Talking Points 12-16-15

Gun rights activists use the Second Amendment to defend against proposed gun restrictions, but they may not be interpreting it correctly. Mic spoke with constitutional lawyers who stressed that the Second Amendmentdoesn’t actually prohibit increased restrictions on guns. "Although the Supreme Court has recognized a Second Amendment right to bear arms, it has not recognized an absolute right of everybody to bear arms, of all kinds, at all places, in all circumstances," one Harvard law professor said.   The money you’re giving to your favorite candidates might end up in their opponents' pockets. Politico found that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has sold parts of his email list to other GOP candidates — and if you donate through emails acquired this way, the money could actually be split between candidates, or among political consultants who manage the lists. The internet isn’t making us dumber; it’s making us more humble. Studies show that humans take the easy route of Googling whenever possible, but Canadian psychologists theorize that this happens not because we’re getting dumber, but because we know the internet is smarter than we could ever be.   An Associated Press investigation found that Red Lobster and Whole Foods were among stores reportedly selling shrimp from slave laborers, but calling out companies won’t solve the problem. Even if American companies end their relationship with these shrimp sellers, indentured labor will continue to persist because of the systemic corruption that reinforces a cycle of poverty — that’s what we have to confront if we want to end this human rights abuse. Pleasantville might not be so pleasant — a new study reveals that the number of people jailed in the suburbs is on the rise. The Vera Institute of Justice found that in the past 45 years, the jail population grew sevenfold in rural and suburban areas. In that same time period, there has also been a huge gender shift among inmates, with the number of women in U.S. jails nearly tripling.