Air Date 4/03/2021 Today we take a look at the need for reform to our gun laws through the lens of the recent mass shootings. Support for various reform measures reaches as high as 90% approval in the US, making it one of the most stark examples of our broken, unresponsive, undemocratic government. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript MEMBERSHIP, Gift Memberships and Donations! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! CHECK OUT OUR BOOKSHOP! Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: How The Covid Pandemic Changed Mass Shootings And Gun Violence In America - NBC News NOW - Air Date 3-26-21 NBC News' Jacob Ward takes a look at the impact the coronavirus pandemic had on mass shootings and gun violence to see how those trends might change now that states begin to lift Covid-19 restrictions. Ch. 2: Now's Not The Time To Fix America's Gun Problem, Says GOP In Familiar Refrain - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Air Date 3-23-21 As gun violence flares up once again in this country, Republicans are quick to change the subject while gun apologists roll out their standard response to calls for reform: now is not the time. Ch. 3: The gun solution we're not talking about - Vox - Air Date 9-11-19 Universal background checks won't fix America's gun crisis. But there's something else that might. Ch. 4: How Manchin & A Broken Senate Squandered U.S. Will Fair or Gun Reform After Sandy Hook - The Rachel Maddow Show - Air Date 3-24-21 Rachel Maddow looks back on how Joe Manchin, with Pat Toomey, in the wake of the Sandy Hook gun massacre, supplanted President Obama's call for universal background checks Ch. 5: Guttenberg After Another Mass Shooting: "This Is Not About The Second Amendment" - Deadline - Air Date 3-23-21 Gun safety advocate Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jamie in the Parkland school shooting, expresses his frustration with the lack of gun safety legislation, and calls to end the hold the NRA has on Republicans. Ch. 6: Igor Volsky on Ending Gun Violence - CounterSpin - Air Date 3-26-21 This week on CounterSpin: If you look, you can find reminders that the Second Amendment was forged, distressingly, with the aim of preserving “slave patrol” militias in the South. And that courts consistently interpreted it as meaning a “collective” right Ch. 7: Can You Look At The Carnage Of Gun Violence? - The Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 3-24-21 Could you look at the mangled bodies of Americans murdered by gun violence without demanding that guns stop being so available? Ch. 8: Ban Assault Weapons Now - Breaking the Sound Barrier by Amy Goodman - Air Date 3-25-21 The massacres in Boulder, Colorado, with ten killed, and in metro Atlanta, with eight killed, are just two more instances of senseless gun violence enabled by the NRA. MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S) Ch. 9: A Look Back at Colorado's History of Mass Shootings - The Takeaway - Air Date 3-26-21 A Look Back at Colorado's History of Mass Shootings This week, a gunman in Boulder, Colorado killed ten people while they were shopping in a local grocery store. Ch. 10: Why Do People Kill? Lt Joe Kenda Explains The "Killer Triggers" - The Chauncey DeVega Show - Air Date 3-23-21 Lt. Joe Kenda (ret.) was a detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department for twenty years. During that time, he solved 356 of the 387 murder cases he investigated. VOICEMAILS Ch. 11: Maintaining beliefs and cognitive dissonance - Nick from California FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 12: Final comments on the cognitive biases related to aquiring new information TAKE ACTION! March for Our Lives:  MFOL Aid and Alliance - A resource sharing program that will distribute nearly $500k to support anti-violence work led by BIPOC youth organizations and activists on the ground. Directly supporting communities most impacted by gun violence