Trigger warning: guns, violence, murder, game theory.

Last night, a 64-year-old Nevadan killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 500 by shooting several (semi-?) automatic rifles into a large crowd at an outdoor country music festival across the Las Vegas strip. This terrible act was the deadliest mass shooting so far in modern America ( Read more... )

I'm sympathetic to a lot of libertarian arguments, but I've always felt put off by the prominent position in which American libertarians place firearms. I just thought of a punchy way to express why it bothers me.

You're not at liberty as long as someone's pointing a gun at your head.Libertarians tend to focus on unchecked power in government ( Read more... )

In February, This American Life aired two one-hour shows about Harper High School. You can listen to part one and part two. The school is in the Englewood neighborhood of south Chicago. It looks like an old residential neighborhood, with houses from the first half of the century, mature trees, and small patches of grass. In many cities around ( Read more... )

Gun advocates often suggest that society would be safer if everyone carried[1] a gun, because would-be attackers would think twice about going after an armed target. I was thinking about this, and it seems like the past three hundred years or so featured plenty of countries who started a war, even though the other side had a bunch of guns ( Read more... )

I just read Bruce Schneier's post about the Boston Police wanting semi-automatic assault rifles. Police in Guatemala and Honduras carry semi-automatics (not to mention security guards at banks, department stores, and McDonalds with shotguns), and it doesn't really make me feel safe. Sure, it might deter armed robbers from attacking tourists, but ( Read more... )

Now is your opportunity to get Charlton Heston's gun. May the prying begin.

Americans who posture about immigrants and drugs crossing from Mexico into the U.S. ought to consider what moves in the other direction. It's easy to get drugs in Mexico. It's easy to get guns in the U.S. Drug smugglers want guns to protect them from law enforcement. Guess what they can trade ( Read more... )

trism in particular will appreciate Gun, Dynamite, Nuke, Lightning, Devil, Dragon, Alien, Water, Bowl, Air, Moon, Paper, Sponge, Wolf, Cockroach, Tree, Man, Woman, Monkey, Snake, Axe, Scissors, Fire, Sun, Rock.

Link courtesy memepool.