Reason

reason.com — In a new Cato Institute paper, Clayton Cramer and David Burnett review the controversy over how often Americans use guns in self-defense each year. Estimates range from about 100,000 to more than 2 million, and the surveys used to generate the numbers are subject to weaknesses that plausibly lead to undercounting or exaggeration.

reason.com — An Oklahoma state representative wants to tax gamers. Introduced by the ironically named William Fourkiller, the bill would impose a 1 percent tax on "violent video games." Half of the revenue raised would go to an anti-obesity fund (the "Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund"), and the other half would go to a bullying prevention fund.

reason.com — Yesterday, a committee convened by the Institute of Medicine made various recommendations regarding preventive care services for women that should be covered by public and private health insurance providers.

reason.com — Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time.

reason.com — In the American Prospect, Tom Carson yokes together two recent developments – the National Film Registry's choice of Forrest Gump in its annual list of 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films" and the Village Voice’s firing of highly regarded critic J.

reason.com — I was asked to participate in a Time forum on the current state of conservative thinking and politics. Here's part of my answer: The current crisis in the conservative movement is embodied in a GOP presidential primary season in which the two frontrunners used to support the health care mandate that is supposedly the ultimate sign of President Obama’s Third World socialist tendencies.

reason.com — For those of you interested in additional libertarian reflections on today’s 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, I encourage you to check out the current issue of The Freeman, which includes very interesting essays on the Civil War and its legacy from economic historian Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, who calls the war “the simultaneous culmination and repudiation of the American Revolution,” Hillsdale College historian Burton Folsom, and Freeman Editor Sheldon Richman, among others.

reason.com — A number of readers have alerted Reason to the latest silliness coming out of the Bay Area, this time in the form of a research paper arguing that sugar is toxic, an additive, and hence should be regulated.  “We are now seeing the toxic downside,” co-author and sugar researcher Lustig, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the UCSF Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment, told WebMD.

reason.com — Elko, Nev. - Marla Criss did not really care about politics before 2008. Then she learned about Ron Paul. Today, she's the chairman of the Elko County Republican Party. Criss, who's been chairman since 2010, was elected as a Ron Paul delegate to the controversial 2008 GOP state convention in Reno.

reason.com — A few weeks ago, Rick Santorum got some criticism for saying the Supreme Court erred in saying states may not outlaw contraception. The idea that Americans could legally be forbidden to buy condoms or birth control pills struck most people as a gross violation of personal liberty. They are right, of course.

reason.com — Despite Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's avowed commitment to stopping bogus pot busts, the New York Police Department made more marijuana possession arrests last year than in 2010. According to new numbers from the New York Division of Criminal Justice, the 2011 total—50,700—was the second highest ever.

reason.com — This Washington Post story about the planned importation of U.S. bulls to Russia... Twenty-nine black-and-white aspiring sires have set hoof in Russia, part of the first export of live Virginia Holstein bulls to that country, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) announced last week.