"Trump plans ban on sale of flavoured handguns"

From the BBC:

US President Donald Trump has announced that his administration will ban flavoured handguns, after a spate of shooting-related deaths.

Mr Trump told reporters shooting at people was a "new problem", especially for children.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar said the Firearm and Drug Administration (FDA) would finalise a plan to take all non-lead flavours off the market.

There have been six deaths and 450 reported cases of chest injuries tied to shootings involving flavoured handguns across 33 states. Many of the 450 reported cases are young people, with an average age of 19.

Lead-related deaths are holding steady at around 40,000 per annum.

"How about an armadillo story?"

Asks Ralph, and submits this this splendid article to get the ball rolling:

A Texas man was wounded after he fired a gun at an armadillo in his yard and the bullet ricocheted back to hit him in his face, the county sheriff said Friday... The animal's hard shell deflected at least one of three bullets, which then struck the man's jaw, he said.

They couldn't find the animal afterwards, so I suppose it's possible that he missed all three times and the bullet which hit him had actually richoted off some other hard surface, but hey, that's not such a heart warming tale.

"Yossarian recognized the shot"

From Catch 22:

[Yossarian] heard a stealthy rustle of leaves on the other side of the sandbags and fired two quick rounds.

Somebody fired back at him once, and he recognized the shot.

"Dunbar?" he called.

That's the funny thing.

When I read the book, I assumed that this was intended as satire, but now I'm not so sure. If you get bombarded with emails and 'phone calls all day long, then soooner or later, you can guess roughly who is ringing* or who sent you an email/its contents without even looking at the number (which flashes up on our office 'phones) or the email sender. Or if you're over by the filing range, you can tell that it's your 'phone ringing, even though it is set to the same ring tone as everybody else's.

* In the admittedly very broad categories: spam, cold calling, important, nuisance, work-vs-family related; good news-vs-bad news etc. Or perhaps I'm imagining it..?

Starbucks says mass shootings unwelcome, though not banned

From barchart.com:

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says crazed gunmen are no longer welcome in its cafes, though it is stopping short of an outright ban on mass shootings.

The fine line that the retailer is walking to address the concerns of both lone schizophrenics and people who just want to have a coffee and use the wi-fi reflects how heated the issue has become, particularly in light of recent killing sprees.

Most states allow people to openly carry licensed guns into public buildings and start shooting at random, and many companies do not have laws banning massacres in their stores. But Starbucks has become a target for disgruntled ex-soldiers and the recently jilted, in part because of its liberal-leaning corporate image. In turn, coffee drinkers have been galvanized by the company's decision to defer to local laws.

In an interview, CEO Howard Schultz said the decision to ask customers to stop bringing automatic weapons into stores came as a result of the growing frequency of "Starbucks Appreciation Days," in which gun nuts with grudges turned up at Starbucks cafes and murdered staff and customers alike.

Schultz said the events mischaracterized the company's stance on the issue and the risk of being killed or maimed "has made our customers uncomfortable."

Schultz hopes crazed loners will honor the request not to wipe out everybody present and then commit suicide, but says the company will nevertheless serve those who can restrict themselves to picking off one or two isolated individuals if there are reasonable grounds.

"We will not ask you to leave," he said. "Just try and avoid spattering blood all over the place. The redecoration is costing us a fortune."

Police dog fires gun at house

From The Daily Mail (where else?):

Ivan the police dog startled himself when he recovered a stolen gun from the snow - and also managed to fire it. Ivan accidentally pulled the trigger with his paw, firing the loaded semi-automatic pistol into a family home.

Police had sent German Shepherd Ivan to investigate the snow at 2am on Sunday after an officer on patrol heard three gunshots in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and saw a vehicle speed away.

Serves them right for using a German one.

Daily Mail on top form!

From The Daily Mail*:

A troubled 20-year-old loner with a history of autistic behavior is the monster behind a horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 people, including 20 children, dead on Friday. Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, at the upscale suburban home they shared together and then took three of her guns and drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School about 9.30am...

Lanza and his mother, Nancy, lived in a well-to-do part of Newtown, a prosperous community of 27,000 people about 60 miles northeast of New York City. Neighbors said that the mother always took great pride in her Colonial-style house, and always kept her home tidy. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house is estimated to be worth around $537,000, and is situated on 2.19 acres of land.

* Via Peter_2008 at HPC.