Today's edition of quick hits:
* Gun violence: The man identified as the shooter who opened fire in the Florida State University library was a former prosecutor who descended into paranoia and recently posted on Facebook about being 'encouraged by your handler to kill.' ... Police say the 31-year-old was 'in a state of crisis' and believed he was being targeted by the government."
* Incredible: "A student at Florida State University said he is lucky to be alive after his backpack full of books stopped a bullet from hitting him during Thursday's shooting. Jason Derfuss said he only realized hours later the gunman had tried to shoot him when he found a bullet among the now-shredded books he had checked out of the library."
* Iran: "Far from the flashing cameras and microphones in Vienna, where Secretary of State John Kerry is going to join Iranian and United States diplomats in a final push to reach a compromise on Tehran's nuclear program, another political drama unfolded this week in a prominent auditorium in the Iranian capital."
* It was a dumb, careless, and unnecessary mistake. But given the larger context, it's hard to get too worked up about this: "The Obama administration included as many as 400,000 dental plans in a number it reported for enrollments under the Affordable Care Act, an unpublicized detail that helped surpass a goal for 7 million sign-ups."
* Nigeria: "The leader of a vigilante fighter group in Nigeria says Boko Haram militants have killed about 45 people in an attack on a village."
* South Carolina: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied a request to block gay marriage from proceeding in South Carolina, clearing the way for it to become the 35th U.S. state where same-sex marriage is legal."
* Meet the new Senate GOP? "A week into the lame-duck session, Senate Republicans are finding all kinds of ways to block President Barack Obama's judicial nominees -- even if that means obstructing their own nominees in the process."
* Newtown: "Jay Leno said in a brief phone interview that he had called the National Shooting Sports Foundation to cancel his scheduled performance at the SHOT Show. He also said that he'd spoken with Po Murray of the Newtown Action Alliance to let her know. 'I understand it's Newtown, and of course I get it,' Leno told Mother Jones. 'It's just sometimes, mistakes get made.'"
* The fact that Eric Cantor's former aides have opened a lobbying shop surprises literally no one: "A triumvirate of former Republican leadership aides is starting a consulting shop in Washington at a time when lobbying revenues are flat, the number of registered lobbyists is declining and lawmakers aren't passing that many bills. But their timing may be fortuitous. The new firm opens January 1, just days before members of their party take over the majority of both chambers for the first time since 2006."
* Good move: "In the face of a series of safety crises, President Obama moved Wednesday to fill a longstanding vacancy at the primary automotive safety agency. The nomination of Mark R. Rosekind, who has a background as a specialist on human fatigue and occupies one of five seats on the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency, came almost a year after the resignation of David L. Strickland as chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.