Liberal knee jerk legislation is on the way

King seeks ban on guns near federal officials at events
The chairman of the House Homeland Security committee wants to ban people from carrying weapons within 1,000 feet of federal officials at public events. Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) said he would propose a bill in the coming weeks that would ban the carrying of guns within that range of the president, vice president, members of Congress and Federal Judges.  King made the announcement accompanied by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an outspoken advocate for tighter gun restrictions, and othe...

A Nice New York Times Editorial
NYT: Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona: She read the First Amendment on the House floor — including the guarantee of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” — and then flew home to Arizona to put those words into practice. But when Gabrielle Giffords tried to meet with her constituents in a Tucson Parking Lot on Saturday, she came face to face with an environment wholly at odds with that constitutional ideal, and she nearly paid for it with her life. Jared Loug...

Rep. King: Ban Guns Near Officials
Huffington Post reports: Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York, is planning to introduce Legislation that would make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a government official, according to a person familiar with the congressman’s intentions. King is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The proposed law follows the Saturday shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a Federal Judge that left six dead, including the judge, and 14 wounded. New York Mayo...

Will the Gun Lobby win again?
After tragedies like Tucson, the NRA has moved to block new Gun Laws—laws that Peter Stone, of the Center for Public Integrity, says would have saved lives by blocking the sale of high-capacity magazines used by the gunman. The Killing Spree by an Arizona man wielding a semiautomatic pistol with a high-capacity magazine raises the prospect of a fresh debate on whether the country needs tougher Gun Controls. But if history is any guide, the National Rifle Association will successfully fight...

Serious Questions
When politicians start talking about criminalizing Speech I get a bit nervous, but I am willing to listen to the specifics on this: Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce Legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress. Brady told CNN that he wants federal lawmakers and officials to have the same protections against threat currently provided to ...

It was inevitable: gun rights in the crosshairs, again
In the 72 hours after the attempted Assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the Murder of several others in Tucson, our moral betters on the liberal left were shouting in (coordinated?) that it had to be due to the angry, overheated Rhetoric from the Right, and most particularly from Sarah Palin . Even the Sheriff of Pima County couldn’t resist getting in on the act. Though the Left is still pushing the “dangerous rhetoric” idea, even to the point of introducing a...

Pete King bill would ban guns within 1,000 feet of lawmakers
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), one of the few pro-gun control Republicans in the House, wants to make it illegal for someone to carry a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including members of Congress. “It is imperative that we do all that we can to give Law Enforcement the tools they need to ensure the safety of New Yorkers and prevent an attack before it happens,” said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, during a press conferen...

The Dog That Isn't Barking
As J.P. Green noted yesterday, you'd think that some mild and relevant Gun Control Legislation (e.g., Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's proposed ban on high-capacity ammunition clips, which is a variation on the Clinton-era assault weapon ban) might get fresh attention in the wake of the Tucson shootings But no, it's not much happening. As Justin Elliot of Salon explains: Republicans have, so far, been united in dismissing the need for any new Regulation. As Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday: "The weapons don'...

Congress Prays for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Saturday's shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords prompted Congressional officials to schedule a special briefing to review security issues. See photos of the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting in Arizona. Take the poll: Is Political Rhetoric to Blame for Arizona Shooting? See who in Congress gets the most from Gun Rights groups. ...

The Tea Party and their Brand of Violence
(I'm not sure I agree, promoted because it is well said and there are well formed replies thus making it a worthy discussion. - promoted by MADCO) I don't believe that the Tea Party had anything to do with the Assassination attempt on a Democratic Congressperson. I still hold them responsible, however. First there was Pim Fortuyn. And now, there is Gabrielle Giffords. Assassinations that have fundamentally changed politics in the Netherlands and now the United States. In each case, the politica...

House Resolution to Reaffirm Democratic Principles
With all of Capitol Hill’s legislative business postponed in response to the shooting rampage in Arizona, the House will reconvene on Wednesday to approve a resolution honoring the dead and the wounded, praising the Bravery of those who responded to the attack and reaffirming “the bedrock principal of American Democracy and representative government” - the right to peaceable assembly enshrined in the First Amendment. The resolution is being offered by the House Speaker, John A. Boeh

10 Things You Didn't Know About Gabrielle Giffords
1. Gabrielle Giffords was born in Tucson, Ariz. On June 8, 1970 to Gloria, an art conservator, and Spencer Giffords who served on the School Board district and ran the family's auto and tire business, El Campo Tire, Inc. 2. After graduating with a degree in Latin American history and sociology from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. in 1993, Giffords studied in Mexico on a Fulbright Scholarship. 3. Giffords graduated from Cornell University in 1996 with a master's degree in regional planning...

Holder calls shootings unspeakably tragic (AP)
WASHINGTON – The killing of a Federal Judge and attempted Assassination of an Arizona congresswoman are an "unspeakable tragedy" that serve as a reminder that violence and cruelty persist more than 40 years after the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Attorney General Holder said Tuesday. Threats against public officials "continue to be cause for concern and vigilance," Holder told a Justice Department memorial for the slain Civil Rights leader in advance of the holiday commemorati...

Rachel Maddow on Americas Deadly Gun Culture
When leaders of the new Republican House of Representatives announced they intended to read aloud the US Constitution on the House floor, a number of folks chuckled. Later some folks pointed out that some parts had been left out intentionally - such as the silly and gangster-producing 18th Amendment prohibiting Alcohol. But others noted the poignancy when Civil Rights leader Rep. John Lewis read the 13th Amendment abolishing Slavery - and now, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords reading the Firs...

N.Y. Rep. Carolyn Maloney pushes for control of high-capacity bullet magazines
This report was written by Carolyn Lochhead and Jennifer Dlouhy of the Washington bureau and Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who lost her husband in a fatal shooting, is renewing efforts to outlaw the high-capacity bullet magazines such as the one used in the shootings Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. AP photo Surrounded by local leaders, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference about Gun Control in New York. The alleged Arizona gunman, ...

No Arizona-based federal judges to hear shooting case
Click here to cancel reply. “This Just In” is CNN's news blog. This is where you will find the latest news and information from CNN’s correspondents and sources around the world. We’ll cover fresh stories big and small - stories that are breaking, developing or otherwise driving the collective daily conversation, along with some items we find interesting and worth sharing. Our main blogger is Mallory Simon of CNN.com, with major assists from the staff of the C...

Arizona's Fixation On Immigration And Guns: A Recent History
The Mass Shootings in Arizona over the weekend that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) in critical condition after being shot in the head hardly marks the first time the state has been under scrutiny for its tense political atmosphere and somewhat off-the-rails policies. In April, TPM took a microscope to the state in the wake of its incredibly Controversial Immigration policy. So it's time to ask again, what's the matter with Arizona? As TPM reported back in April: What happene...

Doctor: Rep. Giffords breathing on her own after being shot
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Doctors say an Arizona congresswoman is breathing on her own after being shot in the head. Dr. Michael Lemole, Giffords' neurosurgeon, says they've left a breathing tube in Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to protect her airway, but the congresswoman is drawing breaths on her own. She's alert and responding to doctors. Six people are still hospitalized after the shooting Saturday at a Tucson Grocery Store. The attack killed six and injured 14 others. Giffords, a three-term Dem...

Doctor: Giffords breathing on her own after attack
(01-11) 09:40 PST Tucson, Ariz. (AP) -- Doctors say an Arizona congresswoman is breathing on her own after being shot in the head. Dr. Michael Lemole, Giffords' neurosurgeon, says they've left a breathing tube in Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to protect her airway, but the congresswoman is drawing breaths on her own. She's alert and responding to doctors. Six people are still hospitalized after the shooting Saturday at a Tucson grocery store. The attack killed six and injured 14 others. Giffords, a ...

Gabrielle Giffords Has 100 Percent Chance of Survival, Says Doctor
​Dr. Peter Rhee, the medical director for Tucson's University Medical Center's trauma center, has said that Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has a "100 percent" chance of survival. "As a physician I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this, but her prognosis for survival is 100 percent, as far as it being short term," he told a British TV station, via Politico. "Hopefully she'll live to be 95 years old." Meanwhile, the Hospital's chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Michael Lemole sa...

Shot US lawmaker 'breathing on her own': doctor
The Arizona lawmaker shot in the head in an attack that killed six in Tucson remains in critical condition but is now capable of breathing on her own, doctors said Tuesday. "She's holding her own," said Michael Lemole, the head neurosurgeon who operated on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, adding that she was still responding to simple commands, a key sign for her recovery prospects. "She's breathing on her own," added the doctor at University Medical Center, saying they had reduced the sedati...

McCain Cutting Short Congressional Trip To Attend Arizona Memorial Service
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Sen. John McCain is cutting short a Congressional trip to Latin America to return to his home state of Arizona for Wednesday’s memorial service for the Victims of last weekend’s Tucson shooting. McCain and his wife Cindy will both attend the memorial service, according to the senator’s spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan. McCain left last Friday with Sen. John Barrasso on a week-long trip to Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Panama and Mexico, but now McCain will h

Mourners to hold 'community healing' Mass after Arizona shooting
Mourners will gather at a memorial Mass Tuesday for Victims of the weekend shooting outside an Arizona Supermarket that killed 6 people and wounded 14 others. The Mass will be held at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) at St. Odiilia Church in Tucson, Arizona - where 9-year-old shooting victim Christina Green had her First Communion a year ago. "Right now it is important as a community to pull together and to reach out in care and concern to all who have been affected by this tragedy," Bishop Gera...

Arizona lawmakers plan to block protesters within 300 feet of funerals
The Arizona State Legislature is expected to pass Legislation Tuesday that will bar Protesters at Funerals from getting within 300 feet of services, a spokesman for the state Senate said. The action, according to Senate spokesman Daniel Scarpinato, is in direct response to a Controversial church's announcement that it will picket the funeral of Christina Green, the 9-year-old who was one of six people killed Saturday during the attempted Assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. West...

Numbers Don't Lie
Nate Silver doesn't jump to any assigned blame for Tuscon. But in the debate between which "side" is more violent or more prone to lash out with Firearms, Nate presents this: The Journalist Ronald Kessler, meanwhile, wrote in his bestselling book that there has been a 400 percent increase in the number of threats against the White House since Barack Obama took office. These sorts of statistics are a bit frightening. But they do, for better or for worse, provide us with a reasonably robust dat...