The Daily Gun Report

I really like what blogger Joe Nocera is doing with his daily updates about gun violence.

As of last Friday, over 4,150 people have died from gunfire since Newton. Remind me, how many people died on 9/11?

Every day Nocera prints reports from newspapers around the country on the previous day's shootings (or sometimes there is a 2-day lag) , both fatal and non-fatal. Here are a couple of examples:

A woman was shot and killed in Shively, Ky., Thursday night. Police were called to a home on a report of a domestic dispute and found the woman dead. The shooter left the home in a vehicle..

A 50-year-old man was shot multiple times Tuesday night and critically wounded during a fight inside his Rochester, N.Y., residence. Ronald Britt, 50, suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot several times in the upper body. Officers said it appeared that Britt and another man were arguing when the fight escalated. The shooter ran from the scene.

He also reports on other gun-related developments:

 Yesterday, Maryland’s governor, Martin O’Malley, signed a bill that made the state’s gun laws among the strictest in the nation. Under the new legislation, anyone buying a handgun will have to submit fingerprints to obtain a license. The bill also bans 45 types of assault weapons; gun magazines will be limited to 10 bullets; gun ownership by people who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility will be banned; and police will be able to suspend the licenses of gun dealers who fail to comply with record-keeping obligations.

It’s a far cry from the town of Nelson, Ga., which recently passed a law requiring gun ownership. The April 1 ordinance requires every head of household in the town of 1,300 to have a gun and ammunition, but there are exceptions: the law exempts anyone who opposes gun ownership or has certain disabilities.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a federal lawsuit against the town, which is 50 miles north of Atlanta, claiming the law is unconstitutional. City leaders have said the law was mostly symbolic and isn’t being enforced.According to the Associated Press, the law’s supporters said they wanted to make a statement about gun rights at a time when the president was seeking restrictions in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association has vowed to sue the state of Maryland to get its eminently sensible law declared unconstitutional. Not exactly a surprise.

Or this:

Did you know that the gun lobby doesn’t want you discussing handgun safety with your doctor? In June 2011, Florida governor Rick Scott signed a bill that made it the first state in the nation to prohibit doctors from asking patients if they own guns. Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia all introduced “physician gag law” bills that would restrict physician firearm counseling.