Top story: Two years after the mass shooting in Tucson, Gabby Giffords and her husband are launching a new organization meant to win over gun owners who don’t particularly cotton to the NRA’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.
- “We don't want to take away your guns any more than we want to give up the two guns we have locked in a safe at home. What we do want is what the majority of NRA members and other Americans want: responsible changes in our laws to require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence.” (USA Today)
- Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal—not exactly President Obama’s best friend—also supports banning assault weapons. (The Washington Post)
- An excellent list of some of the asinine, twisted laws that stymie gun control. (Pro Publica)
- Of course, for new gun control laws to pass, President Obama and Speaker John Boehner will have to deal with the GOP’s “Hell No” caucus. (Politico)
- That and loud-mouth Connecticut lawmakers. (Associated Press)
- Oh, and something called "Gun Appreciation Day", which the gun lobby thought should be held just prior to President Obama's inauguration. (Bashir Live)
And in other news ...
- John Boehner may have just blinked in the debt ceiling fight. (Plum Line)
- Bloomberg’s Josh Barro has a question for the “shrink government to grow the economy” crowd. (Josh Barro)
- One of the Boehner coup leaders is raising money off the failed effort: “The moderate wing of the Republican Party is outraged—and they are swiftly retaliating against conservatives like me. But I will not be intimidated.” (The Hill)
- For some conservatives, support of Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary is akin to support of the Nazis. Yes, you read that right. (Washington Monthly)
- And in a fit of chutzpah, AIG may join a lawsuit that seeks to punish the U.S.—and taxpayers—for the terms of the bailout that saved A.I.G. (Dealbook)
- Yet, here’s the most absurd part of that story. (Victoria McGrane)