Guns – This is True

Review Spam: a Deadly Online Weapon

Posted November 11, 2022December 6, 2021 in Death, Editorial, Guns, Online Life26 Comments

This week’s newsletter has two items that prompted deeper commentary, starting with the Headline of the Week:

Florida Man On Wheels: Marco Mazzetta Sets
Bar, Michael Popper Accepts Challenge

Posted March 19, 2023October 5, 2020 in Crime, Editorial, Explainer, Guns, Obliviots/Idiots26 Comments

Florida Man Marco Mazzetta is an absolute obliviot, so why would anyone want to follow his example? Well keep reading, because Florida Man Michael Popper followed Mazetta like he was a recipe. [Jump to that 2022 Update]

Your Task: Decide Which is Illegal

Posted January 20, 2021July 24, 2019 in Crime, Drugs/Alcohol, Explainer, Guns7 Comments

I’m Sure You are Dying to Know the story behind this week’s extra-weird Headline of the Week (Issue #1310, 21 July 2019):

Man Bites Weiner (or Vice Versa)

Posted March 5, 2023November 2, 2015 in Animals, Explainer, Guns, Language7 Comments

Very Often, Readers Submit Stories that are most definitely, without a doubt, weird. But sometimes I still can’t use them because despite being weird (one definition: unusual), they’re …well… not unusual.

Shooters Grill

Posted November 30, 2021July 14, 2014 in Guns, Marketing, Reader Feedback, Update28 Comments

A reader seemed a bit dubious about the lead story last week (6 July 2014, Issue 1047). So let’s start with the story, and then the comment by John in the U.K.:

Why People Die in Gun Free Zones

Posted January 20, 2021February 24, 2014 in Crime, Editorial, Education, Guns, Rant, Special72 Comments

I Think Alexander Went Too Easy on the schools in a story this week. First, let’s start with the story, from True’s 23 February 2014 issue:

“At Some Point Doesn’t Common Sense Prevail?”

Posted December 16, 2023December 16, 2013 in Editorial, Guns, Zero Tolerance25 Comments

Another story that really needs the photo to be complete. First, the story, by contributor Alexander Cohen from True’s 15 December 2013 issue:

Asking the Right Questions

Posted December 10, 2023December 17, 2012 in Editorial, Guns, Major Headlines, Reader Feedback217 Comments

After my previous blog post, the response from readers was fantastic — the clarity, the different ideas, the stating the problem without blaming or exonerating guns. But Rob in Sydney Australia didn’t seem to “get” what I was saying that in the national “debate” about mass shootings, we’re asking the wrong questions. It came to a head after this comment, by Tyler in Massachusetts:

Hiding Places

Posted September 17, 2018January 16, 2012 in Crime, Guns28 Comments

There were two wonderful stories in this week’s issue that really go nicely together. And one has a photo that has to be seen to be believed. Let’s start with the stories, from True’s 15 January 2012 issue:

Patrick Timoney’s “Gun”

Posted August 27, 2022February 8, 2010 in Editorial, Education, Guns, Kids/Teens, Photo, Rant, Zero Tolerance114 Comments

The “zero tolerance” stories just don’t stop, despite court decisions and legislators demanding “common sense.” A 2-inch hunk of plastic isn’t a gun, unless you’re a hysterical grade school principal who demands that 9-year-olds in your care sign confessions when they bring a toy to school.

On Stage with Penn & Teller

Posted October 29, 2020January 22, 2010 in Away From Work, Celebrities, Guns, Travel39 Comments

This is the sordid tale of my having been exposed to Teller’s bodily fluids.

Paul Clarke and British Zero Tolerance

Posted May 8, 2022November 21, 2009 in Editorial, Guns, Rant, Zero Tolerance95 Comments

Often when I include an article about “zero tolerance” in True, I hear from people outside the United States who claim some variation of “only in America!”

Not so, of course. Some of the most outrageous examples happen in the British Commonwealth countries, including England. Such was the case this week (the 15 November 2009 edition), with this outrage:

Bambi Get Your Gun

Posted January 20, 2024September 18, 2009 in Guns, Obliviots/Idiots, Photo44 Comments

Another story that begs to be illustrated by the photo mentioned. From True’s 13 September 2009 issue:

Weird News Video #39 — In the Line of Doody

Posted October 2, 2021March 8, 2009 in Guns, Obliviots/Idiots, Video3 Comments

Episode #39: “In the Line of Doody”, from True’s 1 March 2009 issue.

Guns in America: Why?

Posted January 20, 2021February 16, 2009 in Editorial, Education, Explainer, Guns, Rant, Special, Zero Tolerance130 Comments

Anytime I run a “gun story” I get a lot of comment from both hugely polarized Americans, who want to rant for or against guns, and foreign readers, who don’t understand the American “obsession” with arms. I’m going to take a stab at helping foreign readers understand it a bit better. So first, the “gun story” that prompted this essay, from True’s 15 February 2009 issue: