Americans for Responsible Solutions, the Super PAC founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, has released its first ad called "Let's Get This Done." The ad is narrated by Giffords, who is seen standing by her husband; it also shows pictures of memorials from several recent mass shootings, including the one that nearly killed Giffords.

Three people, including the gunman, are dead following a shootout at a Delaware courthouse Monday morning. It happened just after 8:00 a.m., when a man walked into the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington and opened fire. Police have not identified the shooter or his victims, both women, though WCAU is reporting the man's name was David T. Matusiewicz.

The polling wizards at Quinnipiac University have released a new poll assessing Americans' opinions of a wide array of hot button issues, including women in combat, gun control, and abortion. While there are some surprises here, there are also some major "ya doi"s. So let's get into it.

Appearing on Fox News this morning, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre reiterated his organization's claim in a recent ad that all American children deserve the same amount of protection that the President Obama's daughters receive. Fox News host Chris Wallace responded, "That's ridiculous and you know it, sir." Throughout the interview Wallace continues to be critical of LaPierre, refuting his claims that inner-city gangs are the problem, and pointing out the insanity of putting armed guards in every public place.

Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL whose book American Sniper detailed his over 150 confirmed kills, was shot dead at a gun range in Texas on Saturday afternoon. Kyle, 38, who had recently appeared on the reality show Stars Earn Stripes, was allegedly shot by Eddie Ray Routh, 25, who also shot another person before taking Kyle's truck. He was arrested a short time later after a chase with police.

A manhunt is on for two people who shot a Kaufman County, Texas prosecutor outside the courthouse today.

"Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important," former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, currently convening hearings on gun safety. "We must do something. It will be hard but the time is now." This is the full text of her statement:

Around 6,000 people showed up to yesterday's gun-control rally in Washington, according to NYMag. Reuters reported a vaguer "thousands," including a group of Newtown, CT residents who were bussed in. The rally was organized by Molly Smith and One Million Moms for Gun Control; similar events were held in other cities across the country.

Yesterday was deemed a day to appreciate your guns in America, and boy did we. Five people were shot at gun shows in North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana. These were not, however, the only instances of gun violence yesterday.

Before unveiling a series of proposals aimed at strengthening gun control in the wake of last month's Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, President Obama today invited four young children on stage to help him make his case.

Republicans are crawling out of the woodwork to attack President Obama's gun control package, announced today. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has accused Obama of abusing his executive powers. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) accused the President of "disdain" for the Second Amendment. But the best criticism yet comes from Rep. Steve Stockman (R- (where else?) TX).

A few minutes ago, President Obama announced a $500 million package, synthesized from suggestions put forth by Vice President Joe Biden's task force on gun control, aimed at curbing gun violence in the U.S. in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre. The President called on Congress to take action in a number of ways, including:

"What's wrong with these people?" Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough wondered this morning about this new NRA ad, in which a sneering narrator asks "Are the president's kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?" before pointedly referring, in the style of Ernst Blofeld, to a certain Mr. Obama. Well, Joe, here's the thing: the NRA is the armed wing of a quasi-religious movement of self-obsessed paranoid racists whose gun fetishism is founded on pathological fear of minorities and an abiding belief in ongoing societal collapse, and this ad is a pretty accurate statement of its institutional thought process. So, I guess, what's wrong with these people is that they're idiots.

A Texas state legislator announced today that he has filed a bill aimed at preventing any new federal gun laws from being enforced in his state.

Police in St. Louis say a part-time student entered the Stevens Institute of Business & Arts this afternoon and promptly shot a longtime administrator in the chest before turning the handgun on himself.

The sheriff of an Eastern Kentucky county has vowed not to enforce any new gun control laws he deems unconstitutional, calling it his "moral obligation."

This week saw not one but two announcements about the development of intentional living communities dedicated to the principles of libertarianism: one from Glenn Beck (Independence, USA, a "city-theme park hybrid" that will marry "media, live events, small business stores, educational projects, charity, entertainment, news, information, and technology R&D") and the other from a group of like-minded citizens looking to build a rifleman's paradise in the mountains of Idaho (The Citadel, which boasts "No credit check. No background check. Zero down payment. Zero interest. Zero property taxes.").

The head of firearms training company who took to YouTube and Facebook this week to threaten a murderous response to any attempt on the Obama administration's part to "ban assault rifles and impose stricter gun control" has had his handgun carry permit suspended by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security for presenting "material likelihood of risk of harm to the public."

The Montpelier Exempted Village Schools Board of Education in Montepelier, Ohio has instated a surprising policy in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month: voting to allow school custodians to carry loaded handguns.

Let's rewind back to Dec. 21, 2012 — about four weeks ago, and exactly a week after Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. On that day, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." He also proposed that armed guards be stationed at every school in the country to prevent mass shootings.