The Way to Reform Gun Laws Is Incrementally
The Way to Reform Gun Laws Is Incrementally
Plus, the Tangle of Trumpian Conspiracy Theories.
Recently at The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Is Trump Losing His Grip? Maybe.
SONNY BUNCH: Ray Liotta, 1954–2022
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New from me: The Way to Reform Gun Laws Is Incrementally.
When I lived in Missouri, on my twenty-first birthday, I bought a Glock 17, a 9mm handgun. I had taken a semester off of school to work on the Bush 2004 campaign, and as somebody who didn’t grow up with guns in liberal Shaker Heights, Ohio, I really wanted one. I had friends and coworkers who taught me about responsible gun ownership and usage—but if I hadn’t, I would have taken a class, whether required to or not.
Saint Louis City, where I lived, had a three-day waiting period. So I paid for the gun at Galyan’s, passed my NICS background check and my state background check, and then, three days later, got my approval from the city, which I had to pick up at City Hall before I could get my gun. Under the state’s castle doctrine, I could keep it in my car, on my property, and at my place of business. I could go to a shooting range or shoot on somebody’s private property—but that’s it. To get a concealed handgun permit—to carry it in public—I would have to wait until I was 23.
That was then.
Missouri now has same-day purchases, with no waiting periods.
Their concealed handgun regime? Glad you asked: Previously, 23-year-olds would have to take a class and apply for a license, which, if granted, would appear on your driver’s license. Today Missourians (or anyone visiting Missouri) aged 19 or older who meet the requirements to possess—not buy—a firearm can carry one without a concealed handgun permit or any training or demonstrated knowledge of the gun or state laws regarding carrying a gun.
Come join us tonight! Tim, Sarah, and Amanda will talk about the recent primaries and the prospects for meaningful reform of gun laws in the wake of the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings. But only if you’re a member of Bulwark+.
Southern Baptist leaders covered up sex abuse, and slandered and vilified the victims. No atheist has done this much damage to the faith. Peter Wehner joins Charlie Sykes on today’s podcast.
Sonny takes a break from talking to industry experts this week to kvetch about something that’s been bothering him and JVL: Why are theaters so empty of movies for kids? A nearly two-month gap between The Bad Guys and Lightyear feels like studio malpractice; why didn’t Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers get at least a token run in theaters?
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THEODORE R. JOHNSON: The Tangle of Trumpian Conspiracy Theories.
Conspiracy theories rarely grow alone. They are like vines: when placed next to one another, they entwine and mature together—the worldviews and communities where they thrive are trellises they climb to the heights of absurdity. Which is why Donald Trump’s “Big Lie”—the belief that the 2020 election was illegitimate and that he was its real winner—cannot be understood on its own. It is tangled up with the conspiratorial Great Replacement theory and with the anti-democratic notion that state legislatures have the sole authority to elect presidents.
These three ideas are distinct enough that they can be discussed separately—but people who embrace one of them are more likely to embrace the others. That is, a person who believes that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump is more likely than not to reject, at least tacitly, the idea of a multiracial United States and to repudiate the intrinsically American principle that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.
BENJAMIN PARKER: Should Oligarchs’ Assets Be Seized for Ukraine Reparations?
At first blush, it seems only fair that some of the sanctioned assets of Russian oligarchs, human rights abusers, and others high up in the kleptocratic Kremlin regime be diverted to help Ukraine rebuild after the war. The principle behind such a reparations scheme seems straightforward: Those who caused so much destruction in Ukraine should be responsible for making their victims whole. But the principles of tort law don’t apply to warfare. Ukraine deserves help rebuilding once the war is over, but assets seized from Russian kleptocrats shouldn’t finance the recovery.
There’s an important distinction to make here: The assets of Russian individuals should be treated differently than the frozen assets of the Russian government. For one thing, the sum of frozen government assets is about ten times that of frozen individual assets, and they’re more liquid. For another, the legal situation is different. There is a lively debate about whether and how various kinds of Russian government assets can be seized or sold. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has asserted that the United States has no legal authority to seize Russian sovereign assets, Philip Zelikow argues that there are precedents in international law for using frozen government assets as reparations; Paul Stephan disagrees; and Laurence Tribe argues that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the 1977 law that governs how sanctions are applied, empowers the U.S. government with the authority to give Ukraine the Russian central bank assets already frozen in the United States.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
We went Blues. Down 3-0, season seemingly over, the Blues came back to tie it. And then this happened. One of the most amazing goals you’ll see in years. Stake through the heart? Felt like it. But then we tied it with under a minute to go. Overtime. And then, Tyler Bozak, who had played very few minutes, took the series back to Saint Louis. Also, while I’m not watching the Calgary / Edmonton series, Connor McDavid is playing in God mode, and also, look at this fluke goal.
MAGA Republicans aren’t isolationist. They’re pro-Putin. Max Boot argues in The Washington Post.
“The longest 35 minutes of my life…” An interview with a Uvalde teacher.
What it’s like here… Albert Burneko on parenting and Uvalde.
Elaborating on my item today… Ohio, where I grew up, is also going nuts with its gun laws like Missouri has. They even have a provision in a new law that doesn’t require motorists to tell police officers they are armed. The police unions opposed the law, rightfully.
Speaking of Ohio… Chief Justice O’Connor continues to stick it to her fellow Ohio Republicans and their cynical attempts at gerrymandering.
Matt Labash… On our mass murder problem.
Mike Pence’s re-emergence. You haven’t heard the last from Trump’s VP pick.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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