Everytown’s massive ad buys in Virginia are aimed at securing two state senate seats that are up for grabs. But two articles in the Washington Post provide strong indications that this unprecedented move isn’t just about propping up anti-gun candidates—it’s about Michael Bloomberg buying his way into Virginia politics. 

According to the Post, Everytown has immediately gone off-message by using one of its ad campaigns to hit a candidate on non-gun-related issues, while dishonestly claiming that it has no hidden agenda. Meanwhile, another article points out that one of the candidates Everytown is dropping money on sounds more like a political opportunist than an anti-gun true believer. One frightening conclusion is that Michael Bloomberg is trying to buy Virginia politicians outright and drive the legislature to the left over the long term. It just goes to show that no matter what the anti-gun group is called, when Bloomberg is involved he’s the one pulling the strings.

In Wichita, Kan., a woman was awakened by a loud noise at her front door; as she hid in the home, she heard two male intruders moving through the house and taking her possessions. Fortunately, neighbors noticed the criminal activities in progress and attempted to pursue the suspects. One of these good Samaritans held one of the alleged invaders at gunpoint until police arrived.

The man who was detained was arrested and found to have arrived in a stolen truck. Police think they have identified the second male suspect and are looking for a female accomplice. In reference to the armed neighbor, police Lt. James Espinoza said, “Kudos to him.”

Christopher Ellis of East Oakland, Calif., lost his 14-year-old son Davon in a shooting this year. But he told KTVU that he doesn’t think new gun control proposals will stop the violence. Gun control is “… just not effective because the environment that I live in, it just doesn’t have any bearing,” he said. “Most people I know don’t go to gun store to buy guns. They get it off the street.” 

These observations match with the results from a survey of criminals in the Chicago area. Ellis also observed that, “The size of a magazine doesn’t really matter. When you’re a target, you’re a target.” As for what can be done, he stressed the importance of strong family ties—and of extended sentences for violent offenders.

After being robbed Saturday night, a restaurant owner in Indianapolis, Ind., is offering a 25 percent discount to customers who can show a concealed-carry permit. According to employees, a man in his 20s first placed an order, then returned to the counter claiming to have a gun and demanding the cash register be opened. 

“We’re not saying, ‘Show us your gun.’ But if you’re a legal and stable carrier of a concealed-carry license, I’m going to reward that,” said restaurant owner Art Bouvier. “To me, it’s common sense. And until further notice, you’ll get 25 percent off your bill.” He announced the offer on his Facebook page after learning of the robbery Saturday night, saying, “If thugs are going to come in and threaten OUR extended family with guns, you’d better believe I will use every trick I know to protect (our family).” By 1 p.m. Sunday, the post had more than 1,000 likes.

On Saturday, a Stillwater, Okla., woman drove her car into a crowd gathered to watch the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, killing 4 and injuring 47. The investigation is ongoing, and alcohol, drugs and untreated mental illness are being examined as possible contributing factors. 

But in their Sunday edition, the staff of Michigan’s Traverse City Record-Eagle inadvertently revealed their personal biases when they ran an article on the tragedy accompanied by the headline, “Shooter Kills 4, 30 Injured.” 

A retraction cites a “page designer’s error,” but how ingrained must the designer’s anti-Second Amendment attitudes be to see that lives were lost and immediately jump to blaming firearms? How can the editors hate guns so much (or be so lazy) that they don’t notice a headline holding firearms culpable in an incident where not a single shot was fired?

The people of Stillwater, some of whom are still fighting for their lives, deserve better than this.

We’d suggest that this piece in Politico is a sample of what Second Amendment defenders will confront in the foreseeable future: Emphatic statements from taxpayer-protected elitists who systematically ignore the problems they helped create. 

Politico surveyed 45 U.S. mayors—85 percent of whom were Democrats—and somehow drew the conclusion that their strident calls for more gun control are newsworthy. The article contains eight fired-up quotes, all from Democrats (6) or left-leaning “Independents” (2). The juiciest, and Politico’s headline, was from Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas: “Get a backbone (Congress)—do your job.” 

In reality, Salas and her ilk have spent the last 40 years hamstringing our law enforcement so that the bulk of violent crime now has to do with only one thing: Drug turf wars. This is organized crime, and needs to be dealt with as such. 

It has nothing to do with law-abiding citizens and their firearms, and it’s high time the boneheads at Politico and, apparently, in mayor’s offices across the land, figured out the difference.