Guns Kill People: Former White House press secretary James Brady‘s death this week was due to injuries suffered when would-be Ronald Reagan assassin John Hinckley shot Brady in the head, the Virginia medical examiner’s office ruled. Brady’s death counts as a 2014 D.C. homicide for statistics. Don’t expect this to do much to help bring sanity to public discourse about gun laws. -5

War on Bikes: Washington Post Metro columnist rides a bike, lives to tell the tale. +2 

War on Bikes, Redux: But the city refused to ticket a District vehicle parked in a protected cycletrack because “WE DON’T TICKET OUR OWN.” -2

Fly Me to the Moon: Yes, the Moon really does look larger than usual this weekend. Also, more pleasant weather is on the way. We could get used to this kind of August. +2

Yesterday’s Needle rating: 38 Today’s score: -3 Friday bonus: +2 Today’s Needle rating: 37