By Drew Grant 12/21/12 12:16pm

Gun Control

President of the NRA at today's conference (Washington Post)

NRA Takes a Stand on Violent Video Games, Movies and Anything Else That Isn’t Gun-Related [Video]

Today, the president of the National Rifle Association of America, Wayne LaPierre, made his organization’s highly-anticipated statement regarding the shooting at Newtown, Connecticut. Anyone who was hoping for anything less than usual b.s. about how the school system needs more guns should probably stop reading right here. Also, the NRA wants us to note, that it is our culture’s glorification of Splatterdays (what?), Mortal Kombat and Natural Born Killers–specifically–that causes mass shootings, not military-style assault weapons that we can buy online. Read More

By Drew Grant 12/14/12 6:34pm

Newtown

A Word from LeVar (ReadingRainbowBlog)

LeVar Burton Takes to Reading Rainbow Blog to Help Parents Explain School Shootings to Kids

Today’s tragedy in Connecticut is not the type of news that makes reporters get out bed and say “Now this is the kind of thing I went to journalism school for!” Yes, we report on it. Yes, we grab screenshots of the “best” (if that superlative is even correct) tweets from the aftermath.

We embed videos of Obama crying, come up with opinion-heavy listicles and try to make some grand thesis about America’s history of violence. But it’s horrible. The murder of children is not something any of us want to dwell on, even as we understand the necessity of doing so. People went to Newtown today with cameras and crews not because they wanted to, but because when this kind of thing happens, someone needs to be on the ground.

And so it’s only fair that after a long day such as this one, we end on a note of–if not exactly positivity–some sort of pick-me-up. Like LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow taking to PBS’s blog to help parents explain gun violence to their own kids. Read More

By Steve Huff 12/14/12 1:38pm

Crime

Crime Scene

Gunman Kills 27, Including 18 Children, at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT (Developing)

During the 9 o’clock hour on Friday morning, at least one black-clad male entered Sandy Hook Elementary, a K through 4 school in Newtown, Connecticut. Police believe he was armed with two semi-automatic handguns. He opened fire on students and faculty and, according to reports coming from major media outlets already at the scene, the shooter killed at least 27, including 18 children.

Reuters and WABC reported that the shooter was 24, carrying up to four weapons and wearing a bulletproof vest.

An Associated Press report in the Hartford Courant states that “one entire classroom was unaccounted for” as authorities attempted to determine who had survived the shooting.

The school is home to grades K through 4, with students no older than ten years of age. Read More