But Lepore’s most compelling passage is about the state of the gun debate in the face recent school shootings and the Trayvon Martin killing.

One in three Americans knows someone who has been shot. As long as a candid discussion of guns is impossible, unfettered debate about the causes of violence is unimaginable. Gun-control advocates say the answer to gun violence is fewer guns. Gun-rights advocates say that the answer is more guns: things would have gone better, they suggest, if the faculty at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Chardon High School had been armed. That is the logic of the concealed-carry movement; that is how armed citizens have come to be patrolling the streets. That is not how civilians live. When carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense is understood not as a failure of civil society, to be mourned, but as an act of citizenship, to be vaunted, there is little civilian life left.

Read her entire piece here.

See also: “Why Are Guns So Important?”

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The video below isn’t a photo-op, but with just a week and a day from that interview to the Iowa Caucuses, Santorum spent a lot of air-time on Fox News talking about pheasant kills.

After beer and guns, is there anything else he needs to say to prove he’s a manly man, and therefore, fit to be the president?

See the video from Mediaite.

UPDATE: It turns out there is video of the hunting trip. Sad for Santorum, though, as The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur points out, the hunting party doesn’t get him the endorsement he wants.

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Sitting by the computer after making the perfect cup of English tea, I am still amazed (for lack of a better word) at the breakout of riots across the UK. Over the past few days I have been scratching my head as looters took advantage of London neighborhoods like Brixton, Hackney, and Lewisham, and other British cities like Birmingham, Liverpool, and Leeds. I sit back in disgust and outrage as an American viewing from overseas, but also as a person who has lived and traveled throughout the UK.

The shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, is what sparked the initially peaceful protest in Tottenham, London. People in the neighborhood were protesting unlawful and aggressive acts by police.  (It is now known that Duggan did not fire a shot at police.) Somehow, on Saturday, August 6, the protest turned violent and the people protesting started to assault police on the scene. The protest went from throwing sticks and bottles to lighting vehicles on fire and smashing the windows of shops.  I do not condone violence but there was definitely tension in the neighborhood between police and residents. The police did not take the right steps to calm the crowd.

Some chatter on Twitter by bloggers, journalists, and others has said that riots could start in the United States over the current situation plaguing our country. We have gun violence in schools, millions not covered by health care, rising unemployment, and a government caught up in its own nauseating partisanship fight. The victims in all of these are the working and middle class. So, why haven’t there been riots across the United States like those over in the United Kingdom? There are several reasons.

1. The United States has a history of civil rights and social movements.
There are still problems in this country, yes, but we have gone through the civil rights movement, gay rights, workers rights, rights for those who are disabled and disadvantaged, and all (for the most part) have been peaceful movements. We are constantly having dialogues in this country between the haves and those who don’t have. There are many outlets to voice your opinion in the US and if there is no outlet for your voice you can gain supporters and create one. Dialogues about race, immigration, youth, and poverty have not happened at all levels of society in the UK.

I remember living in London and bringing up a certain race struggle going on in the US and every one of the people in my presence ignored the conversation or said, “I am not going to get involved in that.” London has a culture of “let’s just get on with it” without getting at the root of the problem. I get the feeling that there is a sense in the UK that if you address a problem or controversial issue you can offend someone or be considered rude. So the conversation does not happen. Full Stop.

2. The police and authorities missed the ball.
It seems at this stage that authorities had no idea that these indiscriminate riots were being planned. I do give credit to the police in London for monitoring potential terrorists activities, and their extensive CCTV system (which no doubt will come in very handy to help identify looters and those who committed arson). But perhaps the Metropolitan Police Department is so caught up in catching terrorists that they have dropped the ball on domestic crimes and plots. The police did not have a full grasp of the situation and the Prime Minister and Home minister had to be called back from holiday to take control of the situation.

The United States has forces (local and federal) monitoring web traffic for terrorists, and domestic crimes. The authorities in the US are monitoring and taking down plots to disturb or disrupt, and they work together to make sure these crimes are not brought to fruition. The police did not have an understanding of the media used to spread information. Twitter, Facebook, and Blackberry Messenger were the top three ways the youth in the UK riots communicated which places there were no police presence. It took the London police three days to bring their force from 6000 to 16,000.

3. US police carry guns.
I really didn’t want to write this point, but I think it significantly contributes to why the UK riots won’t happen in the US.  Majority of UK police do not carry guns. Only under special circumstances or police in specially trained units carry guns. Youth are less likely to run amuck, looting, and setting fire to other people’s property when a person is running behind you with a gun. In the United Sates police have guns, shop owners have guns, and ordinary people on the street have guns. If people started to randomly attack stores because they could, there would be mini blood baths in the streets.

4. Lack of respect: Because they could.
There are pockets of youth all around the world who are rowdy, act up, and start trouble. But what happened across the UK is different. These youth, teenagers, and young adults didn’t attack police departments, government buildings, or symbols of oppression in society. They attacked local neighborhoods and shops. They attacked stores owned by their parents’ friends, owned by immigrants, minorities, and people just trying to make a living just like they are. A friend of mine who is a blogger in London went down to one of the areas while looting was going on and spoke with some people on the ground. Some people were saying they were attacking anything because the “cops taking the piss,” (because there was opportunity). Others said they did it because it was fun and they were trying to get ‘new clothes and kit’ for themselves, others said they were out there because their friend messaged them and said no police were there. Sounds like a mental breakdown in society, especially a society hosting the world for the 2012 Olympics next year.

As a result there is no more trust between a shop owner and his neighbor, police and pedestrian. The working class neighbors these kids came from are now worse off then they were before the riots. Absolutely nothing was accomplished. There were no rules, no set agenda, and no rallying voice. Just teens with nothing to do, and the opportunity to waste.

I don’t think the last point is specific to British youth. Or maybe it is. I’ve heard some “experts” describe what happened as a “new expression of anger.” Perhaps these youth are so angry that the only things they can lash out at are their own communities. Unfortunately three days into the riots and three men were killed in Birmingham in a hit-and-run while they were trying to protect their property. As of this writing 820 people have been arrested and NOTHING HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

Furthermore, I didn’t hear the name of Mark Duggan mentioned the news today. I had to dig deep into the papers to find an article on him. Day four and the original spark has been forgotten.

Kameko Jones is completing her MS in Global Affairs with a focus on transnational security. You can follow Kameko on her blog and on Twitter.

I’m not talking about a debate about gun laws, though that’s important, too. I’m talking about exploring why guns are so important to so many Americans. It’s not enough to say, “Guns are a part of our culture.” Why are they and violence a part of our culture? In a country where there is a gun for nearly every person, why are some people resistant to reasonable restrictions for firearm purchases? Why do some people feel the need to carry guns on them all the time, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry who carries a handgun while jogging? What motivates these men in Northern Virginia, a relatively high income, low crime area, to think that a criminal with a gun is around every corner, and therefore feel they must openly carry guns on their hips?

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

I always got the feeling that machismo influences some of the more vocal and passionate guns rights supporters. Guns are powerful. They can extinguish lives. What better way to show strength than to hold that lethal power in one’s hands or strap it to one’s waist? The need to show that strength and power indicates a fear of something. Maybe it’s an insecurity about oneself. Maybe it’s fear of the government or fear of the guy down the block. Michael Moore explored the link between guns and the “fearful heart and soul of the United States” in his film Bowling For Columbine. Until we examine and confront that fear of the unknown, often fueled by imagination, guns will continue to be plentiful and there will be more shootings like the one in Tucson.

Lastly, a sad bit of irony: One of the first pieces of business for the new Congress this week was to vote on the repeal of healthcare reform. That, along with other House business, has been postponed because of the Tucson shooting. Many of the same congressmen who want to roll back healthcare reform support laws that allow the easy purchase of firearms. We have to re-evaluate our priorities. As a country, we need to figure out why so many feel that providing healthcare for every citizen is an American nightmare, but the reality of firearms for nearly every citizen is an American ideal.

“You vote in favor of something if you believe it’s the right thing. If you believe it’s the wrong thing, you vote no.” Sounds simple, right? Not in Congress, and sadly, not when it comes to giving additional healthcare to first responders and others affected from dust and debris due to the 9/11 attacks. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) passionately sets Congress straight.

Hef the activist? A documentary premieres this month that paints Playboy founder Hugh Hefner as a Civil Rights Activist. Skeptical? Check out this article and let me know what you think below. [The Root]

The Appleseed Project teaches participants how to shoot targets at 500 yards just in case the “revolution” comes. Where does this fear of Teotwawki (the end of the world as we know it) come from? [New York Times Magazine]

Cheerleading may be competitive, but it will never be a sport. [Double X]