Campaigning for Hillary, Bill offends Bernie camp
Almost any issue gains stature during a hot political campaign.
If you listen to furious Bernie Sanders die-hards, former President Bill Clinton is running around the country waging a one-man war on our democracy.
Clinton was out on the trail for his wife, Hillary, on Super Tuesday and caused a mini-uproar when he strayed too close to not just one but several polling stations in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts law prohibits vote solicitation within 150 feet of a polling station. Many claim, however, that Clinton, who visited four polling stations in the eastern part of the state, was much closer than that during some of his visits.
Irate Bernie Sanders supporters have taken to support pages and chatrooms in order to raise awareness of what they’re calling blatant vote obstruction by the former president—with the kind of fervor “that usually comes from people whose candidate is losing,” according to one Bay State news outlet..
“He is blocking access to the polling stations, and is definitely not in compliance with the law barring campaign activities from taking place on election days at polling stations,” wrote Kayla Farrell, a Democratic activist from Clark County, Washington, in a petition being passed around on the Bernie Builders Slack channel, which counts more than 3,300 members.
On Reddit, Sanders backers posted photos, videos and Google Maps locations in an effort to show Bill Clinton had broken the law. The forum, Sanders For President, even got a hashtag off the ground: #MoveBillGetOutTheWay.
City signs counter gun-free zones
Greenleaf, ID, City Councilman Steven Vett and US Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) hold up a sign that is now greeting visitors to the little community. According to KBOI, the CBS TV affiliate in Boise, the signs have been up for months and residents said they reflect the attitude of the town. Some claim it has even encouraged people to move there.
“We are a big family out here in Greenleaf,” said Kelly McBride, a resident of the town for more than 10 years. “It’s a small town. I think all of us having a gun shows that we are a respectable society.”
A sign such as that in the photo are installed at each of the five entrances to the town, and each was paid for by private donations.
The 800 or so residents of Greenleaf are encouraged to own guns and get firearm training in their city code. Residents say the signs act as another deterrent for crime.
But Greenleaf is not the only community with such a sign. Conoy Township, PA, posted ten similar signs in early 2015, and you can buy such signs online, as well as T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other collectibles.
“You have to realize that to most people in this township God, guns, family and friends are the four most important things,” said Conoy Township Supervisor Stephen Mohr, the man who initially proposed his township’s signage, on Breitbart last year.
Tennessee names Barrett Model 82 Official State Rifle
The Tennessee General Assembly recently passed a resolution making the Barrett Model 82/M107 Tennessee’s official state rifle, part of a growing trend among gun friendly US states. This designation follows numerous accolades Barrett has received over the years for its innovation and ingenuity for a range of firearms produced at its plant and headquarters in Murfreesboro.
Micah Van Huss, an appreciative US Marine that used the weapon in combat and is now a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, initiated the State action.
The practice is fairly recent. The state of Utah held up the Browning M1911 handgun as its official firearm in March 2011. Alaska has designated the Winchester Model 70 rifle as its symbol, Pennsylvania the muzzleloading long rifle, Indiana, the Grouseland Rifle, and Arizona the Colt Single Action Army.
The Washington Post, like others following the lead of the Violence Policy Center, reported that “The Barrett .50 caliber rifle is a powerful gun. Widely used in the military, its rounds can ‘penetrate light armor, down helicopters, destroy commercial aircraft, and blast through rail cars.’” The Post also reported that the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, another anti-gun group, describes .50 caliber rifles like the Barrett as “among the most destructive weapons legally available to civilians in the United States.”
WA selfie fan competes for ‘Darwin Award’
Quite possibly the year’s first Darwin Award winner was a 43-year-old Washington State man who somehow managed to fatally shoot himself in the face while taking a “selfie.”
According to the Skagit Valley Herald, the man and his girlfriend were doing selfies with the firearm in question at his home near the small town of Concrete, and had taken a series of shots while the man loaded and emptied the gun repeatedly. He apparently forgot one round in the chamber during the process.
The incident was investigated as an accident by the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Seattle Times.
None of the reports revealed if the selfie fans were using any of the beyond-arms-length extreme extension devices that are so popular with the “take your own picture” crowd.
CNN says February NICS third highest
CNN recently reported that February 2016 was the third-biggest month on record for gun background checks, according to FBI data.
Background checks, which the FBI conducts every time someone tries to buy a gun from a federally licensed dealer, rose to 2.6 million in February, according to the bureau.
February’s total falls short of the record set in December 2015, when 3.3 million background checks were recorded. The second biggest month was in December 2012, the month of the Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 26, when the FBI logged 2.8 million checks.
Bloomberg passes on White House run
Former New York City mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg has announced that he will not run for president this election cycle.
Bloomberg, 74, the prince of anti-gunners, one of the world’s wealthiest men, used the essay on the website Bloomberg View to put to rest months of speculation over whether he would enter the race — and thereby scramble an already chaotic contest — as well as to criticize Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.).
A Bloomberg candidacy could tip the election in their favor, he said, adding, “That is not a risk I can take in good conscience.”
“I’m flattered that some think I could provide this kind of leadership,” he said. “But when I look at the data, it’s clear to me that if I entered the race, I could not win.”
Colorado movie gunman moved after prison attack
Convicted Colorado movie theater killer James Holmes was reportedly transferred to a prison in another state after he was assaulted at the Colorado State Penitentiary, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The disclosure came weeks after it actually happened—the attack reportedly occurred last October.
Holmes’ attack on a theater in Aurora in August 2012 was partly responsible for anti-gunners in the Colorado Legislature pushing stricter gun control laws the following year. The Sandy Hook attack was also used to push those laws, and in the aftermath, two anti-gun Democrats were recalled and a third resigned rather than allow the party to lose control in the Legislature.
It was not revealed by prison officials where Holmes was sent.
