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Published: 03/4/11

NRA Credits Sarah Palin for Boost in Female Membership

By  Christopher Weber - Politics Daily
NRA Credits Sarah Palin for Boost in Female Membership

The National Rifle Association says it has Sarah Palin to thank for a 20 percent jump in female membership. Calling it the "Palin effect," the NRA's Diane Danielson told the Daily Mail that the former Alaska governor's vocal advocacy of gun rights is helping the group teach "10,000 new women a year to shoot, and making more girls want to take up hunting." Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008, has bragged about her ability to field dress a moose and was often seen hunting on her reality television show. "Firearm manufacturers are gearing their products towards women. ...

Published: 02/27/11

Happy 100th Birthday to the 1911 .45 Pistol, Our Gun of Choice

By  James Grady - Politics Daily
Happy 100th Birthday to the 1911 .45 Pistol, Our Gun of Choice

This year marks the 100th "birthday" of one of America's most successful and culturally impactive political tools: the 1911 .45 semi-automatic pistol. Yet this is not just a story about a gun. Though, of course, this story stars and starts with that gun. Or rather, our need for it that emerged when U.S. armed forces fought Muslim insurgents on Asian turf that most Americans have trouble finding on a map. As most of us remember -- especially fans of Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling -- from 1899-1913, the United States fought the Philippine-American War for control of those Pacific islands. In ...

Published: 01/11/11

Giffords Shooting Raises Questions About Guns and Mental Illness

By  Andrea Stone - AOL News
Giffords Shooting Raises Questions About Guns and Mental Illness

WASHINGTON -- It takes a lot to be considered too crazy to own a gun in Arizona. As authorities investigate the mass shooting that killed six people and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded, it appears clear that a growing list of troubling warning signs would not have prohibited suspect Jared Loughner from buying the Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol he is accused of using in the attack. Gun-control advocates say the 22-year-old Loughner was technically within his rights to buy the weapon. And that's why they say stricter background checks and a new strategy for keeping guns out of ...

Published: 12/31/10

Virginia Tech Survivor Is 'Living for 32' in War to Tighten Gun Laws

By  Andrea Stone - AOL News
Virginia Tech Survivor Is 'Living for 32' in War to Tighten Gun Laws

WASHINGTON -- Surviving the deadliest shooting massacre in U.S. history wasn't enough to make Colin Goddard an advocate for stricter gun laws. Only when he watched another rampage play out on TV two years later did the Virginia Tech graduate realize he had to speak out. "That took me back to the day like none other," Goddard said of another troubled gunman who killed 14 at an immigration center in Binghamton, N.Y. "I was watching the body count rise and I was like, this is just the same stuff that is happening to another family now. ... I was like, I've got to get involved. I've got to do ...

Published: 10/18/10

NRA Sends Out 4 Million Voter Cards Backing Candidates in Every State

By  Christopher Weber - Politics Daily
NRA Sends Out 4 Million Voter Cards Backing Candidates in Every State

The National Rifle Association will rely on old-fashioned snail mail in a massive get-out-the-vote campaign ahead of next month's election. The nation's largest gun-rights group will send out a whopping four million voter cards to members in every state, The New York Times reported Monday. The cards will arrive inside NRA-sponsored publications and will list state- and national-level candidates approved by the organization. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the newspaper the cards should start hitting mailboxes this week. Most, but not all, of the NRA-backed candidates are ...

Published: 10/11/10

Joe Manchin Guns Down 'Cap and Trade' Bill in New Campaign Ad

By  Steven Hoffer - AOL News
Joe Manchin Guns Down 'Cap and Trade' Bill in New Campaign Ad

(Oct 11) -- Joe Manchin, West Virginia's governor and a Senate candidate, is taking aim at the notion that he's just another Democratic candidate running at a time when Democrats are not doing so well. In his latest campaign advertisement for the 2010 Senate race, Manchin gets decked out in full hunting gear for a back-country excursion to vent some frustrations against the Washington status quo -- specifically cap and trade. See the video for yourself: While he didn't exactly obliterate the cap-and-trade bill as he had hoped, Surge Desk nevertheless commends Manchin on his excellent ...

Published: 10/7/10

NRA Backing Democrats Over Republicans in Key Races

By  not in system - AOL News
NRA Backing Democrats Over Republicans in Key Races

(Oct. 7) -- Help for some imperiled Democrats is coming from a place where many of the party faithful might least expect it -- the National Rifle Association, sworn foe of the gun-control cause. The NRA, a non-partisan organization that traditionally leans heavily toward the Republican side, has endorsed 58 incumbent House Democrats, including a dozen in key seats viewed as critical in the party's struggle to hold its majority, the Washington Post reports. ...

Published: 10/7/10

NRA Backs Pro-Gun-Rights Democrats Over Republicans in Some Key Races

By  Tom Diemer - Politics Daily
NRA Backs Pro-Gun-Rights Democrats Over Republicans in Some Key Races

Help for some imperiled Democrats is coming from a place where many of the party faithful might least expect it -- the National Rifle Association, sworn foe of the gun-control cause. The NRA, a non-partisan organization that traditionally leans heavily toward the Republican side, has endorsed 58 incumbent House Democrats, including a dozen in key seats viewed as critical in the party's struggle to hold its majority, the Washington Post reports. The gun lobby, which can make a difference in any district that is home to a fair amount of hunters and sportsmen, isn't flirting with the Democratic ...

Published: 09/7/10

Report: 90 Percent of Drug War Guns Originate in US

By  Dana Chivvis - AOL News
Report: 90 Percent of Drug War Guns Originate in US

(Sept. 7) -- A bloody, drug-fueled war is being waged just across the border in Mexico and a report out Tuesday finds that 90 percent of the guns traced from Mexican crime scenes since 2006 have originated in the United States. The report was released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group of more than 500 mayors from American towns and cities, and was based primarily on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The new findings reinforce previous estimates while contradicting claims made last year by several news organizations, including Fox News and the Examiner, ...

Published: 07/13/10

The NRA Looks Beyond Guns

By  Paul Wachter - AOL News
The NRA Looks Beyond Guns

(July 13)--After winning recent battles in the courts and Congress, the National Rifle Association is looking to influence more than narrow gun issues, The New York Times reports Tuesday. Some examples: In the health care debate this year, for instance, the NRA's lobbyists worked with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to include a little-noticed provision banning insurance companies from charging higher premiums for people with guns in their homes. The NRA worked out a deal last month exempting itself from a proposal requiring groups active in political spending to disclose their ...

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3/14/11 at 11:00 PM

French Comedy 'Potiche' Mixes Laughs With Social Message

By  Eleanor Clift

For women, and men too, weary of nuance and ...

3/14/11 at 8:27 AM

Can the Girl Scouts Help Balance Georgia's Budget?

By  Joanne Bamberger

If Georgia lawmakers get their way, ...

3/13/11 at 1:30 PM

Mom Has Cancer. Her Son Reacts.

By  Donna Trussell

My friend Julie Levine had everything I ...

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