While visiting the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London, we made friends with the Yeoman Porter on duty. In addition to inviting us to that night’s Ceremony of the Keys, he took us back into the closed section housing the resting place of Saint Thomas More.
For the record, Jimmy Kimmel didn’t say anything negative about Charlie Kirk. He criticized the MAGA folks use of the Charlie Kirk murder for political purposes.
On August 30, the Minnesota Star Tribune published a commentary from a leader of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus. His solution to the gun problem that killed one of my neighbors and seriously injured another? Pretty much anything BUT gun control.
I wrote a response. Today the Star Tribune published my response. I am sharing that letter here so that it can be viewed without paying for a Star Tribune subscription.
Please share if you are so inclined. The more we push back on the non-answers of the gun lobby with facts, the more likely we are to force change.
In his Aug. 30 commentary, Rob Doar suggested what will and will not work to prevent mass shootings like the one at Annunciation Church, where a shooter killed two children, injured 21 and traumatized an entire community. As the senior vice president of Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, his conclusions came as no surprise: Absolutely nothing should be done on the gun control front, and we should only consider solutions unrelated to gun control. He is wrong.
First, when dismissing the effectiveness of assault weapons bans, Doar misled us by cherry-picking a quote from a 2004 National Institute of Justice report: “We cannot clearly credit the [1994 Federal Assault Weapons] Ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence.” He conveniently left out the next two sentences: “However, the ban’s exemption of millions of pre-ban AWs [assault weapons] and LCMs [large capacity magazines] ensured that the effects of the law would occur only gradually. Those effects are still unfolding and may not be fully felt for several years into the future, particularly if foreign, pre-ban LCMs continue to be imported into the U.S. in large numbers.”
Second, he didn’t mention reputable studies, such as the RAND Corporation’s more recent analysis that found: “Among the three studies with higher methodological quality, one found that state assault weapon bans significantly reduced school shooting casualties, and one found that high-capacity magazine bans significantly reduced mass public shootings.”
Clearly there is evidence that assault weapon bans could save lives, particularly if we look honestly at the data on what did and did not work with the previous ban.
Third, Doar argued that an assault weapons ban wouldn’t have stopped the Annunciation shooter because the shooter carried a shotgun and pistol along with an AR-15-style assault rifle. Doar ignored the fact that the assault rifle was the primary weapon. Police reported that they recovered 116 rifle shells but only three shotgun shells. They also found one live round in a pistol that had malfunctioned.
Would an assault weapons ban have stopped the Annunciation Church shooter? We’ll never know. But it seems pretty likely that without the weapon that caused more than 97% of the carnage, there would have been fewer casualties.
Fourth, Doar dismissed enhanced background checks by noting that the Annunciation shooter passed one. But, while background checks did not stop this tragedy, it doesn’t follow that they have not and will not stop others. While it is hard to get reliable data on how effective background checks are, there is a well-documented correlation between states implementing stricter background checks and statistically significant decreases in firearms homicides and suicides.
Finally, after dismissing any kind of gun control, Doar suggests what would work: Mental health care improvements, hardening soft targets and limiting media publicity that gives shooters the attention they crave. Most people on both sides of the gun control debate support these three suggestions. However, the U.S. has the highest level of gun violence in the world, by far, compared to other wealthy countries. These same countries have soft target schools and places of worship. They have media who report on crime. Some even have similar problems with mental health care disparities. None have the gun violence problem the U.S. does. Why? Massive differences in access to guns.
Our elected officials and those against gun control owe it to the rest of us and their own communities to look honestly at the actual evidence rather than cherry-picked snippets that support unrestricted access to all guns of any kind. They need to be open to the possibility that some gun restrictions might actually help address the mass shooting epidemic in this country. If we can save even one child’s life, wouldn’t it be worth it?
Trump’s policies have led to a significant decrease in international tourism. That decrease is projected to cost us more than $20 billion dollars.
Now he’s turning our capital into a police state. How much economic damage will this latest move cause? I suspect it will be in the billions of dollars.
Not sure how this could be comfortable but Juju likes to nap in some weird positions.
Hill training - Each stone placed represents 1 complete lap on the Hyland Hills training hill
A little quality time at the cabin - T and taking a spin on the pontoon
Given what RFK Jr. is doing to healthcare in the US, it is time for the industry to - providers and private payers - to take a stand. They need to announce that they will ignore recommendations from ACIP and its junk scientists, and instead follow the guidance of real scientists.
A beautiful night for softball at Jane Sage Cowles field on the University of Minnesota campus. E has aged out of playing but gets to coach the 14u team on this beautiful field.
I’m not sure if/how this is possible, but it seems like the US Healthcare industry needs to put together a system of care delivery that at a minimum doesn’t depend on government support. Beyond that, it should actively circumvent the MAHA-supported anti-health system by providing a better alternative.
Off to Vegas for a work-related conference. I would be excited to go and have fun at the casinos, but then I remembered how cheap I am and how much I hate losing money.
After 4 years of classes in high school, my youngest has received her official seal for being bilingual in ASL. She’s hoping to continue her ASL education in college.
Day 3 and I’m absolutely loving my new BMW i4 - I keep looking for new excuses to go drive somewhere.
Today I am purchasing a new fully electric BMW i4! I was planning to hold onto my plug-in Chevy Volt for a while longer, but it’s been needing more shop visits of late and I don’t want to be stuck buying after tariffs and other economic uncertainties cause prices to skyrocket.
In case anyone was wondering: If representing your side in politics requires you to defend the Dark Lord of the Sith, then you are likely to be on the wrong side of history. Just sayin’
Date night at the Orpheum. I love living in a city that has so many theater productions.
After years of parenting a theater kid, this is the final high school program for kid #2. Maybe it will continue as she starts college, maybe it won’t. It’s strange to think that this could be coming to an end.
We have learned that nobody in our family is very good at laser tag. But we all had fun (and a good workout) at Tactical Urban Combat - Mall of America
Unofficial training hike #2 for my fall Ultimate Hike. I’m just starting the annual process of getting fit and I am feeling all the soreness.
Amy and I had a nice night in Saint Paul. Dinner at Kincaid’s, then to the Ordway for the final performance of “Come From Away”, stayed overnight at The Intercontinental Riverfront, and then breakfast at Keys.
I think this is the biggest snow we’ve had in a couple years. Juju the frenchie stepped out to pee this morning and he was completely under the snow.
This is my friend’s daughter Zoe. She is 8 years old, and in January of 2024 she was diagnosed with Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcoma. a spontaneous childhood cancer that usually starts in tissue or ligaments. Zoe’s cancer appeared to have started in her jaw muscle. After a round of chemotherapy failed to stop the tumor growth, Zoe had a facial surgery to remove her compromised jaw bone and muscle and then she had more chemotherapy.
In May of 2024 they discovered more tumors near her temple. That led to radiation therapy, more chemotherapy, and a second facial surgery. Through it all, Zoe has been a trooper. She’s been fighting this disease like a true champion.
Today, Zoe is doing well. She continues to undergo chemo treatments, but she’s getting back to normal. Her hair is starting to grow back and her appetite is improving. Hopefully there will be no further setbacks, but even if there are I know that Zoe will be ready to overcome them.
Zoe’s progress so far would not have been possible without an amazing team of doctors who have provided her with the life-saving treatment she has needed. Unfortunately, the treatment options for kids like Zoe are limited, and they carry significant side effects. We need more treatment options for these kids. We need safer and more effective treatment options for these kids. We need to do better for the 42 kids diagnosed EVERY DAY in the US.
That’s where CureSearch comes in. They are all about funding the most promising research and getting these kids the treatments they deserve.
In September I will be participating in my 6th CureSearch Ultimate Hike to raise funds for CureSearch and their mission to cure pediatric cancers. I’m doing this to support kids like Zoe and so many others. Please consider making a donation on my CureSearch fundraiser page
To learn more about childhood rhabdomyosarcoma, go to Rhabdomyosarcoma-in-Children
DOGE Dudes - If you really believe that Social Security checks are fraudulently going to 150-year-olds, then you can easily track who is cashing those checks. You should bring fraud charges under 42 U.S.C. 1383a.
Short of that, I will assume that you are full of shit.