And now for something truly surreal. The city of Nelson (population 1300) has passed an ordinance that requires all heads of household to keep and maintain a firearm.

In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain and firearm, together with ammunition therefor.

Apparently, the school system could use some extra funding, but I digress.

Like the Kennesaw ordinance that presumably inspired it, the law …

The NICS system is up for reauthorization this year. It's still under debate in the Senate, but here's what's going on.

Under Section 103:

(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.–The NICS
Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is
amended–
(1) by striking "as a mental defective" each place that
term appears and inserting "mentally incompetent";
(2) by striking "mental institution" each place that term
appears and inserting "psychiatric hospital"; and
(3) in section 102(c)(3)–
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking "as a mental
defective or committed to a mental institution" and
inserting "mentally incompetent or committed to a
psychiatric hospital"; and
(B) by striking "mental institutions" and inserting
"psychiatric hospitals".

Section …

By now, you've probably heard about the Liberator pistol being produced by Defense Distributed. It was designed and executed on a 3D printer, it's made of plastic, and it works to some extent. The best part is that the company made the schematics and instructions public.

Yep. An open-source gun.

The Department of State took notice, and in a fit of bureaucratic clue deficit, they've attempted to remove it from the internet. The blurb they've put up on the site reads, "until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information."

Yeah. Um…no. Nobody tell them that's not possible, okay? As …

Adam Kokesh is not our friend. He's an attention-seeker of the first order, and he's not above doing whatever it takes to see his face in the media. His latest dumb idea is to stage an open-carry march on Washington, DC this July 4th.

Since it's illegal to carry firearms in the District, Kokesh's march constitutes conspiracy to commit a felony. There's a very good potential for a clash with law enforcement, and it only takes one of these cranks to fire off a round before things turn truly awful for them.

Which means they'll turn awful for …

It's back. This is the House version of Schumer's background-check bill. It has 109 co-sponsors.

The Brady Campaign is already urging their members to text representatives on the matter, and we need to make our voices heard.

This is less likely to get passed in the House than it ever was in the Senate, but it's not a good idea to leave anything to chance at this point. The form below will send correspondence on the matter directly to your congresscritters.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is like a Coen Brothers movie sometimes. Just when I'm tempted to laugh at some inane utterance of his, I realize how utterly unfunny and disturbing it really is. Regarding security in the wake of the Boston bombing, he had this to say:

The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry, but we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think,

…

RT @bradytwitt: We now know who doesn't have any courage, nor a heart, nor a brain. #myvoice

— Brady Campaign (@bradybuzz) April 18, 2013

The U.S. senate just voted against expanding background checks for gun sales. What a pathetic, gutless bunch of cowards. #NewtownBetrayed

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 17, 2013

Following the defeat of the post-Newtown gun-control push, the invective is flying fast and loose. "Guilt," "shame," and "cowardice" are the words of the day. How this sort of rhetoric is supposed to win sympathy on the Hill is beyond me.

S. 649 is still up for consideration, but without the Toomey/Manchin amendment, it's going to be even less appealing to lawmakers. Harry Reid changed his vote at the last minute so he can bring the bill back to the floor for reconsideration, but at this point, the momentum is gone. They blew it.

Why? There are several reasons. The first …

First, the good news. The Manchin/Toomey amendment to S. 649 was defeated in the Senate by a 54-46 vote. The only way the bill was ever going to have a chance at passage was with that amendment, so it's safe to say it's dead.

John McCain voted "yea." Harry Reid waited until the very end to cast a "nay" vote. Some lady shouted "shame on you" from the rafters, and the President is calling the NRA liars (epic meltdown here). So, business as usual.

A look at the votes for various amendments is interesting. Feinstein's Assault Weapons Ban 2.0 …

I honestly just didn't believe GOP Senators would turn their back on 90% of Americans. I was naive.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 16, 2013

Senate Democrats spent much of the last two days scrambling to rally the votes for their gun-control bill, but without much success. While there are still amendments to be debated, Majority Leader Harry Reid has called an end to the stalling, and it looks like a vote will be taken tomorrow at 4:00 PM.

Of course, Feinstein's still trying to shoehorn her Assault Weapons Ban into the bill, and Lautenberg's pushing his magazine ban. Neither of those help its chances.

On the Republican side, Senator Toomey seemed to be avoiding contact with the press, and the mood seemed dour. …

Today, the Supreme Court declined to hear Kachalsky v. Cacase, a challenge to New York's arbitrary restrictions on issuing carry permits. I had high hopes for this one, but there are other potential candidates.

First is the Woollard case. We had a favorable ruling in the District Court, but it was overruled by the 4th Circuit last month. A rehearing is still a possibility.

The 7th Circuit's decision in our favor in Moore v. Madigan still stands. That creates a split among the Circuits, which begs hearing by the Supreme Court, but they …

The Senate agreed Thursday to move forward on debate over S. 649, also called the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013. Contrary to what you may have heard, nothing has been passed. At the moment, they're hammering out the details. Amendments will be suggested, there will be debates, and it might go back to committee. After all of that, it heads to an uncertain fate in the House. It's going to be awhile.

At the moment, we really only have the broad outlines of the bill. Yes, the proposed text is available, but that's going to change quite a bit.

Of particular note is a "compromise" amendment proposed by Senators Toomey (R-PA) and Manchin (D-WV). Its title is the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act.

Sounds harmless, right? Well, so did the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, and look where that got us.

15 students have been injured in a stabbing spree at Lone Star College in Texas. This is exactly why we need universal background checks and registration of firearms.

Think I'm being facetious? Nope. Adam Lanza resorted to theft and murder to get his guns. Such a system would not have deterred him. James Holmes was able to pass the NICS check because he hadn't done anything to get himself on the radar. Jared Loughner also passed because the Pima County Sheriff's Office had declined to charge him for the death threats he'd made.

Universal background checks aren't going to …