The Cheat Sheet

Not The Onion:

The news that a 5-year-old had shot and killed his 2-year-old sister sparked a storm of outrage Wednesday, and much of the ire was directed at the fact that he used a .22-caliber rifle manufactured by Crickett, an arm of Keystone Sporting Arms that designs weapons specifically for children. The 5-year-old’s gun—which had been given to him as a birthday present—was marketed with the tagline “My first rifle.” Crickett’s website featured not just a friendly, cartoonish green insect as the company logo, but photos of young children cradling their weapons.

Read more about the guns marketed to children. (Emphasis in above quote ours.)

newsbeastlabs:

This week, we’re super excited that our project This Is Your Rep On Guns was nominated for a Data Journalism Award in the Data-Driven Application category.

As we wrote about a couple of times on this blog, we have been tracking all 530+ representatives’ positions on gun control, updating it when news happens, and publishing their statements automatically via our Twitter robot @YourRepsOnGuns. 

It’s been a very fun project and one we hope that has been informative. We’ve received a number of emails from readers tipping us off to local articles and they’ve sent in letters from their rep explaining their position on gun control. 

If you want to help us be able to do more projects like this, there’s a People’s Choice component of the awards where you can vote for us.

If you like the project and want to give us your vote, you can find us here. We’re only 70 votes away from first place! (Sometimes the site asks you to also log in to Facebook, but nothing gets posted from your account, we’ve checked.)

Thanks for the help these past few months!

 

-Michael

Hey look, our team got nominated for an data journalism award!

Here’s the original interactive (seriously, check it out). And here’s where you can vote for us! 

Here’s what happens to your polling numbers when you vote against background checks for guns. 

msnbc:

From The Rachel Maddow Show:

Here’s a chart that compares the popularity among Americans of background checks for gun purchases compared to other things that are more commonly understood to be popular with Americans. 

(Photo credit: MaddowBlog.com)

Still Puritan after all these years, huh America? 

Pop quiz: Where do your elected representatives stand on gun control? Not sure? Our nifty interactive can help!

lamayor:

1,673 firearms were collected this weekend for the 2012 Gun Buyback program, spearheaded by the Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction & Youth Development (GRYD) and LAPD. Thank you to the Angelenos who turned in a firearm and helped us secure a safer City for everyone.

Guns organized (relatively) neatly. 

(Source: lamayorsoffice)

States with the Most Guns in 2012

Props to the editors for throwing their well-laid plans out the window to cover the earthquake in Japan. In this week’s Newsweek, Simon Winchester tells us why the tsunami that struck Japan should have Californians worried, Andrew Romano and Pat Wingert report on the number of Americans killed by guns since the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (hint: it hasn’t let up), and Tony Dokoupil and Ramin Setoodeh on Celine Dion’s return to Sin City after its economic collapse.

This Newsweek cover has been brought to you by Sir Charles the Cat. Also known as Chawlie, Chuck, Charles, sweetface—or just Charlie.

#1 on our list of the 20 Deadliest Gun States: Mississippi! The Magnolia State has 18.3 gun deaths per 100,000, with the 4th most permissive gun laws in the union.