focus on more gun-control laws, and why doesn’t the Right? One reason the Right doesn’t focus on gun-control laws is quintessentially American. Many Americans believe that it is their right — and even their duty — to own guns...

We recently told you about the breaking news of DeRay Mckesson – whose impressive resume includes being a human resources administrator at a middle school and a Black Lives Matter protester – obtaining a position as a lecturer at Yale University. The original list of “reading material for the course” included articles from Huffington Post and the New York Times. They seem to have missed a few items in the syllabus, though. A friend of ours on Twitter caught wind of a tweet from one of the students at the prestigious Ivy League school who was letting her friends...

In a conversation with Business Insider promoting his new book, presidential candidate Ben Carson suggested creating a national database to keep "dangerous individuals" from accessing guns. In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, Carson wants to stop unstable people from slipping through state systems which are under no federal mandate to share information.

On the assumption that there are good and bad people on both the right and the left and that everyone is horrified by mass shootings, how is one to explain the great divide between right and left on the gun issue as it relates to these mass murders? Why does the left focus on more gun control laws, and why doesn't the right? One reason is quintessentially American. Most Americans believe that it is their right -- and even their duty -- to own guns for self-protection. Unique among major democratic and industrialized nations, Americans have traditionally believed in relying...

A week ago, we noted that—negating Nicolle Wallace's notion that the woman who aided the New York prison break shouldn't do any time herself—Willie Geist observed "you can't help convicted murderers escape from jail." An NB reader remarked: "I get the sense that Willie Geist is a good guy trapped inside the leftwing matrix." Far be it from us to cause workplace problems for Willie by praising him too much, but Geist was at it again on today's Morning Joe, this time making some common sense remarks on gun control. After Eugene Robinson praised Australia's "very serious" gun control laws,...

In his speech on the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon last week, President Obama sounded more upset about America's gun laws than about the horrific massacre. We barely had the preliminary facts about the shooting, the shooter and the victims, and he was already lecturing the nation again on gun control. Instead of calling the nation to prayer, he said we would learn about the victims in the coming days and then "wrap everyone who's grieving with our prayers and our love." Those words out of the way, he immediately pivoted to complaining that "our thoughts and prayers are...

By now the reader is well-aware of the recent school shooting that took place at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Another mass shooting, another excuse for the left-wing vultures to prey on the carcasses of the dead. Another opportunity for Pres__ent Obama to grandstand and huff and sigh and affect an air of righteous indignation. Another occasion for left-wingers to roll their eyes and complain about how even after this shooting, those dastardly right-wingers still won't support "common sense gun laws." The reason we don't, of course, is because the left-wingers are still making the same old, nonsensical, discredited...

You think individual left-wing fruitcakes on Ritalin are dangerous? Just wait until left-wing government gets into power without a citizenry that is broadly and heavily armed By now the reader is well-aware of the recent school shooting that took place at Umpqua Community College in Rosedale, Oregon. Another mass shooting, another excuse for the left-wing vultures to prey on the carcasses of the dead. Another opportunity for Pres__ent Obama to grandstand and huff and sigh and affect an air of righteous indignation. Another occasion for left-wingers to roll their eyes and complain about how even after this shooting, those dastardly...

Watch out NRA, Hillary Clinton’s coming for you! During a meeting with her supporters at Broward College in Florida today, a visibly angry Hillary Clinton promised “new effective gun control measures” if elected president — whatever that means — and a “national movement” to take on Republicans who “put the NRA ahead of families.” And we do mean Hillary was angry. Here’s the video along with excerpts she tweeted out. But check out the bro-for-Hillary at the 1:43 mark.

Baltimore's bloody summer ended with a barrage of bangs, as the rate of homicides and gun crimes continued to spike in the wake of the racially charged case of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody left citizens angry and cops demoralized. For September, homicides were up 39 percent and non-fatal shootings nearly doubled over the same month in 2014, continuing a disturbing trend that has gripped the Charm City since Gray's death in April and the rioting that followed. For the year, murders are up 52 percent and non-fatal shootings 80 percent over last year. "We have highly motivated...

An angry President Obama will visit Roseburg, Oregon, Friday to meet privately with families of students and a teacher shot to death during a community college rampage. Hours after Thursday’s shooting, an upset Obama lashed out at lawmakers standing in the way of stronger gun control laws, and vowed to politicize such shootings so that the death of victims would not be in vain. But a local newspaper publisher said the president is not welcome. “I think that’s very inappropriate, and I think it’s disrespectful to the families,” said David Jaques publisher of the Roseburg Beacon, a community newspaper. He...

Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott on the recent Roseburg, Oregon massacre and why gun control won't work.

"Doesn't it sound logical? Doesn't it sound safe?" Based on his latest column, it seems like Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt could get behind a rewrite of John Lennon's Imagine and release an updated version to reflect today's call for gun control. [Imagine] Prohibition… [Imagine] Mass buyback… [Imagine] A gun-free society... He liked that last line so much, he asked his readers to repeat it with him: "Let's say that once again: A gun-free society." Bliss, he thinks. Those words -- prohibition, mass buyback, gun-free society -- are what Hiatt says the NRA has rendered "unmentionable." And so he believes...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- As the president pushes Congress to pass gun control laws, Iowa State Representative Bruce Hunter (D) Des Moines is planning to propose gun control laws of his own. "I agree with President Obama. If what we've done in the past hasn't gotten anything done it's time to make a political issue out of it," Hunter said. "Either put up or shut up but we need to do something." By that, Hunter says he will push for universal background checks for all gun transfers, improved mental health care in Iowa, and when approved by a judge, gun...

They really are coming for your guns . . . After the Charleston church shootings, President Obama praised Australia's draconian gun laws, which included a mandatory buy-back program, AKA confiscation. On today's Morning Joe, Mika wondered "why" we couldn't institute a similar gun ban in the United States, throwing in support for a database of all gun ownership for good measure. Joe Scarborough was actually obliged to explain to Mika that her gun ban was never going to happen because we have the Second Amendment here. That left Mika grimacing in regret [see the screengrab].

Smith & Wesson has skyrocketed over 80% this year. To put that in perspective, if the stock were in the S&P 500, it would be the second best performer this year, behind only Netflix (NFLX, Tech30). Rival gunmaker Sturm Ruger (RGR) isn't far behind. It's up nearly 70% in 2015 alone. This stellar performance comes in a year when many stocks have tanked. Apple (AAPL, Tech30) isn't even positive for the year, and it's shaping up to be the worst year for stocks overall since 2008, the year of the financial crisis.

With more than 310m guns in the US, not all owners are alike. These three progressive gun owners fall into the middle of the political spectrum and break the mold of traditional gun ownership in the states. Kristin Beck is a transgender woman running as an underdog for US Congress, Kurt Mausert is a Hare Krishna devotee and attorney and Chris Cheng is a professional marksman and former Google employee. Although they make up a clear minority in the states, progressive firearms owners are willing to consider new approaches to gun control "You know surprisingly enough I find more acceptance...

In a series of online postings over a decade, the mother of the gunman who opened fire on classmates at Umpqua Community College in Oregon said she kept numerous firearms in her home and opened up about her difficulties raising a troubled son who used to bang his head against the wall. All the while the mother, Laurel Margaret Harper, expressed hope that her son, Christopher Harper-Mercer, could lead a successful life in finance or as a filmmaker. Instead, Mr. Harper-Mercer, 26, took his own life after shooting nine others to death and wounding several others during a campus rampage...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has weighed in on the shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College and has a solution to the problem of school shootings that liberals will hate. Trump points out that if teachers were armed they could have provided protection for those killed in the shooting. He also says that the only people with guns in these ‘gun-free zones’ are the “bad guys.” “Everybody was sitting there and there was nothing they could do, not a thing they could do,” Trump said on FOX. “The police did a fantastic job getting in that quickly, but there was...