White House gun plan: An end run around the NRA  —  President Barack Obama is trying an end run around the NRA — rallying groups as varied as churches, medical organizations, retailers and the Rotary Club to build support for new gun regulations.  —  It's an unusual strategy …

Gingrey speaks out on the issue of ‘legitimate rape’ and guns  —  SMYRNA — U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) tackled such sensitive topics as gun reform, abortion and rape during the Smyrna Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce breakfast which took place Thursday at the Smyrna Community Center.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller won't run in 2014  —  Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller will not run for reelection in 2014, passing up a bid for a sixth term and putting in play a Senate seat in deep red West Virginia.  —  In an interview with POLITICO, Rockefeller …

Coins Against Crazies  —  So, have you heard the one about the trillion-dollar coin?  It may sound like a joke.  But if we aren't ready to mint that coin or take some equivalent action, the joke will be on us — and a very sick joke it will be, too.  —  Let's talk for a minute …

Bachmann still hasn't paid presidential campaign staffers  —  Five Iowa staffers say they've waited 375 days for payment, but refuse to sign the gag order the campaign demands  —  Over a year after she dropped out, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has refused to pay five staffers …

Lesbian couple: Restaurant owner hands them letter condemning homosexuality  —  NEW BERN -  —  A lesbian couple said an owner of a restaurant handed them a letter condemning homosexuality as they were walking out of the building.  —  Ariel and Shawnee McPhail said they went into The Stingray Café …

New York City to Restrict Prescription Painkillers in Public Hospitals' Emergency Rooms  —  Some of the most common and most powerful prescription painkillers on the market will be restricted sharply in the emergency rooms at New York City's 11 public hospitals, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg …

Men armed with rifles walk through Portland to ‘educate’  —  Two men carrying assault rifles on their backs said they were simply exercising their Second Amendment right, but police said they scared plenty of people.  —  Calls started coming in to 911 dispatchers shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Teen shoots high school student before being disarmed by teacher  —  A 16-year-old is in critical but stable condition in shooting at Taft Union High School southwest of Bakersfield.  'There's blood everywhere,' a student told her mother.  —  Tyler Smith, 18, left, weeps after reuniting …

Hagel's hopes hinge on Schumer  —  Chuck Schumer is quietly letting out the word: He's far from sold that Chuck Hagel will be a staunch advocate of Israel.  —  And it's his vote that counts.  —  Schumer, the most powerful Jewish Democrat in Congress, has been noncommittal in his public statements on Hagel's nomination.

Conservative ideas need a new message  —  Jim DeMint represented South Carolina in the Senate from 2005 to 2013 and in the House from 1999 to 2005.  —  The U.S. Senate reached an all-time low — a hard mark to achieve — last week as I said my goodbyes to rejoin the real world.

THE BAGMEN ARE UPON US  —  People Got No Jobs.  People Got No Money.  As near as I can tell, the group just went down to the Old Deficit Scolds Home and cleaned out the hiring hall.  Sam Nunn, for example, has been a pest since half-past forever. … And it's necessary to point out that …