Gun

"You know, I actually believe my own bull----. " That's what President Barack Obama once told a reporter. If the man ever uttered a statement that spoke more to his approach to politics, I haven't heard it. Whether it stems from a grandiose overconfidence in his own powers of persuasion, or the lessons he took from his years as a community organizer, or his own messianic conviction that he is on the right side of everything, including history itself,...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy If you want to know what makes MSNBC's "Morning Joe" so much better than anything else on morning TV, check out this video of a discussion Monday morning about President Obama's awful failure to marshall support for even the most tepid gun reform. First of all, hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were not only absolutely transparent about the way in which they were piggybacking Maureen Dowd's brilliant Sunday column in the New York Times, they celebrated her and her words.

National Rifle Association President David Keene said Wednesday the organization will pursue lawsuits in two states where Democratic governors are believed to have presidential aspirations, but it might not challenge new state gun laws elsewhere. "We're already in court in New York, and we will be in court in Maryland," Keene said in an interview. "Our feeling is that you've got a case in two states in particular that are one-party states. They both have governors who, when they close their eyes, see themselves in the White House.

I am outraged at the hubris of Congress to vote in favor of the out-of-touch NRA over the wishes of the vast majority of the public who elected them ("Tyranny of the minority," April 19). We are the only civilized country on this planet that allows unrestricted access to military-style weapons that were specifically designed to kill as many people as possible as fast as possible. And it shows: In Europe, the rate of mass shootings is a fraction of what it is in the U.S., even controlling for differences in the population size.

Shame on the senators who defied public opinion and voted to defeat the Manchin-Toomey bill to expand background checks for gun purchases ("Senate rejects expanded checks on gun purchases," April 18). There is blood on the hands of those who voted to kill this bill. Patriotic Americans will move heaven and Earth to make certain they are defeated at the polls when they stand for re-election. Sen. Harry Reid doesn't get away scot free in this incident. He had an opportunity early in the session to modify or eliminate the filibuster rule that has caused so much harm to the nation, and he declined to do it. Without that rule , the measure would have passed.

One sign of being crazy is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Allowing guns to proliferate on our streets repeatedly has resulted in violence against innocent people, but given the opportunity to do something different, the U.S. Senate has settled on more of the same - which is nothing ("Senate rejects expanded checks on gun purchases," April 18). The senators who voted against a sane revision of gun laws dishonored the memory of those slaughtered in Columbine, Aurora, Tucson, Newtown and all those who continue to be slaughtered every day on streets everywhere across this country.

A running gun battle that broke out late Thursday night between Baltimore police and a suspect after a domestic incident in Canton left one man dead, two women shot and a quiet Southeast Baltimore street rattled. Police worked Friday to unravel the circumstances surrounding the overnight incident. It was the year's eighth officer-involved shooting and the second in which a suspect died. Officers responded to call about a disturbance at a house in the 3400 block of Foster Ave. just before midnight.

On the face of it, I and most other gun owners agree with the recent letter from Liz Kato and Joanne Locke ("Stop 'straw buyers' from purchasing guns," April 15). No responsible gun owner is OK with straw purchases. Any bill specifically aimed at straw purchases is a good idea. However, it never stops there. The proposed legislation always goes further and winds up punishing legal gun owners. That is the reason gun owners don't want these bills to become law. Limit the bill to straw purchases, with no extraneous amendments attached, and I'm sure we will all be OK with it. Clay Seeley, Owings Mills Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The following is compiled from police reports.  East Columbia Old Waterloo Road, 6800 block, 6:32 a.m. April 14. Newspaper delivery person was approached by two men while sitting in parked car on side of road. One took out handgun and demanded delivery person's wallet, cash and watch. Second man stood by and did not say anything. Men fled behind Deep Run Elementary School. Early April Way and Skyrocket Court, 8:26 p.m. April 11. Victim was approached by two acquaintances who demanded money and cellphone.

"We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone. " - National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, May 27, 1999. Let's get one thing straight about the Senate's failure Wednesday to support a too-modest extension of the national background check system for gun buyers to cover sales at gun shows and over the Internet.