Support for 'Assault Weapon' Ban at 20-Year Low, Executions at 40-Year Low, Congress Reaches Budget Deal: A.M. Links

(enigmabadger/Flickr)

There was another round of GOP presidential debates last night! (Check out Reason staffers bon tweets and increasingly-inebriated observations from throughout the night here.) According to the pundits, there was "no clear winner," but a Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio debate over foreign policy "will have meaningful implications," Jeb Bush "finally showed spine"—not that it will matter—and Sen. Rand Paul "was in a fighting mood."
Fifty-three percent of Americans oppose a ban on "assault weapons," the first time a majority has been against such a ban in more than 20 years of ABC News/Washington Post polling.
Austrian police have arrested two men with suspected links to the recent terror attacks in Paris.
U.S. use of the death penalty this year was at a four-decade low.
Congressional leaders have reached a tax and spending deal in time to stave off the fabled government shutdown. More on the winners and losers in this arrangement here.
The Tuesday terror threat at Los Angeles schools was a hoax, but the resulting increase in police in schools is real.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise short-term borrowing rates today.
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Brig. Gen. Diana Holland has been named the first female commandant of cadets at West Point.

New at Reason:

Brickbat: Could It Be…Satan? —By Charles Oliver

Pretend Answers on Terror: Politicians and pundits think they know what should be done. —By John Stossel

Mass Shooting Delusions: The illogic of "common-sense gun safety laws." —By Jacob Sullum

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