This ad is just clumsy, offensive, and stupid. So yeah, just like the NRA.

The ad is very reminiscent of the ad the conservative Free Enterprise Fund ran against Bob Menendez in 2006. That didn’t work.

More detail here.

In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun.

The latest measure, offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), has far greater reach. Offered Monday as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, it would allow people to carry concealed firearms across state lines, provided they ‘have a valid permit or if, under their state of residence . . . are entitled to do so.’

The amendment is opposed by 400 mayors, including New York’s Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and Boston’s Thomas M. Menino (D), who outlined their objections in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). They noted that at least 31 states prohibit alcohol abusers from obtaining concealed-carry permits; at least 35 states bar people convicted of certain misdemeanors from becoming gun owners; and at least 31 states require people to complete gun-safety programs before securing a weapons permit.

But Reid voted for both pro-gun measures earlier this year and is viewed as a likely ‘yes’ on Thune’s amendment, although he has not declared a position. A vote on the amendment could come Wednesday, said Jim Manley, Reid’s spokesman.

It is time to seriously reconsider the senate leadership of Harry Reid. Because not only is he amazingly inept – being regularly out gunned by the GOP minority – he gives cover to the GOP by voting with them on many of these idiotic issues.

Also, the GOP love of state’s rights suddenly disappears when its a gun issue.

For over a year, ABC News has followed Omar Samaha on a very personal quest to hold those lawmakers to their word. Omar’s sister Reema was one of 32 shot and killed at Virginia Tech. We went with Omar to a gun show in Richmond, Va. — one of hundreds held every weekend across the state of Virginia and the country. We gave Samaha $5,000 and one hour to see how many guns he could buy, and how many questions he would be asked.

By 9:30 in the morning, the parking lot was already packed full of cars. Groups of men, couples and even families with children in tow streamed toward the quickly growing line out front. Samaha, 25, joined the crowds and while waiting on line, he was approached by a seller and given the opportunity to make a quick purchase. He bought a Glock handgun, with no background check, and no questions asked.

A 15-year-old student died after a shooting at a Fort Lauderdale high school Wednesday, and police were questioning another student believed to be responsible.

Sophomore Amanda Collette was confirmed dead after being discovered on a hallway floor by a school resource officer at Dillard High School around 11 a.m. Another 15-year-old girl was being held and questioned by police in the death.

‘This is a situation where we are more than heartbroken,’ said Jim Notter, the superintendent of schools for Broward County.

Inside the house, officers found ‘Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder’ by radio talk show host Michael Savage, ‘Let Freedom Ring’ by talk show host Sean Hannity, and ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.

No Rush?

Because you know nothing is better with our national parks than gun toting jackassery.

The Bush administration formally proposed Wednesday to scrap a longtime ban against bringing loaded weapons into national parks and wildlife areas.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the beginning of a 60-day public comment period on the proposed update to the nation’s gun regulations.

Under the plan, an individual could carry a concealed weapon in national parks and wildlife refuges if he or she is authorized to do so on similar state lands in the state where the national park or refuge is located.

I guess its an improvement over the Republican idea to drill the national parks for oil. But not much of one.

You know what else is “controversial”? Dead people, killed by the weapons they obtain at gun shows without going through the proper checks.

A 3-year-old girl found a gun in a bedroom of her home and shot herself in the head Sunday, police said.

One of the girl’s parents apparently owned the gun, and at least one parent was home when she shot herself Sunday afternoon. Police questioned the parents and took the gun, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Death does not automatically confer goodness on people.

The man who killed five people and wounded 16 others at Northern Illinois University in a suicidal rampage had recently become erratic after halting his medication, police said Friday.

The man, identified as 27-year-old former NIU student Stephen Kazmierczak, carried a shotgun to campus inside a guitar case and also wielded three handguns during Thursday’s ambush inside a lecture hall, they said.

Law enforcement officials said Kazmierczak started buying his guns last August, all legally and all from the same gun dealer in Champaign, where he was enrolled at the University of Illinois.

He bought a Sig Sauer 9mm on Aug. 6 and a Highpoint .380 on Dec. 30. Two of the weapons — the pump-action Remington shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun — were purchased less than a week ago, on Saturday, authorities said.

He had a valid permit required for all Illinois residents who buy or possess firearms, authorities said.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday proposed mandated background checks for everyone who attempts to purchase firearms at gun shows – legislation he called critical to helping prevent tragedies like the shootings at Virginia Tech.

In Virginia and most other states, people can buy firearms from private, unlicensed dealers at gun shows without going through a background check. Such checks are required for sales by licensed dealers, whether they are at gun shows or somewhere else.

You’re kidding.

Idiots.

The mother of a 14-year-old boy accused of planning a “Columbine-type” event at a high school was arrested Friday morning, prosecutors said.

Michele Cossey, 46, of Plymouth Meeting was charged with six criminal counts in connection with buying her son firearms and bomb-making equipment, including a .22-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic rifle.

The charges are unlawful transfer of a fiream, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of reckless endangerment.

A search of the boy’s home Wednesday outside Philadelphia turned up the rifle, about 30 air-powered guns, swords, knives, a bomb-making book and videos of the 1999 Columbine High School attack.

Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor Jr. said the weapons were plainly visible in the boy’s bedroom.