gun control

Looking Up

I called a goon a “goon” yesterday and it upset him.

I enjoy reading the comments my cartoons get at GoComics but I don’t always interact with the readers there. But sometimes I’ll see a comment that I feel needs addressing. Yesterday, one of the right-wingers suggested a topic that fit his narrative, like that’s what I’m here for. I don’t see these guys telling the Boks, Varvels, and Lesters to draw on gun control, equal rights, Black Lives Matter, or women’s rights. Maybe someone should suggest a cartoon about climate change to Ben Garrison.

But this reader suggested a draw a cartoon that would feed his narrative, something he obviously saw while watching Tucker. I replied that it’s funny he found that to be an important issue while totally ignoring the mass shooting on Monday night that occurred at Michigan State University which resulted in three deaths from the killer. I also told him that I don’t take suggestions from goons.

He was upset at being called a goon and that he was flagging my reply, and what happened at Michigan State was “just another mass shooting.” I let him know that referring to what happened at Michigan State as “just another mass shooting” is why he gets called a “goon.”

Goons don’t care about mass shootings. They’d rather we ignore them.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Lauren Boebert has tweeted about a toxic chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), attacks on Pete Buttigieg, that it is OK to flash your penis at teenage girls in bowling alleys, Joe Biden, and spy balloons, but nothing about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Marjorie Taylor Greene has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), Hunter Biden, her white coat, the likelihood of being hit in the face with a banjo in her district, Jesus, but nothing about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Ted Cruz has tweeted about Buttigieg, the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), the border, his love for shoegaze, and big tech censoring free speech, yet no tweets about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Jim “Gym” Jordan has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), the border, big tech censorship, how much he hates it when he gets a run in his pantyhose, and a ton of tweets about balloons, but none about the shooting.

Since the shooting on Monday night, Matt Gaetz has tweeted about the chemical spill (while not proposing heavier regulations or punishment for corporations who create these spills), Elon Musk, hating that we are sending aid to Ukraine, the difficulty in finding extra-small condoms, big tech censorship, but nothing about the shooting.

I believe I research my subjects more than most cartoonists do, and for this blog…but I did make up one tweet for each of those MAGAts mentioned. See if you can find them.

The film “Don’t Look Up” is a metaphor for how right-wingers, conservatives, MAGAts, and your run-of-the-mill pigfuckers ignore science, facts, and impending doom if it’s something they don’t want to hear. As a meteor hurtles toward Earth that’ll destroy all life on the planet, the Republican response is simply, don’t look up. It’s a great metaphor after the coronavirus pandemic.

When it comes to science, Republicans don’t want us to “look up.” But now, they do want us to look up and see all the UFOs invading our airspace, but whatever you do…don’t look down. If you look down, you might see all the bodies from mass shootings. Republicans would rather look up than see those bodies or find solutions for mass shootings beyond “thoughts and prayers.” It’s why people like Jim “Gym” Jordan keep asking about spy balloons.

The day after the shooting inside a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas that left 25 dead in 2017, I read a post from a MAGAt cartoonist proclaiming it’s why we need stricter immigration policies, or maybe just ban all immigration. The shooter wasn’t an immigrant. He was a white guy born and bred right here in the good ole U.S. of A. He was a Texan.

I also looked at the official NRA Twitter account. Did you know the NRA describes itself as a “civil rights” organization? I know! Get the fuck out of here. Since the shooting on Monday night, the NRA has tweeted about new guns for 2023, President Biden “coming for your guns,” more gun reviews, how not to blow your dick off while fucking an uzi, and the University of Tennessee’s rifle program, but nothing the shooting.

Don’t look up. Don’t look down. Just don’t look.

Music note: I listened to a few tunes by Lenny Kravitz but spent most of my time drawing and coloring this while watching CNN and Nikki Haley’s presidential announcement.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

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Hollywood Liberal Background Checks

Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Made Possible By The GOP

Part of the Supreme Court majority’s argument in overturning Roe v. Wade was that this nation needs more children available for adoption. Justice Samuel Alito cited a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on why so many “suitable homes” are available: “the domestic supply of infants … relinquished at birth or within the first month of life available to be adopted [has] become virtually nonexistent.”

Alito pushed aside the argument of the constitutionality of abortion and “adopted” the reasoning that we should ban abortion to stock up baby mills. A high demand for rich people to adopt is not justification for women to lose the constitutional right to make decisions regarding their own bodies.

Let me sidetrack for just one paragraph to counter COVID deniers who’ve created a false equivalence that choosing to wear a face mask is the same as choosing whether or not to have an abortion. They like to throw “my body, my choice” at liberals. This is so basically simple I can’t believe I have to explain it, but I don’t have a lot of choice in you giving me COVID. You wear a face mask to protect others. A woman you don’t know having an abortion doesn’t affect you, but you can catch COVID from ignorant obnoxious assholes who are stupid and selfish enough to politicize a pandemic.

Speaking of politicizing an issue, that’s exactly what Alito and the rest of the majority goons did with abortion. That’s exactly what you do when you leave out crucial facts to your sidebar that when revealed, turn it into total gobblygook bullshit. Research shows that 90 percent of women who choose not to have an abortion end up keeping the child, not giving it up for adoption.

Republicans always argue they want “constitutionalists” to be judges. Yeah, me too. These right-wing goons on the highest court in the land rely more on fucknut talking points than the United States Constitution.

Adoption is for the rich and powerful, which means the product has to come from the poor. Basically, the Supreme Court wants poor women to be baby mills for the rich. The average cost of adopting a child in the United States is around $70,000. SCOTUS is less concerned with the Constitution and more concerned with capitalism.

Adoption is a great thing. I’m not dissing it and I’m not trying to put people down for being wealthy enough to adopt. I want every child in need of a home to find one. I love that there have been two adoptions in my own family (neither were babies). But, we shouldn’t purposely create children for adoption. Republicans are making the decision for women to use their bodies to be baby factories so the elite will have more options to adopt.

But it’s not just with forcing women to give birth where Republicans are great at creating parentless children.

Aiden McCarthy is two years old and he doesn’t have parents because they were both murdered during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park this week. Kevin and Irina, Aiden’s parents, were murdered with the type of assault rifle Republicans and the NRA fight to make available to every person in the United States. They continue to resist, not just bans to these killing machines that nobody needs, but they even resist regulations for them.

The killer in Highland Park bought his assault rifle legally, even after at least two encounters with police. One encounter was over a suicide threat and the other was when a family member reported him saying he was going to “kill everyone.” Highland Park police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword without arresting him.

Later, the then-19-year-old future murderer applied for a firearm owner’s identification card, which his father sponsored despite the kid’s past threats. The future killer passed four background checks. FOUR FUCKING BACKGROUND CHECKS. There were reports on this guy with the Highland Park Police and the Illinois State Police.

Now, because of our wishy-washy laws and regulations regarding assault weapons in this nation, Aiden McCarthy’s parents along with five others are dead. In addition to overturning Roe, the Supreme Court also weakened gun laws two weeks ago.

So, yeah. The Pro-Death Party is good at creating orphans for adoption.

Music note: I listened to Puddle of Mudd. Yeah, I know, but I like about five of their songs.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Greitens Gun Metaphor

Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday. 

Music note: I listened to some Incubus and Stone Temple Pilots while drawing all these bricks.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Can’t Get Enough of Your Guns, Baby

President Joe Biden delivered a rare primetime address last night urging Congress to pass tough gun regulations, saying it’s time to “stop the carnage.” It’s past time to stop the carnage.

President Biden noted how Congress has done nothing to stop gun violence after decades of mass shootings, and said, “After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done. This time, that can’t be true. This time we must actually do something.”

Biden is calling for banning assault weapons and limiting high-capacity magazines but says if we can’t get Republicans to ban assault weapons, then at least raise the age when they can be legally purchased from 18 to 21. 

There is a group of so-called moderate Democrats and Republicans in the Senate working on legislation to get at least ten Republican votes, but while Democrats seek to legislate guns, Republicans look to legislate mental health and doors. We’re still dealing with people who believe the answer to too many guns is more guns.

Biden said, “My God, the fact that the majority of the Senate Republicans don’t want any of these proposals even to be debated or come up for a vote, I find unconscionable.”

Enter Congressman Greg Steube.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday where gun legislation was being debated, Greg Steube was zooming from his home in Florida (of course it was Florida) and showed off his gun collection. It was creepy.

Did you hear about the Florida Man eaten by an alligator while swimming in a lake fetching frisbees? I say let’s throw all of Steube’s guns in that same alligator-infested lake and let’s see what happens.

As Steube showed one gun after another (it was like a clown car for guns), Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee said, “I hope the gun is not loaded.” That alone was enough of a threat to Steube’s gun fetish for him to respond, “I’m in my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns.” As Biden said, “My god.”

Steube was arguing that a ban on magazines is a ban on guns. He said, “Don’t let them fool you that they are not attempting to take away your ability to purchase handguns. They’re using the magazine ban to do it.”

For years, Democrats have argued for gun control while stating they don’t want to ban guns or destroy the Second Amendment. Republicans believe they’re lying. Remember during the Obama era when Republicans constantly claimed President Obama was coming to get their guns…but he never did? They also claimed he’d refuse to leave office.

Republicans think Democrats are lying like they did with abortion. They always said they weren’t going to ban abortion. They just wanted to regulate it. Of course, they were lying. Now we know they really wanna ban abortion and they’re creating laws in yee-haw states to do just that. This is why I believe at some point they’re going to come clean and say they really do want to make it illegal for nonwhites to vote.

Steube was showing off his nine-millimeter pistols, like Glocks and Sig Sauers demonstrating they had high capacity magazines holding from ten to 15 bullets. He showed that lower-capacity magazines didn’t fit. Like other things in Steube’s house, they were too small and wouldn’t fit in the hole. So basically, he argued that banning those magazines bans those guns.

So what? Technically, it’s not a ban on those guns, but even if was, it technically wouldn’t be banning guns. Steube has the same fucked-up interpretation of the Second Amendment as all other Republicans, that it means they have the right to own whatever gun they want. Banning specific guns is not unconstitutional. The “right to bear arms” doesn’t mention what kind of arms. It doesn’t mention limitations or a free for all on guns.

The other thing is, it’s not about need as much as it is about want. Nobody needs more than one gun…if they need a gun at all. Steube is the kind of person who tells you it’s none of your business what kind of guns he has, and then proceeds to play show-and-tell with his guns which I’m sure makes him feel warm and squishy inside.

What Steube wants by showing off how horny he is for guns is too upset liberals, while really just icking them out a bit. I felt like I needed a shower.

The thing is, these are the people Democrats have to get through. This is Republican logic. The only way to achieve serious gun legislation that will be effective in stopping these mass shootings is to have fewer Republicans in Congress. It’s the only way.

Of course, that will be difficult because Republicans believe that in order to save the Second Amendment then they must destroy Constitutional voting rights…which will return Republicans, bought and paid for by the NRA, to Congress. These gun nuts already tried to destroy our Constitution by trying to overturn an election. I never want to hear a Republican ever again talk about the Constitution.

Greg Steube says he can do whatever he wants to do with his guns in his own home. Not if lock boxes become law, buddy. But until then, do whatever you want with your gun fetish in your own home. Just don’t broadcast it because, ew.

Music Note: I listened to Third Eye Blind, Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra, and a bunch of other 90’s alt stuff while drawing today’s cartoon.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

NRA Slimers

President Joe Biden announced last week new regulations for ghost guns. Naturally, the National Rifle Association and Republicans are upset. But first, what is a ghost gun?

These guns are referred to as “ghosts” as they don’t have serial numbers and can’t be traced or tracked. Why is that? It’s because they’re created from DIY kits, do it yourself. They’re also created from other gun parts and even 3-D printed. These kits are legal. And anyone can purchase a DIY gun kit.

You don’t need a background check to purchase one of these “buy build shoot” kits. You can be convicted of domestic violence or other violent offenses and still be able to purchase a kit to make a gun. You don’t even have to be 18. A child can steal his parent’s credit card and order a gun kit. They’re also pretty simple and there are probably YouTube videos out there with instructions on how to build your gun. Don’t forget to subscribe.

These things are not like pellet guns. They’re real bonafide guns. Earlier this year, a student in Maryland, allegedly, shot a classmate. In 2019 a student shot five other students at a high school Santa Clarita, California.

The new rules will make the kits be regulated like other guns. You will only be able to purchase them legally through a licensed manufacturer. You will have to pass a background check. These guns will have serial numbers. What market are these manufacturers aiming for since they haven’t given them serial numbers already?

Nearly everything you purchase has a serial number. The computer, tablet, or phone you’re reading this on has a serial number. My guitars all have serial numbers. Cars have serial numbers. The parts inside the cars have serial numbers. Why wouldn’t a product made with only one purpose, to kill people, not have a serial number? Mattresses come with warnings not to tear off a tag with a serial number but these guns don’t have them?

Model airplanes you can purchase in a kit and build yourself come with…wait for it…serial numbers. Ghost guns only exist for people who can’t legally buy guns.

Of course, the NRA doesn’t like this. They responded in a statement that said the Biden administration isn’t “truly sincere” on curbing violent crimes until criminals are put behind bars. The NRA isn’t sincere about curbing violent crimes when they’re opposing efforts to stop putting weapons into the hands of violent criminals. Again, ghost guns are made for criminals.

Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesgoon, said, “An administration that’s truly sincere and resolute about curbing violent crime rates would do one thing: take violent criminals off the streets immediately. Yet, the Biden administration allows these criminals who kill and maim with callous and reckless abandon, again and again, to roam the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other cities large and small across our country without fear of prosecution and punishment. Also, my balls still haven’t dropped. Thanks, a lot, Biden!”
I might have added that last part.

The goon added, “Americans know the lenient bail system and the revolving door justice system supported and perpetrated by the Biden administration and other leaders who support soft-on-criminal policies are the problem.”

These are two separate issues. Another separate issue is Russian money going into the NRA which then spends it on Republican political campaigns. We could multitask and regulate ghost guns while also charging NRA officials for violating campaign donation laws. I bet they’d appreciate that “lenient” bail system in then.

The goon also said about the president, “His gun control actions will undoubtedly hearten his wealthy gun control supporters.” The NRA took thousands of dollars from the Russian government while Russian spies were infiltrating its ranks. Russia has strict gun laws while Vladimir Putin loves helping the NRA put more guns on the street so people in this country will keep shooting each other. There are still questions about who financed an NRA “special projects” trip to Moscow.

House Republican goon Thomas Massie was also livid about the new regulations. He tweeted, “The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to prevent you from making your own firearm.” Yeah? It also doesn’t prohibit DIY guns from being regulated like other guns. The Biden administration is NOT banning making your own gun. See the trick in the goon’s statement?

Included with that tweet was, “This a fact that has been recognized for 200+ years. Also, Article 1, Section 1 (literally the first operative sentence in the Constitution) says Congress makes law, not POTUS!” But aren’t the laws regulating guns already made? Background checks are already law. These gun kits are guns. They should fall into the laws that already exist, you know…the ones made by Congress. By the way, there’s not an IQ test to be a member of Congress. Also, this goon didn’t tweet “Congress makes laws, not the president” about any of Donald Trump’s 220 executive orders.

Also, I don’t want to hear another MAGA goon cite the Constitution when they allowed a president (sic) to extort the president of Ukraine and incite a coup attempt.

You would think the NRA and Republicans would want these guns regulated. Instead of providing deflections and distractions with a bunch of whatabouts, they should be leading the charge to regulate guns. Regulating guns is not taking guns away. Why are they protecting a system that makes it easier for bad guys to get guns? Why are they supporting children buying guns?

The NRA and Republican position in support of unregulated ghost guns will do nothing but create more ghosts.

Music note: I listened to a bunch of REM and Pearl Jam while drawing today.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

No Sleep ‘Til Gun Control

I love trains. I don’t have a love affair with them the way President Joe Biden does, who commuted on Amtrak daily when he was a Senator from Delaware, but I really like trains.

It’s easier to travel on a train than on a plane, and so much better than a bus. Airports are huge hassles while to get on a train, you just show the ticket guy your ticket. Actually, you get on the train first and then you show him your ticket. It’s so easy when I have a trip to Washington, DC as I don’t have to screw with traffic or parking. It’s the same with going to New York City. And the greatest thing about going to those cities on a train is that after you arrive, you get on another train to your destination. If you work it right, you leave your house, get on a train, and you’re dropped off a few blocks from your hotel (unless your hotel is in Georgetown). It’s easy.

Amtrak has moments where it’s a pain, like the time the air conditioning went out during summer on a trip home from North Carolina while I was trying to meet my CNN deadline in the cafe car, but it’s still a great way to travel. The trains I really love are subways. I still have NYC and DC train cards with a few bucks on them. I want to live in a city with a huge train system, but I can’t afford it.

Subways get a bad rap. A lot of people have told me they’ll never get on the New York subway because it’s not safe. I’ve had people in New York City tell me to never take the subway. I was at an Irish bar in midtown Manhattan and two brothers I was in a conversation with told me that whatever I do, to “never take the subway.” They were way too late with their advice. I’ve taken the New York subway all over Manhattan, through the Bronx, and into Brooklyn. I haven’t gone through Queens yet, but I will when I go see the Mets. But I’ve taken the subway through the Bronx at night and wasn’t afraid (there’s a train system on Staten Island but it’s not connected to the other four boroughs). And yeah, you see freaks talking very loudly to themselves and there are smelly people, but you also see women alone with their babies. I’ve seen groups of kids without adults on the Washington Metro. The Metro is pretty safe, and despite the recent increase in violence, the New York subway system is usually safe. My biggest hassle with subways is that they can be confusing.

Washington’s train system can be confusing but it’s a lot easier to figure out. The Metro has six lines, 91 stations, and 117 miles of routes. New York City’s subway has 36 lines, 472 stations, and 850 miles of track. You can get lost. I had a conversation with a different guy in that same Irish bar who was NYC born and raised, and he told me he got confused with the train system. But, there are now apps for that kind of stuff. I would look on my phone while in my hotel room to see when the next train was arriving at the station around the corner.

I used to get confused with the Metro until I traveled on the Subway. I don’t have any more problems understanding Washington’s Metro.

To me, it doesn’t make sense not to take the trains if you’re in a city that has them. Do I feel safe in the stations? I’ve drawn cartoons in NYC’s underground stations.

You may need to make adjustments as circumstances change, like during the COVID pandemic, but I refuse to allow lunatics to dictate how I live my life. I refuse to live in fear. I still rode in cars after being in car accidents, I still flew in planes after 9/11, and I’ll still ride in trains despite the shooting yesterday in Brooklyn.

A friend I grew up with will never go to Washington or New York City because he refuses to go anywhere without his guns. To me, that kind of fear is worse than living with the very small chance you’re going to be attacked on a train.

Giving everyone a gun is the NRA solution to gun violence. Didn’t a mass shooting on a military base disprove that solution? And in the few instances when a “good guy with a gun” showed up to a mass shooting, the good guy doesn’t actually save any lives. The “good guy with a gun” in Sutherland, Texas in 2017 showed up AFTER the shooter had already killed 26 people when the good guy started chasing him. The shooter was done shooting. And the good guy went on a car chase after the shooter instead of tending to the wounded bleeding to death. Arriving at the scene of a mass shooting is the sick fantasy of every gun fetishist. I think the main reason for them to carry a gun isn’t for their own personal safety, but more for the day when they get to shoot somebody.

Also, how can police tell the difference between the good guy with a gun and the bad guy?

There’s a better solution than the yee-haw cure and that is….let’s get rid of guns. It’ll be hard to shoot someone with a gun if there are no guns.

We don’t have to get rid of all guns but let’s get rid of the guns that make it easier to shoot a high number of people in a short period of time. The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms, but it doesn’t state you have the right to own machine guns, which is basically what these assault rifles are. If nothing else, let’s put more control, requirements, and regulations into owning these weapons that are made strictly for the purpose of killing human beings.

“Gun control” is like the word “liberal” for conservatives. No pun intended, but it’s a trigger word meaning bad, much in the same way conservatives now use “groomer,” “woke,” “cancel culture,” “book,” and “personal hygiene.”

While there are people in this nation afraid of getting on a train or traveling to a large city, there are people in other nations afraid to come to our nation because of our sick fetish for guns.

Gun fetishists are afraid gun control will disrupt their entitled white-privileged gun-humping lifestyle. But their guns are disrupting people’s lives while they’re just trying to get to work.

The gun fetishists, the so-called “constitutionalists,” want us to live in fear. They want us to be afraid of getting on a train or going to a donut shop. But like I said before, I refuse to allow lunatics to dictate how I live my life.

Music note: I listened to Pearl Jam while drawing this cartoon. And I bet you thought it would be the Beastie Boys.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Critical Gun Theory

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Republicans are really good at protecting us from things that don’t exist. Remember when Donald Trump’s education secretary said there should be guns in schools to protect students from bears? But you have to admit, there have been no public school bear maulings since she brought it up. Bears must have heard this while watching Fox News and said, “Well, shit. We can’t maul children at schools anymore. We may as well just go the parking lot at Kroger and maul some shoppers there.”

Over the past year, Republicans have been livid over critical race theory. Some state legislatures even passed laws banning the teaching of critical race theory in public schools. They didn’t worry about private schools because they teach white victimization, white privilege doesn’t exist, and slaves were immigrants with job offers.

When Glenn Youngkin was campaigning for the governorship of Virginia, he kept talking about critical race theory, and then he’d talk some more about critical race theory, then he’d take a break to talk about President Biden sending the FBI after white parents, and then he’d talk some more about critical race theory. And it worked. He won by talking about critical race theory and that FBI-white-parents bullshit.

But you know what’s NOT in public schools anywhere in Virginia or the rest of the country? Critical race theory. Do you know what keeps getting into schools? Guns. Guns are continuing to get into schools and Republicans are not doing anything about it. Instead, they focus on imaginary problems.

Why don’t we just let critical race theory get into our schools and allow Republicans to protect students from it the way they protect students from mass shootings, with thoughts and prayers. Hey, they can pray that students don’t get educated. If Republicans have their way, they won’t. Look at Texas.

While Republicans have created laws to ban something from schools that don’t really exist, many of them are trying to create laws to put more guns into schools. Conservative logic is that guns are needed to save us from guns. They love the good-guy-with-a-gun argument except that fucking theory is total bullshit.

Remember the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas in 2017? The shooter murdered 26 people and injured 22 more. A “good guy with a gun” arrived and chased the shooter down after shooting him twice. Republicans everywhere got an erection from this good-guy story because their health plans pay for Viagra. But the truth is, that good guy with a gun didn’t save one life. The good guy with a gun didn’t take any action until AFTER the shooter was done murdering people. The good guy shot the shooter twice, and the shooter still got into his vehicle. The good guy was an NRA shooting instructor and still wasn’t able to stop the shooter before he killed 26 people. The good guy with a gun went after the shooter, never mind the people bleeding to death inside the church. If that good guy had actually gone into the church to stop someone’s bleeding instead of being a macho man and snapping into a Slim Jim while roaring down a Texas highway after a shooter the cops were also chasing, perhaps he would have saved a life. Perhaps the good guy with a gun could have actually been a good guy.

The shooter shot over 700 rounds in 11 minutes. Where was the good guy with a gun? Outside waiting for the shooter to emerge after he was done murdering people. The good guy saved ZERO lives. The good guy just wanted to play Rambo without putting his life in danger. He allowed people inside the church to bleed to death. The good guy became a right-wing folk hero. Also, that was in Texas. It’s hard to believe there wasn’t at least one parishioner inside that church who wasn’t packing.

There was another school shooting yesterday, this time in Oxford, Michigan. Three students are dead and eight others were wounded. The shooting was carried out by a 15-year-old who used a 9 mm Sig Sauer SP2022 semi-automatic pistol that was bought for him by his father on…wait for it…Black Friday. Three 15-round magazines were purchased with the pistol and the kid took all three with him. Thanks, Super Dad. This kid killed and injured more people than Kyle Rittenhouse. Maybe he can use the Rittenhouse self-defense defense. Maybe one of the people he shot was about to slap him with a ruler.

Also, I’m not sure the kid had enough weaponry. He was going into a school with a semi-automatic pistol. Someone in that school could have had a skateboard and you know the only defense against a skateboard is an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Did you know that because he’s so good at skateboarding, Tony Hawk is considered the most dangerous person in America? Look it up. It’s true.

What will Republicans do about this latest shooting? Thoughts and prayers. Now, if someone tries to bring critical race theory into the school, then we’ll see some Republican outrage. And using GOP logic, we need critical race theory in public schools to protect students from critical race theory.

Guns in schools is not a theory. They’re real and they kill. The real theory is that Republicans actually care about protecting children from gun violence. Hell, the only Republican who remembers Sandy Hook is Alex Jones.

Republicans are good at protecting us from shit that doesn’t exist. It’s like solving non-existent problems.

Creative note: Two fun facts about today’s cartoon: It kept waking me up. I went to bed with the idea and I kept waking up wondering how to do it. This happens more often than you’d think. My cartoons wake me up.
Fact two: I drew it while listening to the Sex Pistols.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 18 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Donuts and Ammo

Cjones11012021

Gun nuts are eager to prove to everyone else what experts they are with guns and gun safety. In doing so, they often demonstrate just how ignorant they are about everything else, like how a film is made.

As soon as the tragedy on the set of the film Rust was reported, conservatives and everyone else horny for guns was all over Alec Baldwin, calling for him to be charged with murder. Not only do they not understand how filming works, but they also don’t understand how the law works.

This was a tragedy that injured writer/director Joel Suza and killed cinematographer Haylna Hutchins. This is not murder. Is it possible criminal charges are forthcoming? Yes, but for whom?

It’s the assistant director’s job to ensure a safe working environment on a film set. In this case, the assistant director, Dave Halls, handed Baldwin the gun and told him it was safe. Weapons on film sets are managed by the armorer. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for Rust, had just prepared the guns on a cart, which is where Hall picked up the loaded gun and gave it to Baldwin. This was not a prop gun, but a real one.

There are all sorts of messed-up details in this story, such as warnings about an unsafe set, people turning down job offers because of the dangers, crew members walking off before the tragedy, and crew members engaging in target practice with the guns being used in the movie. Live bullets being put into a gun that will later be used in the movie by amateurs is a very dangerous working environment.

Perhaps the biggest question is: Why was there live ammunition on a movie set?

I’ve heard a lot of people say we should ban real working and functional guns from film sets. I’ve heard gun fuckers say this. How about we do this…and ban guns from all places of business? The Constitution gives you the right to own a gun, but it doesn’t say anything about you toting it around like it’s an extension of yourself. There’s nothing in the Constitution that allows you to carry a semi-automatic rifle into Krispy Kreme.

Republicans are after Baldwin just because they don’t like him. Baldwin spent four years doing an excellent job of portraying Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live and Trumpers are still butt-hurt over it. But as I wrote in a previous blog, your dislike for someone doesn’t convict them of murder. Your political bias is a total and complete non-factor in this issue.

Alec Baldwin didn’t intend to shoot anyone. You can argue he should have checked the gun, even after being told it was safe…but the failure to do so still doesn’t make him a killer. While these same gun humpers argue for Alec Baldwin to be charged with murder, they’re simultaneously defending Kyle Rittenhouse who shot three people, killing two, with a semi-automatic rifle he wasn’t old enough to legally own or transport across a state line, which he did intentionally to shoot at black people. Rittenhouse shot three people, killing two of them.

These same people calling for Alec Baldwin to go to prison also call a Capitol Police officer a “murderer” for shooting Ashli Babbitt, a terrorist who broke into the United States Capitol building and was storming into the office of the Speaker of the House with a violent mob of white nationalist MAGAts when she was shot, but defend George Zimmerman for shooting Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, for walking while black in a hoodie and armed with Skittles.

I think what I’m trying to say to these people, in the most eloquent terms I can think of “fuck off, you whiny hypocritical rat bastard racist babies.” Can you get guns with nipples on them?

You don’t care about the victim. You champion racist murderers and terrorists. All you care about is vengeance against people who never actually violated you. You want to string up Dr. Anthony Fauci because his efforts to save this nation contradict Donald Trump’s lies. But you don’t have anything so you make shit up, like torturing beagles and gain-of-function in bats. You don’t like that racist parents can be criminally charged for threatening school boards over vaccine/facemask mandates and teaching critical race theory which isn’t being taught, so you go after the Attorney General for doing his job. And again, you have to make shit up. You scream that these parents are just “concerned” and expressing their views, but you leave out the parts about intimidation and death threats. Now, you’re after Alec Baldwin because you see an opportunity.

Being as vile and inhumane as possible isn’t just a part of being a Republican anymore. It’s the point. This is revenge for you, not justice.

Alec Baldwin will suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome from this for the rest of his life. If there are criminal charges for negligence, then so be it. But he’s not going to prison or the gallows because he impersonated Donald Trump and made him look ridiculous. If we’re going to send people to prison for making Donald Trump look like a moron then let’s send Donald Trump because nobody made him look stupid more than he did it to himself.

As for making Trump supporters look like racist morons, well that’s on them too. I mean, nobody forced Ted Cruz to defend Nazis yesterday.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are ZERO copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. A new shipment will arrive in early November. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

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Gun Control Absolutely Positively Right Now

Cjones04192021

Another day in America, another mass shooting.

After a recent mass shooting when Democrats in the Senate said we need legislation to stop this insanity, and not JUST thoughts and prayers, Senator Ted Cruz, the most disingenuous sonofabitch who has ever hatched from an egg, was livid. How dare Democrats play “theatrics” by attacking thoughts and prayers and instead, suggesting solutions. Even saying we need more than thoughts and prayers is an assault on our Christian values.

If you had listened to Ted Cruz, you would have thought Democrats had left a flaming bag of turds on the steps of the Thoughts and Prayers Institute for Gun Violence and Other Things To Be Sad About.

Ted Cruz talked about how he believes in the power of prayer. But here’s the thing about believing in the power of prayer like Ted does: It’s not working.

Ted talked about the power of prayer several mass shootings ago. Thursday night, another mass shooting took eight lives. This one was in Indianapolis at a FedEx facility. This was at least the 45th mass shooting since March 16, 2021.

In case you’re a Republican, let me lay that out for you. It was the 45th mass shooting in the span of a month. CNN defines a mass shooting as when four or more people, excluding the gunman, are wounded or killed. If you are going to order cards for thoughts and prayers, you better place a bulk order.

After the mass shooting in Georgia, or maybe it was Colorado (it’s getting harder to keep track), two right-wing fucknut fundamentalist cartoonists did cartoons of a crying Uncle Sam on the exact same day. They didn’t address the problem except to say it was sad. One of those morons lives in Indianapolis. Since he had just drawn a crying Uncle Sam, he had to come up with something different for an empty useless gesture. For this one, he had someone hugging a FedEx delivery driver.

The most revolting thing to me about this is that cartoonist works for himself. Nobody demanded he draw something that was a totally useless cliché. No editor held him back and forced him to take a coward’s way out. His response to something in his community was just as empty as his response to when it happens somewhere else. He didn’t even both trying to make it unique or particular to his home. He let his community down just as he’s been letting his country down. And nobody made him do it. He chose to suck all on his own. Just like Ted Cruz.

I don’t expect my cartoon above, or any of the others I’ve drawn on the subject, to end gun violence. But I am adding my voice to many others to find a solution other than just praying for it. I don’t keep repeating the same empty gesture again and again. For right-wing cartoonists, they express it’s sad people die from weapons they believe everyone should be able to own. Tomorrow, they’ll draw some phony outrage about a Hunter Biden sex tape or some shit that doesn’t affect anyone except their white privilege. Maybe they’ll draw a cartoon telling black people cops will stop shooting them if they just follow basic instructions. But when faced with a real challenge, they will fail. Like me, they’re just cartoonists.

Ted Cruz is a politician. Ted was elected to stop shit like this. He’s paid to confront gun violence. He’s one of 50 members of the United States Senate that doesn’t want to do anything about gun violence. Seriously. They don’t want to do anything. They are owned and controlled by the National Rifle Association. And when pressed to do something, they react as if you attacked their lord and savior. It’s a great deflection when you’re full of shit.

Ted Cruz giving thoughts and prayers when a mass shooting happens is him fleeing the situation just like when he fled to Cancun when his state was hit with a freeze. Ted Cruz says drafting legislation to combat gun violence is “theater.” This guy calling it “theater” is the same fucko who once made a campaign commercial of him cooking bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of an AR-15, then heating the barrel by shooting the gun a thousand times…then he ate that flaccid bacon as if that was owning the libs. That doesn’t own the libs. What it does is make libs lose their appetites after seeing Ted Cruz put stuff in his mouth. It works like reverse porn. Also, it’s shit like this that makes people think he’s the Zodiac Killer.

I believe in thoughts and prayers. I’m agnostic, but I think praying for someone is positive. It can be like meditation. Also, thinking is good. Give problems some thought. But, that’s what you do while you’re also tackling the problem.

When I have a problem with my Surface Pro, like the stylus decides to stop working while I’m on a CNN deadline, I tackle the problem. I’m googling up solutions and trying them out. All during that time, I’m praying it’s going to work. Granted, my prayers are probably different from yours and go something like, “You better work, you no good useless piece of crap sonofabitch mother forkerforkerforkforkforker….etc.” But, praying, or cursing at the problem, isn’t the only thing I’m doing.

Have you ever told someone you’re “still thinking about it” when you’re actually not? Like being asked if you’re coming home for Thanksgiving where all your troglodyte Trump-supporting cousins will be there talking about the stolen election and Jewish space lasers, and you say, “I’m still thinking about it”? But you’re not thinking about it. There’s no way you’re going to that shit festival of morons. You’ve already made up your mind that instead of going home to eat turkey and casserole with lunatics, you’re going to get a WaWa gobbler sandwich and a six-pack of Red Stripe, then sit home and watch Dallas lose to whoever they’re playing this year. That’s what I’m gonna do.

That’s thoughts and prayers for politicians.

Is it too much to ask politicians, even the most creepy disingenuous ones like Ted Cruz, to multitask and pray while also actually doing something? I mean, doing something other than accepting a campaign contribution?

When you pray for something to get better, are you literally asking God to fix it? Are you putting it entirely on God to do what you were elected to do? And as I’ve mentioned before, when you offer thoughts and prayers, you don’t even have to do it. Nobody knows if you’re actually giving something a thought or a prayer. It’s really the most useless thing you can do for a problem. Next time you get a flat tire, just pray for it. Don’t change the tire yourself or get your hands dirty. Let God fix it. Let me know how that works out.

FedEx used to have a slogan that said, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” FedEx doesn’t pray packages get to their destinations. They actually physically deliver them. Washington Republican mofos need to do more than pray to end gun violence. Obviously, their thoughts and prayers are NOT working. Nobody is paying me the kind of money Ted Cruz is being given by taxpayers, but I know that if you don’t do anything about a problem, it’s just going to get worse.

We need gun control, not last night or overnight. We need to ban assault weapons absolutely, positively right fucking now.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: I have FIVE copies of my book in stock, which I’m selling for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.

Watch me draw: