March 11, 2013
The D.C. Council, always on the scout for a new way to pick the pockets of the people who live in Washington, now proposes to require gun owners to pay for exercising their constitutional rights. Under a proposal introduced by Mary M. Cheh, a member of the council, gun owners would be required to buy liability insurance.
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March 8, 2013
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a measure that would make the practice of illegally buying a gun for someone else a felony, and increase penalties for the crime.
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March 8, 2013
The stakes get higher Friday, when the Senate takes up seven Democratic gun control measures in a marathon debate expected to last late into the night. Democrats hold a 20-15 advantage in the chamber, meaning they have a narrow margin to pass the bills. Republicans need only three Democrats to vote no to defeat a bill, and two Democrats have already expressed opposition to some of the measures.
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March 8, 2013
Wilmington City Council on Thursday unveiled a package of gun control measures it hopes could address the city's gun violence, but the proposal drew immediate questions about whether the lawmakers are overstepping their bounds.The major part of the proposed ordinance outlines a requirement that residents register their firearms with the police department.
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March 8, 2013
A plan to allow Georgians to carry weapons in bars, churches, parts of college campuses and into unsecured government buildings won overwhelming approval in the state House on Thursday, but the legislation already faces serious doubts in the state Senate.
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March 8, 2013
Gun shows at the Cow Palace would need the approval of officials in San Francisco and San Mateo County an almost impossible requirement that would effectively end the shows under a bill introduced at the Capitol.
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March 8, 2013
The measure seeks to require universal background checks for ownership transfer of a firearm, unless the person acquiring the weapon has a concealed weapons permit.
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March 8, 2013
The state Senate has approved and sent to the House a bill rewriting Tennessee's knife laws to eliminate a prohibition against switchblades and to assure that knives with blades longer than 4 inches can be carried for self protection.
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March 8, 2013
The measure approved unanimously Thursday allows Idahoans to carry concealed knives with blades four inches or shorter without a permit.
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March 8, 2013
Two armed criminals entered a home in Webster, Texas and bound a mother and her teenage son and daughter. The home invaders then menaced the family for several hours, with one of them sexually assaulting the mother and daughter. The attackers then took the family by truck to a field where one of the kidnappers ordered the other to execute them.
When the gunman refused, the assailants took the family back to their home and ordered them to destroy evidence of the attack. At this point, the son was able to free himself from the criminals and retrieve a gun. Upon seeing the armed teen, the attackers fled; one in a truck and the other on foot.
Police picked up the kidnapper who fled on foot almost immediately, while his accomplice who took the truck was captured a short time later. Both attackers have been charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, with one facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault.
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March 7, 2013
The National Rifle Association and its allies are kicking their lobbying forces into high gear as the Senate heads toward a vote that could remake key pieces of the country’s gun laws.
The gun lobby is taking its fight to Capitol Hill — stepping up meetings with old friends and trying to make inroads with a handful of swing Democrats in the Senate.
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March 7, 2013
In a series of test votes Tuesday, the Illinois House advanced legislation that would ban semi automatic "assault" weapons in the state but did not provide enough support to pass the bill as law.
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March 7, 2013
At least three of the Democrats' signature gun bills are in danger of dying when they are debated on the Senate floor Friday.It comes down to simple math: 20 - 3 = Fail.Democrats have a 20 15 majority over Republicans and know they can't afford to lose more than two members on any bill. The dynamic has led to an intensive lobbying effort.
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March 7, 2013
Hundreds of gun rights advocates descended on Annapolis Tuesday ù but for a change, not to protest Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) planned gun control legislation. At least, not directly.After more than 45 hours of hearings and debate on O'Malley's plan in recent weeks, the legislature turned its attention on Tuesday to scores of other bills that lawmakers have piled on in hopes of passing them alongside the governor's.
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March 7, 2013
Legislation calling for so called universal background checks was to be unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Jack Markell, Attorney General Beau Biden and other officials, including former Republican governor and congressman Mike Castle.
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March 7, 2013
District gun owners would be required to buy at least $250,000 in liability insurance under a bill being considered by the D.C. Council.The proposal - akin to requirements that vehicle owners carry insurance - would mandate that owners of all registered guns carry policies that "cover any damages resulting from negligent acts or willful acts that are not taken in self defense."
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March 7, 2013
West Virginia would void local and county wide gun laws under a measure endorsed Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee, advancing it toward a vote by the full House of Delegates.
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March 7, 2013
In the gun friendly state of Louisiana, the backlash against President Barack Obama's proposed restrictions on firearms seems to be everywhere.It can be seen in the frenzied sales and empty racks at Jim's Firearms store in the state capital, Baton Rouge, where customers have rushed to make purchases as Congress weighs several gun control bills.It is evident in the state Legislature, where a series of bills aimed at protecting gun owners' rights have been introduced as a counter punch to Obama's push in Washington.
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March 7, 2013
Utah lawmakers have advanced a bill that prohibits anyone from disclosing information about concealed carry permit holders or sharing that information with the federal government.
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March 7, 2013
A pair of pro gun measures approved by the Montana House hit the Senate Wednesday, including one that would prohibit local authorities from enforcing any federal ban on semi automatic weapons.That bill and another to allow hunters to use silencers or sound suppressors on firearms received a favorable reception among members of the Republican controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, though the panel did not take immediate action on either bill.
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March 7, 2013
Legislation banning the sale of certain kinds of ammunition and requiring arms dealers to report sales of 500 or more rounds or more passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously on Tuesday.
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March 7, 2013
A Florida legislator wants anyone trying to buy ammunition to complete an anger management program first, in what critics say is the latest example of local lawmakers reaching for constitutionally dubious solutions to the problem of gun violence.
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March 5, 2013
Hundreds of Coloradans showed up at the state Capitol on Monday to cheer or jeer seven Democratic gun control measures that senators debated late into the night. By late Monday, two Democrat controlled Senate committees had passed all seven bills regarding stricter gun control.
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March 5, 2013
Amid boos and groans, a Colorado Senate committee passed a measure Monday that bans ammunition magazines of more than 15 rounds after hours of testimony from a barrage of experts, law enforcement officials and victims of mass shootings. House Bill 1224 passed on a 3-2 party line vote out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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March 5, 2013
The state's Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill banning online training for those seeking a concealed carry permitSenate Bill 195 passed on a 3-2 party line vote.
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March 5, 2013
House Bill 1229 passed out of the State, Veteran and Military Affairs committee on a 3-2 party line vote and will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. The vote comes weeks after the state House passed the bill 36-29.
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March 5, 2013
Would be gun buyers in Colorado are one step closer to being required to pay for their own criminal background check. On Monday, the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee passed a measure requiring mandatory gun background check fees.The vote was a 3-2 party line on House Bill 1228.
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March 5, 2013
Three more state-wide sheriff associations have joined those opposed to President Obama's kitchen sink approach to gun control, raising the number to 14, or nearly one-third of the nation's statewide police organizations.
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March 5, 2013
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the legislature were ordered by a judge to justify by March 11 why they expedited passage of the state's new gun control law. State Supreme Court Justice Judge Gerald Connolly asked for the explanation in a lawsuit claiming Cuomo and legislators abused their discretion in waiving the usual three day period between the time a bill is introduced and when it's voted on. The measure was presented to the Senate and passed on Jan. 14. It cleared the Assembly on Jan. 15, the day Cuomo signed it.
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March 5, 2013
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he's open only to "technical changes" to fix mistakes in his landmark gun control legislation, not substantive changes.Cuomo says he's not open to changing the provision that requires no more the seven bullets in an ammunition magazine, down from 10 allowed before the law was enacted.
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March 5, 2013
A new Mississippi law says the public no longer has access to records of state issued permits to carry concealed weapons.Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 485 on Monday, and it became law immediately.
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March 5, 2013
A crowd in Rock Hill Monday urged a state Senate panel to move quickly to pass a bill that would allow South Carolinians to carry handguns, concealed or not, without a permit.
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March 5, 2013
The names and personal details of gun owners licensed to carry a weapon in Georgia would be kept secret under a bill passed Monday by the Senate.Senate Bill 101 is the first gun bill passed this year by either chamber of the state Legislature, and it contains other provisions related to gun ownership. Most controversially, it would prohibit local officials from banning guns in public housing unless required by federal law or regulation.Meanwhile, a House committee was considering a wide ranging gun bill late Monday.House Bill 512 would make it legal to carry firearms into bars, churches and parts of college campuses.
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March 5, 2013
The Missouri Constitution already enshrines the right to bear arms, but a state senator wants to expand that protection.The Senate General Laws Committee voted 7-0 Monday in favor of a proposal by Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer, of Columbia.
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March 5, 2013
South Dakota lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would make the state's concealed weapons permits valid for an extra year.The House voted unanimously to make the permits valid for five years, up from the current four years. The Senate approved the bill earlier, so it will become law if signed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
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March 4, 2013
A Long Island state senator who voted for the state's comprehensive gun control law now wants to repeal it.Sen. Philip Boyle (R-Bay Shore) said yesterday that the law, championed by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as the nation's toughest, "was a mistake." The freshman senator said the bill was rushed the Senate acted on it just hours after it was printed and that it went too far in limiting assault weapons and ammunition magazines."Its passage lacked transparency and public input and its wording was ill conceived and of questionable legality," Boyle said in a statement. "Lawmakers like myself might have caught these mistakes if we were given more than two hours to read the bill. A good leader admits a mistake and works to rectify it. That is what I am doing."
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March 4, 2013
A group of 1,200 New Yorkers has forced a court review of whether New York's new gun controls were rushed into law in violation of the state constitution.Robert Schulz, of Warren County, calls Gov. Andrew Cuomo a "king" for pushing through the nation's toughest gun law by suspending the three day review usually required before votes on bills.
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March 4, 2013
With congressional action on gun control largely stuck in a holding pattern on Capitol Hill, the real battlefields on the issue may become local, state and federal courtrooms.The New York attorney general's office is due before the state Supreme Court next month to defend the constitutionality of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tough new gun control package, and two separate appellate courts recently issued opposing opinions on whether the Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry a concealed weapon in public.
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March 4, 2013
Mass shootings such as last year's searing incidents in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., have put gun and mental health policies back atop the nation's agenda. But the narrative of crime over the past two decades runs in a different direction. Law and order has largely vanished as a political issue in 1994, more than half of Americans called crime the nation's most important problem; by 2012, only 2 percent of those surveyed by Gallup said so.Today, there are more theories about why crime has fallen than there were slayings on Hanover Place in the past decade.The drop in deaths from firearms and in slayings overall over the past two decades, homicide declined by 80 percent in the District and overall crime fell by 75 percent in New York City has come even as the economy has tanked, the number of guns owned by Americans has soared and the number of young people in the prime crime demographic has peaked.
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March 4, 2013
The Utah House has advanced a bill that would eliminate the need for a permit to carry a concealed gun in Utah, as long as it's unloaded.House lawmakers approved the bill 51-18 Friday morning. It now moves to the Senate for debate.
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