• PLAY ON: A coming Fayetteville appearance by blustering gun nut Ted Nugent has prompted some protests to the Walton Arts Center. What's to fear?

Several pieces of gun-related news popped up in my reading last night.

* DECLINE IN GUN OWNERSHIP: The New Yorker has a fascinating article on the history of the Second Amendment and guns in America. No point in gun zealots reading it. It doesn't always comport with their script, now 5-4 endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court, on gun law. But this was an eye opener:

The United States is the country with the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world. (The second highest is Yemen, where the rate is nevertheless only half that of the U.S.) No civilian population is more powerfully armed. Most Americans do not, however, own guns, because three-quarters of people with guns own two or more. According to the General Social Survey, conducted by the National Policy Opinion Center at the University of Chicago, the prevalence of gun ownership has declined steadily in the past few decades. In 1973, there were guns in roughly one in two households in the United States; in 2010, one in three. In 1980, nearly one in three Americans owned a gun; in 2010, that figure had dropped to one in five.

Men are far more likely to own guns than women are, but the rate of gun ownership among men fell from one in two in 1980 to one in three in 2010, while, in that same stretch of time, the rate among women remained one in ten. What may have held that rate steady in an age of decline was the aggressive marketing of handguns to women for self-defense, which is how a great many guns are marketed. Gun ownership is higher among whites than among blacks, higher in the country than in the city, and higher among older people than among younger people.

So. The percentage of people with guns is declining. But ... those who own guns are buying more than ever. And the NRA is jamming still more pro-gun legislation through compliant state legislatures.

* TED NUGENT AND BRAVERY: Norma Bates helpfully pointed out last night a biting Salon piece about Ted Nugent. It dismisses the faded rocker as any threat to the president and dismisses his tall talk as promotion for Nugent's personal line of ammo.

Despite his nutty ranting, you actually have nothing to fear from Ted Nugent. In Nugent-world he’s a brave man because he won’t leave home without a gun hidden way up under his shirt. But being afraid to go outside without a gun isn’t a sign of bravery; it is decisive evidence of cowardliness. The vast majority of Americans prove that every day (including the vast majority of gun owners.)

...The National Rifle Association is no longer the sportsman’s organization I shot for back in the late 60’s. (Yes, I can still put a round through your eyeball at 50 feet — with iron sights — but you won’t hear me threatening to do it if you try to steal my lawn mower. Sheesh.) Today’s NRA is an industry shill devoted entirely to making sure fraidy-cat, child-men stay whipped up into a frenzy of panic-induced purchase intention. And Ted Nugent is their mouthpiece.)

* AND SPEAKING OF TED NUGENT: Another poster last night noted that the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville has been getting some flak over the Nugent appearance scheduled June 10 at the Arkansas Music Pavilion. The reader shared a note sent from the arts center in response to a complaint. The center's vice president for communications said in part:

We are aware of Mr. Nugent’s recent comments, and comments he’s made in the past. As an entertainment presenter, we take into account our wide and diverse audiences when booking shows. However, there is a lot of discussion going on internally about this concert, and I wanted to assure that you that the executive staff is hearing and taking into account emails like yours.

To which I say: Who's afraid of Ted Nugent? The 1st Amendment has always been mightier than the 2nd. Guns didn't bring down the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall — ideas, speech, protest, organization and the promise of freedom did. Play on, Nuge. I just hope Walton gives plenty of space in public right of ways to those who might like to demonstrate disapproval of the performer.

Whatever happened in Sanford, Fla., when a self-appointed neighborhood policeman shot down Trayvon Martin, a kid armed with Skittles, it has served another important purpose — illustrating the excesses of the NRA promotion of more firearms and more use of firearms in every aspect of life.

E.J. Dionne writes here about the need to repeal Stand Your Ground Laws, now in 25 states. Do we really want a society where a gunman's word that he felt threatened and had to shoot gets the benefit of the doubt? Stats are piling up on the grim toll. Self-defense has always been a valid legal defense. Retreat from potential problems where possible remains wise police counsel. Why legislate an encouragement to vigilantism or, worse, score-settling with advantage given to the gun-toter against the unarmed?

The problem is too few Michael Bloombergs in the political class and too many of the Arkansas legislative stripe. Writes Dionne:

You can imagine that if the NRA proposed a statute to arm all 10-year-olds to make our schools safer, hundreds of state legislators and members of Congress would robotically vote yes. You can also predict what the NRA slogan would be: “An armed child is a safer child.”

What’s insidious about Stand Your Ground laws is that in every jurisdiction that has them, these statutes tilt the balance of power in any street encounter in favor of the person who has a gun. That’s what happened in the Martin case. The law provides a perverse incentive for everyone to be armed.

Equally problematic, these measures complicate law enforcement, breeding confusion for both police and prosecutors. They weren’t even necessary, since courts have long recognized the right to self-defense. As Glaze noted, “it’s not about standing your ground, it’s about taking authority away from police and ignoring 400 years of common law that has always allowed you to defend yourself.”

The New York Times examines the rolls of concealed carry permit holders in North Carolina — one of the few states where carry records remain fully open — and finds this in a five-year review of records:

More than 2,400 permit holders were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors, excluding traffic-related crimes, over the five-year period, The Times found when it compared databases of recent criminal court cases and licensees. While the figure represents a small percentage of those with permits, more than 200 were convicted of felonies, including at least 10 who committed murder or manslaughter. All but two of the killers used a gun.

... More than 200 permit holders were also convicted of gun- or weapon-related felonies or misdemeanors, including roughly 60 who committed weapon-related assaults.

In addition, nearly 900 permit holders were convicted of drunken driving, a potentially volatile circumstance given the link between drinking and violence.

The review also raises concerns about how well government officials police the permit process. In about half of the felony convictions, the authorities failed to revoke or suspend the holder’s permit, including for cases of murder, rape and kidnapping. The apparent oversights are especially worrisome in North Carolina, one of about 20 states where anyone with a valid concealed handgun permit can buy firearms without the federally mandated criminal background check. (Under federal law, felons lose the right to own guns.)

Permit holders commit crimes? Why sure, some of them do. In Arkansas, think Randeep Mann, the bomb conspiracy mastermind. Think the guy who shot up the Van Buren County courthouse (Crawford County) in western Arkansas. Fact is, as the story notes, the gun lobby has successfully worked to put more guns in more hands in more public places. Somebody regularly tries to walk through airport security with a weapon packed in a carry-on bag. More guns also mean more available for theft and misuse. Feel safer?

An ASU student who brought a gun to his dorm "for protection" was arrested for possession on campus after the .357 handgun discharged accidentally while he was showing it to a friend. No one hurt.

More to thank the National Rifle Association for:

The ease with which an increasing number of felons are able to regain rights to carry guns. The New York Times reports.

While previously a small number of felons were able to reclaim their gun rights, the process became commonplace in many states in the late 1980s, after Congress started allowing state laws to dictate these reinstatements — part of an overhaul of federal gun laws orchestrated by the National Rifle Association. The restoration movement has gathered force in recent years, as gun rights advocates have sought to capitalize on the 2008 Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms.

This gradual pulling back of what many Americans have unquestioningly assumed was a blanket prohibition has drawn relatively little public notice. Indeed, state law enforcement agencies have scant information, if any, on which felons are getting their gun rights back, let alone how many have gone on to commit new crimes.

While many states continue to make it very difficult for felons to get their gun rights back — and federal felons are out of luck without a presidential pardon — many other jurisdictions are far more lenient, The Times found. In some, restoration is automatic for nonviolent felons as soon as they complete their sentences. In others, the decision is left up to judges, but the standards are generally vague, the process often perfunctory. In some states, even violent felons face a relatively low bar, with no waiting period before they can apply.

As you might guess, the story includes some illustrations of the good deeds done by felons allowed to carry guns again.

Arkansas requires a gubernatorial pardon for a felon to be restored gun rights. This, however, didn't stop almost 5,000 felons from obtaining hunting licenses when the Democrat-Gazette matched hunting licenses against crime data a few years ago.

The Clinton School has hosted Wayne LaPierre of the NRA, now it offers an opportunity to hear the other side — the case for stricter gun laws in the U.S.

Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, will speak at noon Friday at the Clinton School. Bring a lunch and drinks will be provided. He founded the Brady Center's legal project to use the courts in stemming gun violence.

Concealed weapons not allowed on campus.

A Tennessee lawmaker pushing legislation to allow guns in bars was arrested Tuesday for DUI and possession of a handgun while "under the influence."

Feel safer with him on the road armed?

Early report: Five-year-old takes gun to Houston elementary school. Three children have been removed from the building on stretchers.

UPDATE: the gun fell and discharged. 3 injured. Not life threatening.

Tucson shooting victims speak up for the campaign to fix the gun check law. Why not 1) a comprehensive database of people who should not be allowed to purchase weapons and 2) a background check for each gun purchase?

I missed the news yesterday that the Senate Judiciary Committee lacked votes necessary to approve the House bill allowing guns in church. Several pastors testified for presence of concealed weapons because of potential for violence. Which, it might be worth noting, is an argument you could make for every venue of human contact. Count me in the number, however small and out of step, who feel safer with fewer guns in public places, not more.

The House approved legislation today to allow concealed handguns in church. The vote was 65-23. In defending the bill, leading House gun lover Randy Stewart mischaracterized the scope of the bill. He said it merely allows churches to approve a limited number of people to have a concealed weapon in church for defense. It does do that. The bill, however, also allows a church to welcome ALL concealed weapon permit holders if it chooses.

"You never need a gun until you really need a gun," Stewart says.

Rep. Efrem Elliott of Altheimer said it was a "terrible bill," even if an unstable person came into a church with a gun because response would be dangerous.

"What are we going to do, start having shootouts in churches?"

Missing: A recitation of the need, in millions of Sundays of church in Arkansas, for someone lurking in church with a hidden weapon.