I'm pretty sure that we can all agree that shit has been well out-of-hand in the United States of America for some time now. Children are being taken from their parents and held in deplorable conditions. Folks are murdered for the color of their skin. Gun violence... yeah. It's bullshit. So, it should come as no surprise that a number of nations including New Zealand, The Bahamas, Germany and Japan have all issued travel advisories to their citizens, warning them that traveling to the U.S.A. could result in very bad things.  One could argue this away as politics. Amnesty International, however, hasn't got a nationalistic horse in this race. Today, they came out swinging with a statement as well, chatting up the fact that maybe visiting the 'States ain't such a great idea.

From Amnesty International:

Let's be honest: there's not a damn thing in there that isn't true.

Images via Amnesty International Read the rest

A woman at a Kansas City, MO Department of Motor Vehicles office said “the president’s security was in danger,” and pulled out a gun and started shooting because she felt the line was moving too slowly, according to news reports citing witnesses and local police. Read the rest

How messed up is America? This messed up. Schoolteachers are being encouraged to use an app to alert police and school employees about an active shooting incident in real time, as the mass shooting happens. Read the rest

On January 1st, 2019, Washington State will be rolling out some of the toughest gun laws in the United States. If you want to buy a semi automatic rifle in Washington next year, you'll have to be 21 years of age, instead of 18. You'll have to store that puppy safely, too: According to the Seattle Times, in some circumstances, gun owners will be criminally liable if an unauthorized individual uses their boom-stick to commit a crime. It's a move that should make everyone in the state feel just a little bit safer, what with all of the gun violence of late.

Provided the cops are willing to enforce the new laws.

From The Root:

Republic, Washington, Police Chief Loren Culp, whose name makes him sound like a placeholder villain in a crime procedural, has announced that his police force, comprising all of him and his deputy, will not enforce the law when it goes into effect in January 2019.

Culp has proposed an ordinance to his city council—supposedly based on the Second Amendment—essentially saying that gun regulation laws like Initiative 1639, the one in question, infringe on citizens’ constitutional right to bear arms and through the ordinance would be “hereby declared to be invalid in the City of Republic,” per the Times.

In an interview with the Seattle Times, Culp made it clear that he thinks that having to be accountable for your firearm by reporting it stolen within five days of the theft is unreasonable bullshit. Making sure that folks under 21 years of age aren't allowed to bop around with a semi-automatic weapon? Read the rest

On October 24, Gregory Bush was said to have opened fire at a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky on 69-year-old Maurice Stallard, shooting him in the back of the head. 67-year-old Vickie Lee Jones? She was shot by Bush as well. Both victims were black. According to NPR, it was announced this week that the racist shit stain has been justly indicted on hate crimes and fire arms charges by a federal grand jury.

From NPR:

The 51-year-old is charged with "shooting and killing two victims because of their race and color; and for shooting at a third man because of his race and color," according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman in the Western District of Kentucky.

Minutes before the ambush Bush was also captured on surveillance video trying to enter the First Baptist Church — a predominantly African-American congregation — during a service but locked doors prevented him from entering.

So, in addition to being a bigot, Bush was also a coward: he decided to take out his hate on a group of unsuspecting congregants who'd come together to worship their God. Locked doors? Better go and shoot an old man in the back of the head and an unsuspecting, unarmed woman as she walks across a parking lot. But, you know, not a white dude, because "whites don't shoot whites."

I'm so sick of reading and writing about this sort of shit. Justice cannot come swiftly enough.

Image: by Blogtrepreneur - Legal Gavel, CC BY 2.0, Link Read the rest

Someone opened fire at a Madden tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., killing two other attendees and hurting 10 more more. The shooter is also dead, said police, naming a 24-year-old Baltimore man as the only suspect. Horrific audio of the shooting (WARNING: it may autoplay at link) was captured on an internet stream of the tournament. At least twelve shots can be heard as panic spreads and victims shout for help. The video switches to gameplay footage before shots are fired, but a laser dot can clearly be seen moving across one of the two players moments beforehand.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said authorities are responding to the Jacksonville Landing marketplace in the city's downtown area, where an esports video game tournament was being held. Officials are warning residents to avoid the area. "We can't stress enough to stay away. Many blocks away," the sheriff's office tweeted.

GLHF Game Bar in the Jacksonville Landing was hosting a regional esports tournament for players of EA's Madden 19 on Sunday, according to a schedule posted two days ago on the EA Sports website.

One of the competitors, Drini Gjoka, wrote on Twitter that they received a minor injury.

UPDATE (6 p.m.): Citing another survivor, Steven Javarusky, the Los Angeles Times reports that the shooter was "a gamer who was competing in the tournament and lost", killing themselves after killing "two or three" others.

UPDATE (8 p.m.): Police identified the shooter and said two victims were dead. Earlier revisions of this post reflected reports with a higher death toll. Read the rest

None of the mass shootings in America have been committed by shooters using 3-D Guns, but that's not stopping Donald Trump and a bunch of NRA-backed lawmakers from freaking out about the threat DIY weapons pose, before doing anything about how readily available regular old guns are to regular old bad guys. Read the rest

Artist Robert Longo has created Death Star II, a stunning sphere made with a bullet for each gun death in the US. It premiered at Art Basel this week (photos below). Read the rest

We see these lawmakers representing the NRA, and not their constituents. We see our “leaders” making excuses and refusing to act. On Saturday, they’ll see US. pic.twitter.com/7OGttnRSsz

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 21, 2018

America will be marching to end gun violence on Saturday, March 24. #MarchForOurLives. “Have you registered to vote? RSVP’d for the march? Signed the petition? You can do it all at marchforourlives.com.”

We see these lawmakers representing the NRA, and not their constituents. We see our “leaders” making excuses and refusing to act. On Saturday, they’ll see US. pic.twitter.com/7OGttnRSsz

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 21, 2018

Need a poster to march with on Saturday? @amplifierart has some great ones that you can download for free at https://t.co/GQUhEsgYcT📷: @kalakaricrew pic.twitter.com/14YX3d4S39

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 22, 2018

🚨 FREE @lyft rides for #MarchForOurLives this Saturday in DC and 49 other sibling marches, but you have to RSVP to claim: https://t.co/EJpyRI4aHX

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 22, 2018

Read the rest

A shooting took place in a classroom at North Park elementary school in San Bernardino today, around 10:30am local time. The shooter has been 'taken down,' local TV news is reporting in Southern California. The shooting is reported to have been planned as a murder-suicide. Two fatalities reported as of 11:15am PT. The shooter is said to have been related to the teacher who was shot dead. Two children injured in the shooting incident were airlifted to a nearby hospital. 600 children from North Park are being evacuated to Cal. State Univ. San Bernardino. Read the rest

A jury in South Carolina today convicted Dylann S. Roof in the racially motivated killings of 9 black people in a church in Charleston. He faces the possibility of a death sentence. Read the rest

One person has been shot dead and at least three others are reported wounded today, Election Day in the United States, at an active shooting near a polling place in Azusa, CA.

Azusa police are telling residents to stay out of the area, and asked everyone nearby to shelter in place. Read the rest

Two students and a teacher were injured in a shooting today at Townville Elementary School in Anderson County, South Carolina. A teenager identified as the shooting suspect is now in police custody.

“A bad man came to our school today,” 4-year-old Townville student Amber Jolly told a television news reporter. Read the rest

Reports of yet another mass shooting, this one at a shopping center in Germany. In Munich late Friday afternoon, a man with a gun shot people at mall in Munich. Local news reports that several people were killed, and several more wounded. Read the rest

It's been less than a week since the deadly shooting of Philando Castile by police was broadcast on Facebook Live. Already, another U.S. shooting has been live-streamed with Facebook's popular tool. A triple shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, last night injured three men, one of whom Facebook Live-streamed the entire incident. According to reports, T.J. Williams (above) was one of the three victims, and is the person from whose phone the Facebook Live broadcast originated. Read the rest

The Republican party platform is veering to the right as GOP delegates descend on Cleveland to produce the party’s principles document. Several positions about same-sex marriage and scientifically debunked “gay conversion therapy” passed preliminary votes today. Read the rest