Former NRA President David Keene was duped by Parkland parents into giving a fake graduation speech to 3,044 empty chairs, representing the number of students who should have graduated this year but didn’t because they were killed by guns.

Keene thought this was the rehearsal, but a quick Google search would have told him the high school doesn’t even exist.

“In response to a new state law allowing local governments to set their own gun regulations, city leaders in Boulder, Colorado want to reinstate a ban on the sale and possession of weapons such as the AR-15-style pistol used in a mass shooting at a supermarket in March,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed legislation Saturday making Colorado the first state to repeal what is known as a pre-emption law. Previously the state was one of 45 that banned cities from enacting firearms regulations.”

More at Green That Life: The preemption law is an effective tool in stifling citizen engagement.

“Senate Democrats are struggling for the total unity they need on major infrastructure and elections bills. Their gun control point man is determined to avoid that kind of quicksand,” Politico reports.

“Instead, Democrats are preparing to vote on a scaled-down guns bill — most likely a curtailed plan to boost background checks for firearm buyers. The goal is to unite the party and pick up a limited number of Republican votes, even as their effort appears headed towards the same doomed fate as previous proposals to curb gun violence.”

“Despite the all-but-certain GOP filibuster facing Democrats on guns, they’re well aware that a unified 50-vote Senate majority is the only way to put unmitigated political pressure on their opponents.”

“Texans can carry handguns without a license or training starting Sept. 1, after Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed the permitless carry bill into law,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“The U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed the extent to which its firearms disappear, significantly understating losses and thefts even as some weapons are used in street crimes,” the Associated Press reports.

“The Army’s pattern of secrecy and suppression dates back nearly a decade, when The Associated Press began investigating weapons accountability within the military.”

“Military guns aren’t just disappearing. Stolen weapons have been used in shootings, brandished to rob and threaten people, including children, and recovered in the hands of felons. Thieves sold assault rifles to a street gang.”

Associated Press: “Liberals have cheered the highly public legal and financial jeopardy ensnaring the National Rifle Association, seeing the gun lobby’s potential demise as the path to stricter firearms laws.”

“But, it turns out, the NRA’s message has become so solidified in the Republican Party that even if the organization implodes from allegations of lavish spending and misuse of funds, its unapologetic pro-gun point of view will live on, as the heated debate increasingly shifts from Washington to the states.”

“U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the AP reports.

New York Times: “While gun sales have been climbing for decades — they often spike in election years and after high-profile crimes — Americans have been on an unusual, prolonged buying spree fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, the protests last summer and the fears they both stoked.”

“In March last year, federal background checks, a rough proxy for purchases, topped one million in a week for the first time since the government began tracking them in 1998. And the buying continued, through the protests in the summer and the election in the fall, until a week this spring broke the record with 1.2 million background checks.”

Wall Street Journal: “President Biden’s pick to lead a key agency that will be involved in the administration’s efforts to curb gun violence faced opposition Wednesday from Republican senators, as some cited his advocacy for tighter gun control laws. … In an evenly divided Senate, David Chipman needs to secure all 50 Democratic votes to be confirmed.”

Associated Press: “Texas is poised to remove one of its last major gun restrictions after lawmakers approved allowing people to carry handguns without a license, and the background check and training that go with it.”

Texas Tribune: “The Texas House and Senate have reached a compromise on a bill to allow the permitless carrying of handguns, the top negotiators said Friday, moving it even closer to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a likely signature.”

The bill “would eliminate the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not barred by state or federal law from possessing a gun.”

“All eight Republicans who represent Georgia in the U.S. House voted against a resolution condemning the Atlanta spa shootings,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) will decide whether to prohibit state and local police officers from enforcing a host of federal firearms restrictions after lawmakers on Friday approved a ban long sought by conservative gun owners fearful of future overreach by liberal politicians in Washington,” the Kansas City Star reports.

“Gun registration requirements, firearm tracking rules and limits on certain people having guns — all of it would be “invalid” in Missouri under the sweeping Second Amendment Preservation Act.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) has signed legislation aimed at thwarting a half-dozen executive actions by President Joe Biden to combat gun violence, the Idaho Statesman reports.

The new law came less than a week after a shooting at an eastern Idaho middle school injured two students and a custodian.

“A federal judge dismissed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case on Tuesday, in a blow to its embattled chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, that cast further doubt about his ability to remain at the helm,” the New York Times reports.

“The N.R.A. had filed for bankruptcy in January in an attempt to circumvent regulatory action in New York by the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, who is seeking to shut down the group amid a corruption investigation. Ms. James had challenged the validity of the bankruptcy filing.”

“The Republican-led effort to allow Texans to carry handguns without any kind of license cleared what is likely its biggest remaining hurdle in the Capitol on Wednesday, when the Texas Senate moved in a nail-biter vote to bring the measure to the floor and then passed it,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“The measure – already passed by the Texas House – heads to a conference committee for the two chambers to hash out their differences, unless the House accepts the Senate amendments. Then, the bill heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who said last week he would sign the permitless carry bill into law.”