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• Position: Report on over pricing by military contractors - Gun manufacturer Fostech Inc. to sell rifles to Indiana state lawmakers - Children's book teaches mass shooting survival

Open Spigot, Closed Fist

The CBS News program 60 Minutes recently aired a report on how military contractors are ripping off the public, in one case charging more than $10,000 for an oil switch that actually cost just $328. The federal budget for fiscal year 2024 hikes defense spending by more than $100 billion over fiscal year 2022's allocation; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers nearly tanked the economy in order to secure tougher work rules for people who get government benefits.

Send Lawmakers, Guns, and Money

A gun manufacturer in Seymour, Indiana, is offering to sell AR-15-style rifles to state lawmakers at half the suggested retail price. The company, Fostech Inc., announced it would sell only 110 rifles, which is equal to the number of GOP state lawmakers, with the proviso that there be "no Democrat [sic] sales." A company flyer noted that the weapon has been named "the Indiana legislator rifle!"

More Active Shooter Training, But for Tots

An imitation Winnie-the-Pooh book distributed to pre-K through first-grade students in Dallas, Texas, gives advice on how to survive a mass shooting, including "If danger is near, do not fear. Hide like Pooh does until the police appear." The book was given out around the first anniversary of the mass school shooting in Uvalde, where police appeared but waited outside in the hallway until after nineteen children and two adults were murdered.

Training for an Imperfect World

A bill introduced by a Democratic state lawmaker in Texas would require public schools to provide "bleeding control stations" and train students in "battlefield trauma care," beginning in third grade. Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins said the legislation would not be needed "in a perfect world," but is necessary given the "mass shootings taking countless...