Cowboy player charged with manslaughter in car accident: Will Costas lead an outcry about drunk driving by football players?

With all the discussion about how how a gun was used to kill someone, will there be a similar outrage here?  From Fox News:

Dallas Cowboys practice-squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a one-car accident Saturday and teammate Josh Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter. 

Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said the accident happened about 2:20 a.m. Saturday in the Dallas suburb. Brent was speeding when the vehicle hit a curb and flipped at least once, Argumaniz said. 

Argumaniz said the 25-year-old Brown -- also Brent's teammate at the University of Illinois for three seasons -- was found unresponsive at the scene and pronounced dead at a hospital. 

The police spokesman said officers conducted a field sobriety test on Brent and arrested him. The charge was upgraded after Brown was pronounced dead. . . .

It turns out that the bullet resistant vest used by the Aurora movie theater shooter wasn't so bullet resistant

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this sales receipt for the vest used by James Holmes.  If you go to Tactical Gear, you will see that while this is an "assault vest," it is hardly bullet resistant.  The vest is apparently an "assault vest" because it has pockets to hold multiple magazines. Here is the description provided of the product (click on the picture to enlarge).  Nylon isn't going to provide much protection against bullets.

Tactical Gear does sell bullet resistant vests, but they are much more expensive and are in the $500 to $620 range.  Of course, even if it had been a bullet resistant vest, it is still possible for bullets to penetrate, and in any case hits on the vest would have likely knocked him down and stopped the attack.

Note that in July the New York Times mentioned this Blackhawk Urban Assault Vest, but apparently they had no idea what they had.

In early July, Mr. Holmes ordered a Blackhawk Urban Assault Vest, a knife and two magazine holders from a Web site called Tactical Gear, according to an order slip provided by the company’s chief executive, Chad Weinman. He chose expedited two-day delivery to his apartment in the eastern Denver suburb of Aurora, where the shootings took place early Friday, just a few miles from Mr. Holmes’s apartment. . . . 

Yet, the same article noted: "He also bought bulletproof vests and other tactical gear . . . ."

Thanks very much to Lon Williams for these links.

Union forces Chrysler to rehire workers who fired for drinking on the job

From Fox News:

“While the company does not agree with the ultimate decision of the arbitrator, we respect the grievance procedure process as outlined in the collective bargaining  agreement and our relationship with the (United Auto Workers union),” the company said, according to MyFoxDetroit. “Unfortunately, the company was put in a very difficult position because of the way the story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. These employees from Jefferson North have been off work for more than two years. The time has come to put this situation behind us and resume our focus on building quality products that will firmly establish Chrysler Group's position in the marketplace."
The employees work at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which builds Jeep Cherokees.

Another interesting union story is available here.

Disgruntled union workers put their fight against Cablevision over the fight against cancer at a Times Square protest last night.
About 50 members of the Communications Workers of America Local 1109 disrupted a benefit for cancer research at the Hard Rock Cafe, carrying signs and blaring music as attendees streamed in.
Cablevision CEO James Dolan, whose rock band performed at the event, told The Post that the workers’ actions are “despicable.”
“They think being disruptive for their personal gain is more important than beating pancreatic cancer,” he said. “Their values are twisted. I’m surprised at the depth of their lowness. Everyone who deals with them should take note. It’s shameful.”
The benefit was expected to raise $1.75 million for the Lustgarten Foundation, which funds pancreatic-cancer research. . . . 

Media Discussion of my pieces on Bob Costas

Regarding my first op-ed this last week at Fox News on Costas here is some of the reaction.  I will update this later when I have time to put in responses.

From Entertainment Weekly:

As you can guess, his commentary was closely scrutinized, and while some applauded his effort, many criticized him for broaching a politically taboo subject in the midst of Sunday Night Football. Second-Amendment advocates like Fox News’ John Lott dismissed Costas for his “emotional reaction,” and media-watcher Howard Kurtz said, “If Bob Costas wanted to urge gun control during NFL, he should have made his own case, not quoted a columnist.” In less decorous language, Deadspin’s Sean Newell called it a “sanctimonious horsesh-t” editorial that was “so laughably out of touch it almost has to be satire.” . . . .

I didn't dismiss Costas' comments because they were emotional.  The relevant part of the sentence where I made this reference read like this: "Bob Costas’ emotional reaction to the deaths of Belcher and Perkins is understandable . . . ."  My problem wasn't that he was emotional, it was that what he said was factually wrong.

The New Yorker:

John Lott, a anti-gun-control advocate, worried, in an attack on Costas atFoxNews.com, that statistics showing that most victims know their murderer might dissuade people from keeping a weapon in the house: “But this claim regarding domestic violence irresponsibly makes people afraid of those who they have no reason to be afraid of…. Acquaintance murders also include prostitutes and their pimps or Johns.” There are few things less helpful, in the case of guns and domestic violence, than the assumption that the right sort of people will never be hurt by either. 

Domestic, or intimate-partner violence, is a problem that goes well beyond guns. Some forty per cent of women who are murdered in America are killed by men with whom they are or were in relationships (the most dangerous moment is when she tries to leave). . . .

An op-ed by M.D. Harmon in the Press Herald:

As John Lott, author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime," noted in a Fox News commentary Monday, "Whether people like Costas like it or not, the facts speak for themselves." 

The facts also disprove Costas' subsequent allegation that legally owned guns are greatly to blame for crime among minorities. Guns are used in inner city gang crimes, certainly, but they are almost all illegally acquired and possessed by their users. 

Indeed, gun crime rates are highest in the cities where legal gun possession is most strongly discouraged -- New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., chief among them. 

But where guns are widely and legally possessed, crime rates fall. And studies have shown more than a million crimes are halted or prevented by legally owned firearms each year. Just the display of a weapon discourages most offenders, who look for easier targets to victimize. 

Therefore, gun crimes most often take place in places where criminals know they have a high probability of being the only person on the scene who is armed. 

Colorado and Virginia both permit carrying firearms, but the Aurora movie theater and the Virginia Tech campus where two of the nation's most famous recent mass killings took place both "banned" guns on their property. . . .

From Entertainment Weekly:

As you can guess, his commentary was closely scrutinized, and while some applauded his effort, many criticized him for broaching a politically taboo subject in the midst of Sunday Night Football. Second-Amendment advocates like Fox News’ John Lott dismissed Costas for his “emotional reaction,” and media-watcher Howard Kurtz said, “If Bob Costas wanted to urge gun control during NFL, he should have made his own case, not quoted a columnist.” In less decorous language, Deadspin’s Sean Newell called it a “sanctimonious horsesh-t” editorial that was “so laughably out of touch it almost has to be satire.” . . . .

The New Yorker:

John Lott, a anti-gun-control advocate, worried, in an attack on Costas at FoxNews.com, that statistics showing that most victims know their murderer might dissuade people from keeping a weapon in the house: “But this claim regarding domestic violence irresponsibly makes people afraid of those who they have no reason to be afraid of…. Acquaintance murders also include prostitutes and their pimps or Johns.” There are few things less helpful, in the case of guns and domestic violence, than the assumption that the right sort of people will never be hurt by either. 

Domestic, or intimate-partner violence, is a problem that goes well beyond guns. Some forty per cent of women who are murdered in America are killed by men with whom they are or were in relationships (the most dangerous moment is when she tries to leave). . . .

An op-ed by M.D. Harmon in the Press Herald:

As John Lott, author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime," noted in a Fox News commentary Monday, "Whether people like Costas like it or not, the facts speak for themselves." 

The facts also disprove Costas' subsequent allegation that legally owned guns are greatly to blame for crime among minorities. Guns are used in inner city gang crimes, certainly, but they are almost all illegally acquired and possessed by their users. 

Indeed, gun crime rates are highest in the cities where legal gun possession is most strongly discouraged -- New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., chief among them. 

But where guns are widely and legally possessed, crime rates fall. And studies have shown more than a million crimes are halted or prevented by legally owned firearms each year. Just the display of a weapon discourages most offenders, who look for easier targets to victimize. 

Therefore, gun crimes most often take place in places where criminals know they have a high probability of being the only person on the scene who is armed. 

Colorado and Virginia both permit carrying firearms, but the Aurora movie theater and the Virginia Tech campus where two of the nation's most famous recent mass killings took place both "banned" guns on their property. . . .

From the Heartland Institute on the Costas case:

Economist and author John Lott, Jr., was a guest on Mark Levin’s radio show Monday night, discussing his book, “More Guns, Less Crime.” Lott’s research and analysis on crime rates in states with and without stringent gun controls is epic. It demonstrates indisputably that crime decreases as gun possession – or the legal rights to it – increase. Heartland is a friend of Lott and interviewed him two years ago for this video. . . .

Other places such as Eddie Scarry at The Blaze and Timothy Johnson at Media Matters also put up posts.  It is interesting that Media Matters is constantly making false claims to attack the notion that people should be able to defend themselves with guns when David Brock, the founder of Media Matters, has had staff illegally carry guns for his personal protection.

My second op-ed, which hasn't gotten the same attention, is available here.

Anti-gun State Senator in Illinois arrested for unregistered handgun

If this were a Republican who believed people had the right to self defense with guns, I suspect that this story would have gotten more attention.

State Sen. Donne Trotter was packing an illegal handgun in his carry-on when he got pinched at an O’Hare Airport checkpoint, prosecutors said at a Thursday bond hearing. 

Trotter’s bail was set at $25,000 on felony charges that he tried to board a plane with an unloaded .25-caliber Beretta. He also allegedly carried an ammunition clip loaded with bullets. . . . 

Prosecutors said in court that Trotter told Transportation Security Administration agents he is employed by Allpoints Security and Detective Inc., where he said he had worked the night shift on Tuesday. Trotter said he forgot to take his gun out of his garment bag. 

Trotter told authorities the gun was legally registered in Chicago, but a search of handgun records found that it was not, prosecutors said. . . .

The Chicago Tribune's John Kass has more available here.

"Concealed carry helps Appleton (WI) man during road rage incident"

As the article says, this is the reason why people carry concealed handguns.

Supporters of Wisconsin’s concealed weapons law insist it will save lives – and that might have been the case during a road rage incident in Wausau. . . .

Police said an 49-year-old Appleton man was driving into town from the west, when his SUV passed a van – and the van started ramming the SUV from behind. The Appleton man called 911, and a dispatcher told him to wait in a parking lot for an officer. 

In the meantime, the attackers followed the man – and police said the couple got out and started beating him and stabbing him with their vehicle keys. The man pulled his concealed gun, and the two backed off. . . . .  

The SUV driver had a legal state concealed carry permit, and police say he will not be criminally charged.

Charles Barkley on carrying a concealed handgun

From USA Today:

TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley, saying he feels safer carrying a gun, says the issue in the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shootings is domestic violence, not gun control. 

"There's never a reason to hit a woman, touch a woman, or obviously kill a woman," Barkley tells USA TODAY Sports. 

"I hope people don't (overemphasize) the gun situation. I'm very sensitive to domestic violence because I have a daughter (23-year-old Christiana), and that's just one thing that I cannot accept in any shape or form whatsoever. It's just a crazy situation. 

"I don't get into the gun stuff. Some guys have guns who go hunting. Where do we stop (the gun control) at? I'm not a hunter, but we can't say people can't have guns. ... Let's not make this thing about guns. Let's make this about mistreating women. That's unacceptable." . . .

Obama wants to go over "Fiscal Cliff"?

It sure looks like Obama wants to go over the fiscal cliff.  Apparently he just thinks that the Republicans will get blamed so he has no intent on really negotiating.  During the campaign he asked for $800 billion in tax increases.  Republicans offered him that and now he wants $1.6 trillion.  From The Hill newspaper:

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Friday that President Obama is "not very engaged" in discussions over the "fiscal cliff" because he is willing to let the tax increases and spending cuts take effect in January.   

"I don't think there's a lot of incentive on the president's part to be at the table to make a deal, which is why he's not very engaged in this discussion," Thune told Fox News. 

Obama has stressed repeatedly that he believes reaching a compromise budget deal is crucial, but Thune contended his actions have not matched his rhetoric. 

"You think about it, this president just won a big election, you think he would want to lead," Thune said. "He hasn't put anything forward." . . .

Boehner is also pessimistic about the negotiations.

Boehner said there was “no progress” in the talks just three weeks before tax hikes and spending cuts kick in and expressed frustration that President Obama hasn’t made a counteroffer to the GOP’s proposal of $800 billion in new tax revenue as part of a $2.2 trillion deficit reduction plan. 

“This isn’t a progress report, because there’s no progress to report,” Boehner said in a brief press conference at the Capitol. He said the White House had “wasted another week” by not responding to House Republicans. . . . . 

My newest Fox News piece: Bob Costas can't shoot straight when it comes to guns

My newest piece starts this way:

Bob Costas doubled down on gun control Wednesday night on "The O’Reilly Factor" and  Tuesday on MSNBC. Despite all the commotion generated by his rant on guns during halftime on NBC’s "Sunday Night Football,” he just couldn’t leave well enough alone. He called for restrictions on concealed handgun permit holders and reduced gun ownership in cities. Some Democratic lawmakers followed Costas’ lead and called for more gun control this week.  

Unfortunately, Costas’ statements were filled with errors on topics ranging from "body armor" to “automatic weapons” to the gun laws in Colorado to the views of police to the behavior of permit holders.  

During appearances on both shows Costas worried about the “Wild West, Dirty Harry mentality” of America’s 8 million concealed handgun permit holders.  

Regarding the Aurora, Colorado shooting he attacked: “people who actually believe that if a number of people were armed at the theater in Aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut job in body armor and military style artillery.” But Costas never asked why the killer picked the Cinemark’s Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado on July 20th to commit mass murder. . . .

There are lots of other mistakes that Costas made in his presentation, but I only had about 800 words.  I would have also gone through the claimed benefits from background checks, let alone Costas' claim that even more stringent rules are needed.  The literature on the lack of benefits from mandatory training would have been useful also. His belief that he had never known of a professional athlete who had been helped by the presence of a gun misses the cases of Corey Fuller who defended himself against two armed robbers or T.J. Slaughter who claims that he was being threatened by other motorists.

UPDATE: USA Today has this claim that three-quarters of NFL players own guns.  See also this quote by former NFL running back Thomas Jones:

"Most guys when they first come into the league is when they first start to realize they need protection," Jones says. "Because money brings a lot of positive things. But most of the time, it brings more negative things. People don't like you for what you have, for who you are. They don't like you for what you represent. And people will go to any length to take what you have or harm you in some way just because they don't have what you have. If you don't have a firearm to protect you from situations and God forbid something happens to you, you wish you would have a firearm." . . .

Bob Costas doubles down on call for more gun control

On Monday, Bernie Goldberg tried to defend his friend while on O'Reilly's show on Fox.

BERNARD GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, like you, I know Bob Costas. He's a good friend of mine. And he's a very thoughtful guy. 

The first thing, just to get it out of the way, he was on for less than a minute. And, almost all of the time, he spent quoting a very fine columnist out in Kansas City named Jason Whitlock. 

But as far as Bob himself is concerned, I spoke to him today at length, and he told me that -- 

-- he, in no way, wants -- and if he could even snap his fingers and make it happen, he wouldn't repeal the Second Amendment because of abuses that some people commit with guns, in any more than he would repeal the First Amendment because some people say stupid things and hurtful things. 

So, that's not what it's about. He told me he has no problem with people who have guns to protect their homes or to go hunting. He said that he thinks there should be reasonable gun control so that people don't have -- can't go online and build an arsenal of guns and put it in their basement. . . .

But the most important thing he told me, Bill, is that he wasn't by and large talking about gun laws. . . . .

Unfortunately, soon after Bernie was defending Costas to Fox viewers as saying that Costas "wasn't by and large talking about gun laws," Costas was on MSNBC seeming to say the opposite. 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Do I believe that we need more comprehensive and more sensible legislation?  Yes, I do."

Going after the "gun culture" in the US, Costas argued.

"It demonstrates itself in the wild west, Dirty Harry mentality.  People who actually believe that if a number of people were armed at the theater in Aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut job in body armor and military style artillery.  In fact, almost every police man in the country would tell you that would have only increased the tragedy and added to the carnage.  But it also plays itself out, and Jason Whitlock had some insight into this, it plays itself out in the inner cities where teenage kids are somehow armed to the hilt." 

Here are two pieces that are relevant to Costas' claims (here and here).

Take the annual survey by the National Association of Chiefs of Police of more than 20,000 chiefs of police and sheriffs. In 2010 it found that 95% believed "any law-abiding citizen [should] be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense." Seventy-seven percent believed that concealed-handgun permits issued in one state should be honored by other states "in the way that drivers' licenses are recognized through the country"—and that making citizens' permits portable would "facilitate the violent crime-fighting potential of the professional law enforcement community." . . .

Costas also approvingly talks about Whitlock's views on guns in the inner city.  Whitlock's KKK comments on Monday, before the MSNBC interview, get things backwards.
I believe the NRA is the new KKK. And that the arming of so many black youths, uh, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people who obviously don’t have our best interests.

The point is that blacks in these high crime areas need protection.  Drug gangs are a real problem.  Police are also the most important factor protecting people, but they can't be there all the time.  Poor blacks in the inner city benefit more than others from having a chance to defend themselves.

Costas had this interview on Monday available here.

What should be the standard for removing guns from people?

Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, warns: “We’re just saying that if you’re going to take away the Second Amendment rights … they ought to have it adjudicated, rather than mandated by someone who’s unqualified to state that they should lose their rights.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, objected: “But if you are mentally ill, whether you’re a veteran or not, just like if you’re a felon, if you’re a veteran or not, and you have been judged to be mentally infirm, you should not have a gun.”
Does this mean that Schumer thinks that the government should just remove guns from anyone without having to go to court?

More complicated Obamacare rules coming out after the election

To bad these rules couldn't have come out slightly earlier to give people more time to prepare for the tax changes, but then they would have had to come out before the election.

The Internal Revenue Service has released new rules for investment income taxes on capital gains and dividends earned by high-income individuals that passed Congress as part of the 2010 healthcare reform law.
The 3.8 percent surtax on investment income, meant to help pay for healthcare, goes into effect in 2013. It is the first surtax to be applied to capital gains and dividend income.
The tax affects only individuals with more than $200,000 in modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), and married couples filing jointly with more than $250,000 of MAGI.
The tax applies to a broad range of investment securities ranging from stocks and bonds to commodity securities and specialized derivatives.
The 159 pages of rules spell out when the tax applies to trusts and annuities, as well as to individual securities traders.
Released late on Friday, the new regulations include a 0.9 percent healthcare tax on wages for high-income individuals. . . . 

Right-to-work and job growth

Info on right-to-work states is available here.  Red State has put together job growth in states available here.  They could have been more complete showing the change for all states and not just 28.  Indiana just became a RTW state.

Gergen: Democrats trying to humiliate Republicans in tax deal

David Gergen: But since this election, there’s been — I think it’s the Democrats are the ones who are really trying to rub it in and almost humiliate the Republicans, and that’s not going to get to a bargain. Again, I think it has to be win-win. … You hear among some Democrats right now, and it’s disturbing, that maybe we ought to just take it over the cliff, that’ll, we’ll score political points against the Republicans, that will force their hands in the new year. That is a very, very, dangerous risk.

See also this statement from Krauthammer:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER:  The only reason the president insists on raising rates is because he knows it will destroy Republican unity. It will cause a complete fracture of the Republican majority in the House. It will hand him a Congress that he can then manipulate for the next two years at least because the Republicans will be neutered. 

Canadian Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau calls long-gun registry 'a failure'

This is a pretty amazing statement by Trudeau.

. . . "The long-gun registry, as it was, was a failure and I'm not going to resuscitate that," Trudeau said while visiting the DART Aerospace plant in Hawkesbury. 

"We will continue to look at ways of keeping our cities safe and making sure that we do address the concerns around domestic violence that happen right across the country, in rural as well as urban areas in which, unfortunately, guns do play a role." 

"But there are better ways of keeping us safe than that registry which is, has been removed," Trudeau said. 

The Liberal leadership hopeful made the comments after he was asked for his view on the now-defunct long-gun registry. 

"I grew up with long guns, rifles and shotguns," explained the son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. 

"Yes, the RCMP guarding me had handguns and I got to play with them every now and then," said Trudeau, quickly adding that the RCMP was "very responsible" around him and his siblings. . . .  

Trudeau voted against the abolition of the federal long-gun registry. . . .

The registry cost a lot of money, but didn't solve any crimes.

From 2003 to 2009, there were 4,257 homicides in Canada, 1,314 of which were committed with firearms. Data provided last fall by the Library of Parliament reveals that the weapon was identified in fewer than a third of the homicides with firearms, and that about three-quarters of the identified weapons were not registered. Of the weapons that were registered, about half were registered to someone other than the person accused of the homicide. In just 62 cases — that is, only 4.7 percent of all firearm homicides — was the gun registered to the accused. As most homicides in Canada are not committed with a gun, the 62 cases correspond to only about 1 percent of all homicides.
To repeat, during these seven years, there were only 62 cases — nine a year — where it was even conceivable that registration made a difference. But apparently, the registry was not important even in those cases. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Chiefs of Police have not yet provided a single example in which tracing was of more than peripheral importance in solving a case.
The problem isn’t just with the long-gun registry. The data provided above cover all guns, including handguns. There is no evidence that, since the handgun registry was started in 1934, it has been important in solving a single homicide. . . .

 

WGN's Mike McConnell Interviews me about Costas' claims on 12-04-12 10:00am-11:00am

A audio of the interview is available here.

Is an tragedy a reason to push for gun control?: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher case

Costas' push for gun control seems to have triggered more calls among politicians.  From The Hill newspaper:

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) on Monday slammed Congress for “doing nothing to protect our families and our society” from gun violence in the wake of a high-profile murder-suicide involving a National Football League player. 

“With the senseless tragedy in Kansas City this weekend, once again, gun violence finds its way onto our nation’s front pages; and once again we hear the same stale arguments from both sides of the political spectrum,” DeGette told The Hill in an email. “It’s clear these old arguments are doing nothing to protect our families and our society, so I urge our nation to come together and change the conversation.” . . .

A very thorough review of my book Freedomnomics

An economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ronald Johnson, has written a very thorough review of my book Freedomnomics available here.  The price of the book is much, much lower than he indicates (!), but, besides that, it is a very nice review.

How much different would the entire Zimmerman/Martin debate have been if this photo had been released soon after the event?

Would it have hurt the police to release this photo soon after the attack?  Why has the prosecutor been dragging her feet to release this color picture?  I guess that we all know the answer.  Fox News as the story available here.

Zimmerman’s legal team released the photo, which they believe bolsters their case that Zimmerman, 29, was being beaten when he fatally shot the 17-year-old Martin in the chest. The photo was taken by police and only released to Zimmerman’s team recently, said Zimmerman’s lawyer. Previously, the team only had a black-and-white photocopy of the picture.
“That's really one of my frustrations. They originally submitted a black and white photo so we asked for a color copy. They then submitted a color photo copy that was drab," said Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara to Foxnews.com.
"We kept asking for a digital copy and then we had to file a motion [in court] to have it submitted."
O'Mara says that the discovery phase has been rife with issues.
"It just seems like it's been pulling teeth for discovery in this case," he said. . .

Appearing on Mark Levin's show at 6:05 PM EST to discuss latest Fox Piece: The truth about Costas, Belcher and guns

It should be fun to be on Mark's show again at 6:05 PM today to discuss the piece that I had at Fox News.

Newest piece at Fox News: The truth about Costas, Belcher and guns

My newest Fox News piece starts this way:

Did Jovan Belcher, the 6’2” 228 pound linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, need a gun to kill his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins? How about to commit suicide? Apparently some think that Saturday's murder-suicide tragedy in Kansas City wouldn't have happened if he hadn't had a firearm. Amazingly, during halftime on NBC’s "Sunday Night Football," Bob Costas told viewers he believed: “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.” 

Belcher apparently killed Perkins, the 22-year-old mother of his 3-month-old daughter, at home. The horrible tragedy occurred in front of Perkins’ mom. He then drove to the Chiefs' practice facility where he committed suicide. 

Guns can make it easier to kill people, but that isn’t relevant here. Even if no weapon existed, the strength differential is so large that Belcher could have easily killed Perkins in any number of ways. The same is true, sadly, about suicide. There are so many ways that Belcher could have killed himself, including crashing his car at a high rate of speed into a wall or even another car as he drove to Arrowhead Stadium.  

Unfortunately, pointing to two deaths here does nothing to advance the case for gun control. Costas’ rant falls under the category of if gun control could save just one life it would be worth it. The argument makes as much sense as saying we shouldn’t have gun control if guns can save one life.  

The question is the net effect of guns, and what Costas ignores is that guns save a lot more lives than they cost each year. And that's not even mentioning the roughly 2 million times a year that people use guns defensively. 

Whether people like Costas like it or not the facts speak for themselves . . .

Mayor Bloomberg spent $3.3+ million attacking Democratic Congressman who supports people being able to own guns for self-protection

Bloomberg efforts to defeat Congressman Baca, a pro-gun Democrat, were successful.  Among the bizarre things that Bloomberg's attacks contained:

The [Sacramento] Bee reports that Bloomberg funded mailings that accused Baca of pushing to allow "sex offenders, domestic abusers and suspected terrorists" to carry concealed weapons. . . .

If a person has a felony, they can't own a gun, let alone carry a concealed handgun.  In many states, if you have a misdemeanor, you can't get a concealed handgun permit for five years. 

Would the Obama administration reclassify semi-automatic guns as machine guns?

The Obama administration apparently might claim that it is easy to convert semi-automatic guns into automatic ones.  Of course, as John Snyder points out here, that is false.  It will be interesting to see if what Snyder is claiming turns out to be true.  One other comment is that I don't approve of Snyder's language.  I think that he could have said things quite differently and been more effective.

What if Republicans gave the Democrats what they wanted?

Democrat's plans would increase unemployment and reduce growth rates.  For Republicans opposing the Democrat's proposals help the Democrats because the economy is better than it otherwise would have been.  At the same time, Democrats beat up on Republicans for being mean.

Take the unemployment insurance benefits.  It is pretty clear that higher benefits both increase the number unemployed and increases the length of time that people are unemployed. From The Hill newspaper:

Republicans are cool to a White House proposal that federal unemployment benefits be extended for another year.
Extending the benefits would cost $30 billion and was included in the first deficit-reduction proposal that President Obama sent to GOP leaders this week.
With talks to avoid the “fiscal cliff” seemingly at a standstill, Republicans are suggesting that the cost of extending the jobless benefits program could prove problematic.
"After spending $215 billion and adding $180 billion to the debt, more spending on federal unemployment benefits, above and beyond what the states already spend, would have to be carefully considered during fiscal cliff talks," said a House GOP aide. . . .

The same is also true for the higher tax rates that Obama is pushing.