Ah, the Sport of It!
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has moved to rescind Obama-era restrictions on hunting on public lands in Alaska. Guys and gals with guns will henceforth be allowed to lure bears to their death with bacon and donuts, use spotlights to shoot mother bears and cubs hibernating in their dens, and kill swimming caribou from motorboats.
One Step Away from ‘No Guns’
Pro-gun activists are taking aim at banks that refuse to do business with gun makers. Warned Michael Hammond, legal counsel for Gun Owners of America, “If a few banks say, ‘No, we’re not going to give loans to gun dealers or gun manufacturers,’ all of a sudden the industry is threatened and the Second Amendment doesn’t mean much if there are no guns around.”
Getting (Too) Personal
Stacy Bailey, an elementary school teacher in Texas, was suspended from her job and transferred to a secondary school after showing students a photo of her future wife during a “Get to Know Your Teacher” event. A parent accused her of pushing a “homosexual agenda” and the school district agreed she had improperly “use[d] the classroom to transmit personal beliefs regarding political or sectarian issues.” Bailey has filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Their Aim Isn’t True
A federal school safety commission formed by President Trump following the deadly mass shooting at a high school in Florida has pledged to look at every possible solution—except anything having to do with access to guns. “That is not part of the commission’s charge per se,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the committee chair, told lawmakers in June.
We Don’t Need No Thought Control
Conservative lawmakers in Michigan purged references to civil rights, gay rights, Roe v. Wade, and climate change from that state’s proposed new social studies standards, and removed the word “democratic” from the term “core democratic values.” According to Republican state senator and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Colbeck, these terms are “not politically neutral.”
Lock Him Up!
President Donald Trump, who as a candidate declared that Hillary Clinton should be imprisoned for using a private email server, refuses to abide by security protocols to prevent his cell phone communications from being hacked, which could allow foreign governments or terrorists to listen in on his conversations or track his precise location.
illustrations by stuart goldenberg