AR-15

Joaquin “Guac” Oliver died in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, high school massacre, but federal lawmakers who oppose tighter gun regulations began getting phone calls in his voice on Wednesday, lambasting them for their position. The families of Oliver and five others killed with guns are using artificial intelligence to create messages in their loved ones' voices and robocalling them to senators and House members who support the National Rifle Association and oppose tougher gun laws. The protest is being run through The…

Local police and federal law enforcement believe the shooter who rampaged through a crowded Texas mall leaving at least nine people dead over the weekend regularly viewed and posted far right-wing extremist content on social media and espoused sympathy for Neo-Nazis.The shooter, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, was wearing a patch on his chest with the insignia “RWDS,” which authorities believe stands for “Right-Wing Death Squad,” according to multiple reports and an FBI bulletin obtained by Rolling Stone. He…

Twitter is on the receiving end of both criticism and controversy for not properly moderating images of the Allen, Texas massacre that have surfaced online. Gruesome images showing the victim’s bodies covered in blood have been posted on Twitter, without a disclaimer warning viewers of disturbing content.How To Remove Followers From TwitterThe horrifying images surfaced after police say a gunman, carrying an AR-15-style long rifle and a handgun opened fire near the H&M storefront at the shopping outlets in Allen,…

Photo: SPPFR (AP)Earlier this month, dozens of civil rights groups advised top brands and marketing agencies to pause advertising on Twitter unless CEO Elon Musk offered serious assurances that he’d protect vulnerable users from a flood of harassment and hate speech. Now, those same groups are renewing their call for companies to cut ties with the platform, saying the site’s billionaire owner has already backtracked on the promises he haddelivered in person just a couple of weeks ago.A coalition of more than 60…

A new investigation from tech accountability group The Tech Transparency Project found nearly 200 different ads on Facebook and Instagram that it claims violate the company’s own rules prohibiting ads that “promote the sale or use of weapons, weapon modification accessories, ammunition, or explosives.” Those posts include ads promoting sales of AR-15 style rifles, a controversial long gun form favored by numerous mass shooters that’s become one of the national gun debate’s most symbolic lodestones. The report comes less…

Photo: ParlerIn fall 2020 I was making a lot of really bad life decisions. I don’t know if it was the stress of the pandemic, the chaos in my personal life, or my journalistic obligations to stay up on tech news, but for some reason I decided to sign up for Parler. That wasn’t the biggest mistake I made that year, but it’s one that still haunts my inbox. My Parler account came with an unexpected perk: an invite to the company’s whiny, spam-ridden email list.Parler is a self described “uncancelable free speech…

Security camera footage from inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas as a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers while hundreds of police officers waited outside.Screenshot: Austin American-StatesmanPublic school districts in Texas will soon start offering DNA and fingerprint kits to families of students as part of a law to help identify children in case of an “emergency,” according to a new report from the Houston Chronicle. And while the law never explicitly says it’s for identifying kids whose bodies may be…

A video recording of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plays during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention on May 27, 2022 in Houston, Texas. The annual event came days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and 2 adults dead.Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)A legal watchdog group has filed a lawsuit in Texas accusing the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, and its embattled attorney general, Ken Paxton, of trying to conceal records of any discussions their offices may have had with gun advocacy…

Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, listens as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 28, 2022.Photo: J. Scott Applewhite (AP)Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, dropped a series of bombshells Tuesday during an impromptu hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. She said the former…