New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg released a letter today he sent to the National Rifle Association, asking for answers in the wake of discoveries about a paid gun lobby spy in the gun control movement.

Click on the images below, or read it in pdf here.

See also Mother Jones magazine's coverage here.

UPDATE: See also coverage in the AP:

A Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey demanded Thursday that the National Rifle Association respond to charges it placed a paid spy in rival gun-control organizations for more than a decade.

The powerful firearms lobby has remained silent since reports broke last week that gun-control activist Mary McFate, 62, of Sarasota, Fla., was allegedly snooping on several of the nonviolence groups for the NRA.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg asked the NRA to confirm or deny the charge; reveal what she was paid, if anything; disclose the names of any other informants in the gun-control movement; and put a stop to the practice.

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In the Christian Science Monitor Patchwork Nation blog, by Dante Chinni:

... So what are Americans’ attitudes toward gun control when looking through the lens of Patchwork Nation’s 11 community types? It turns out that more people seem to show sympathy for Obama’s views – especially in battleground communities that may be key in November.

In the latest county-by-county data available on the topic, a 2004 Annenberg survey question asked people whether the government should do more, less, or “about the same� when it came to restricting the “kinds of guns people can buy.� The response: A majority of people in nine of the 11 community types wanted more to be done. That is particularly true among residents in wealthy suburban counties (“Monied ’Burbs�), where 63 percent said they want more governmental restrictions on gun purchases.

These counties are likely to be crucial on Election Day. Home to more than 84 million people, “Monied ’Burbs� divided their votes between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

Increased gun restrictions are also favored in growing and diversifying counties (“Boom Towns�) – 62 percent of people there said they wanted the government to do “more.� Boom Town counties, too, figure to be a battleground community type in 2008. Both the McCain and Obama campaigns have already spent a lot of time visiting these locales.

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This finding, of course, meshes with recent surveys showing that the American people favor more gun control along with the right to own a gun.

For example, the April 2008 Pew poll showed that 58% of Americans believe controlling gun ownership is more important than the right to own guns, even as 59% oppose a handgun ban.

Then there's the June 2008 CNN/Opinion Research poll showing 86% of Americans in favor of a waiting period, 79% in favor of gun registration, and 51% in favor of limiting the number of guns a person can own, even as 87% oppose a complete ban on all guns.

Even John McCain is now in favor of, or in the past voted to, close the gun show loophole, oppose the Tiahrt crime gun tracing restrictions, oppose the 24-hour destruction rule of Brady background check records, and oppose restrictions on ATF gun store audits.

In 2004, as part of the final Senate bill S. 1805 as amended, Sen. McCain also once voted to extend the assault weapons ban for 10 years (though he has since said he is against such a ban).

This is the political landscape of gun control after Heller, where reasonable restrictions on gun ownership make common sense to millions of Americans in both parties.

According to the Modesto Bee, a member of a shooting club shot and killed a 71-year-old man after he "accidentally touched his trigger":

A 71-year-old man died Sunday morning when a member of a skeet shooting group accidentally shot him in the head at the Old Fishermen's Club of Modesto, authorities reported.

The man has been identified by the Stanislaus County coroner's office as William Herrmann of Modesto.

The club, at 10800 Maze Blvd., is about nine miles west of Modesto on the San Joaquin River.

A group of club members met Sunday to go skeet shooting, said Lt. Mario Cisneros of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. The accident happened about 9:30 a.m.

"A few of them were near their vehicles," he said. "One of the gentlemen accidentally touched his trigger and discharged his weapon."

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The Cary Grove Countryside reports an incident from last Thursday, where a young man shot himself in the head at an Illinois gun range:

David M. Stierer Jr. , 25, of Cary was identified as the man who died Thursday after shooting himself in the head at a Dundee Township gun store.

The incident occurred at about 10:45 a.m. at G.A.T. Guns, 14N915 Illinois 25, Dundee Township. Stierer apparently arrived alone at the store, then shot himself in the store's 25-yard indoor firing range, according to Kane County sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler.

Gengler said Kane County officers were certain the wound was self-inflicted but were waiting on results from the coroner's office to determine whether it was an accident or intentional.

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Just some of the weekly evidence that not having a prior criminal record - while necessary - is not sufficient to establishing safe and competent gun ownership.

In the Washington Post:

District residents will be able to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense but that right would be limited to the home and not outside it, city leaders said today, announcing new gun regulations in response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down the city's handgun ban.

Gun owners will have to pass vision and written tests, provide a photo with their application to register a gun, and submit their weapon for ballistics testing. Guns will also still require trigger locks.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles announced the regulations alongside D.C. Council Chairman Vincent G. Gray (D), Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and several other council members.

The regulations are an effort to maintain some gun control while complying with the Supreme Court's 5 to 4 ruling last month.

"We think we have struck the delicate legal balance," Fenty said. "While we will have lawsuits, we think we stand on solid legal ground."

In a news release announcing the restrictions, Fenty said: "We continue to take every step we can to minimize handgun violence in the District. We must prevent handguns from falling into the wrong hands or being misused."

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See also Mike Debonis' City Desk blog at the Washington City Paper:

... As to where you can load that gun, given a “reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm,� it’s only in your home. Not your yard. Not your car, which might be parked in front of your home, but in your home. Now, as for the use of the gun once it’s loaded, the statute will say nothing about that; use of a weapon in self-defense is governed by reams of case law, Nickles says.

The District’s proposed standard is likely to attract additional legal scrutiny from folks who feel that the policy in not in full compliance with the Heller decision, but Nickles says it was drafted to comply fully with the holding. “When you do almost anything in this city, you get a lawsuit,� he said.

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In today's Akron Beacon-Journal:

A defense lawyer for the man accused of shooting and killing a Twinsburg patrolman last weekend contends his client acted in self-defense.

A prosecutor immediately called the self-defense claim ''laughable.''

A coroner's spokesman today said Officer Joshua Miktarian was shot in the head at close range.

Bond was set at $5 million for Ashford Thompson, 23, following his video appearance this afternoon in Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court.

Thompson is accused of aggravated murder in Sunday's shooting death of Miktarian.

Thompson remains in the Summit County Jail. A grand jury is expected to hear the case within 30 days and could bring an indictment carrying death penalty provisions.

Thompson, a licensed practical nurse for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, according to his attorney, had a concealed-carry gun permit.

Other than driving violations, he has no prior criminal record.

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Did Mr. Thompson stop being a "law-abiding gun owner" when he shot Officer Miktarian, father of a 3-month-old baby girl?

In the words of Mr. Thompson's lawyer, that "will be up to a jury to decide."

For those keeping score at home, this is at least the second concealed carry permit-holder in recent days to be charged with murder.