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<title>Gun Policy News (gun show loophole + United States)</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/</link>
<description><![CDATA[Daily gun news, small arms policy and firearm violence prevention news.]]></description>
<language>en-au</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2013 GunPolicy.org</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 20:52:42 +1000</lastBuildDate>
<webMaster>www.gunpolicy.org/contactus.php</webMaster>
<image><url>http://www.gunpolicy.org//templates/gunpolicy/images/logo.gif</url>
<title>Daily gun news, small arms policy and firearm death and injury prevention news.</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/</link>
</image>
<ttl>60</ttl>
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<title>Why Aren&#39;t US Gun Control Advocates Focusing More on Online Sales?</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37348</link>
<author>Atlantic (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Despite clear demonstrations of the ease with which anonymous weapons transactions can occur online — including ties to mass shooting incidents — the issue has been largely sidelined during the political debate.

After all, the "gun show loophole" — the shorthand expression for exempting a number of gun buyers from background checks — is much more than a gun show loophole. The image of two guy shaking hands to finalize a sale in a crowded, well-lit conference... [Atlantic (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37348</guid>
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<title>How the Gun-Control Movement in America Got Smart</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37039</link>
<author>Atlantic (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Here is how advocates of gun control used to talk about their cause: They openly disputed that the Second Amendment conferred the right to own a gun. Their major policy goals were to make handguns illegal and enroll all U.S. gun owners in a federal database. The group now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was once known as Handgun Control Inc.; a 2001 book by the executive director of the Violence Policy Center was entitled Every Handgun Is Aimed at... [Atlantic (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37039</guid>
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<title>13 Key Questions and Answers about US Gun Violence</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37031</link>
<author>Atlantic (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[How much gun violence is there in the U.S.?

There were 8,583 homicides by firearms in 2011, out of 12,664 homicides total, according to the FBI. This means that more than two-thirds of homicides involve a firearm. 6,220 of those homicides by firearm (72%) are known to have involved a handgun.

It's worth noting that violent crime rates of all types have been steadily decreasing since the early 1990s. No one is quite sure what is causing this decrease, though there are... [Atlantic (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37031</guid>
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<title>12 Separate Polls Show Americans Support Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37019</link>
<author>Salon (USA), Poll,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Another day, another poll showing a majority of Americans favor many of the proposed gun control measures being discussed in Congress right now. Today's poll comes from the University of Connecticut and the Hartford Courant, which found that majorities of American nationally favor requiring background checks on all firearm purchases, thus closing the so-called gun show loophole (84 percent); support reinstating the ban on assault weapons (57 percent); and back banning... [Salon (USA), Poll, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/37019</guid>
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<title>What the US Can Learn From Brazil&#39;s Epidemic of Gun Violence</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36959</link>
<author>Latitude News,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[A man walks into an elementary school with two handguns. Within minutes, more than thirty children are dead or wounded.

This isn't Newtown, Connecticut, but Realengo, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On April 7th, 2011, Wellington Oliveira murdered twelve children and wounded twenty others. The tragedy sparked a national conversation on gun violence, a huge problem in Brazil.

On Wednesday, in reaction to a different massacre, President Obama proposed a series... [Latitude News, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36959</guid>
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<title>Interactive Display: US Gun Laws by State</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36966</link>
<author>Guardian (UK),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[President Obama has indicated a move towards strengthening federal gun control measures, but the reality is that the majority of gun legislation in the US is enacted at the state level. That has brought broad variations across the country, with states taking different approaches to issues ranging from sales, permits, licensing, self-defence and carry laws.

Carrying firearms: open and concealed
Open-carry and concealed-carry laws determine how public citizens can carry... [Guardian (UK), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36966</guid>
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<item>
<title>US Mulls Nationwide Gun Registry, Limiting Sales to Licensed Dealers</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36906</link>
<author>Washington Post,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation's gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration's discussions.

A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36906</guid>
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<item>
<title>US Stings Show Need for Controls on Online Gun Sales, Family Sues Site</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36820</link>
<author>Guardian (UK),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The family of a woman who was murdered last year by a stalker wielding a .40-caliber handgun bought illegally on the internet is suing the gun website through which the firearm was procured for allegedly causing the shooting.

The legal action against Armslist.com, a web listing site that specialises in firearms, is the first of its kind and opens up a new front in the ongoing battle to tighten America's loose gun controls. It was filed in an Illinois court on Wednesday... [Guardian (UK), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36820</guid>
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<title>Fear of Regulation Drives &#39;Frenzy&#39; of Gun Sales in US Under Obama</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36785</link>
<author>New York Times, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[President Obama's election and recent re-election have apparently fueled a gun-buying craze in this country unlike anything we've seen in modern times.

USA Today reported this week:

"For the second consecutive year, prospective gun buyers joined Black Friday shoppers in record numbers as firearms dealers swamped the F.B.I. with required buyer background check requests. The F.B.I. fielded 154,873 calls, a roughly 20 percent increase from last year's previous one-day... [New York Times, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36785</guid>
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<title>Despite Lack of Political Support, US Gun Control Isn&#39;t a Lost Cause</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36403</link>
<author>Washington Post,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Dozens of college students murdered in their classrooms; a member of Congress shot at point-blank range; innocents gunned down in a movie theater. Then, in the aftermath of a mass gun crime, the same ritual: national shock and anger, traumatized communities asking how this could happen, followed by . . . nothing. At least, no progress on gun safety.

In a speech to the Urban League on Wednesday, President Obama called for a conversation on youth violence and more... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36403</guid>
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<title>US Presidential Candidates Cower on Gun Control - New York Times</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36393</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[At a moment when the country needs resolve and fearlessness to reduce the affliction of gun violence that kills more than 80 people a day, both presidential candidates have kicked away the opportunity for leadership. On Wednesday, reacting to the mass murder in Colorado last week, Mitt Romney and President Obama paid lip service to the problem but ducked when the chance arose to stand up for their former principles.

That's not terribly surprising in the case of Mitt... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36393</guid>
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<title>America Resigned to No Change in Gun Laws Despite Mass Shooting</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36370</link>
<author>Agence France Presse,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — The alleged Colorado gunman legally purchased four guns, including a military-style assault rifle and a special magazine that meant he could fire off 50 to 60 deadly bullets a minute.

Over eight weeks he stocked up over the Internet on 6,300 rounds of ammunition: 3,000 for his .233 semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, another 3,000 for his two .22 Glocks, and 300 cartridges for his pump-action shotgun.

When the gun dealers performed the minimal background checks... [Agence France Presse, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36370</guid>
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<title>Sloggers for Gun Control Are My American Heroes - Gail Collins, NY Times</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36365</link>
<author>New York Times, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[My favorite American heroes are the ones who went for the long slog, even when their cause appeared to be hopeless to the point of ridiculous. Civil rights activists in the 1950s. Generations' worth of suffragists who trudged around the country collecting signatures on petitions to give women the right to vote.

Also, anybody who works on gun control.

"We do just seem to slog along, from one tragedy to the next," said Tom Mauser of Colorado Ceasefire.

The gun control... [New York Times, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36365</guid>
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<title>Analysis: Colorado Shooting Unlikely to Spur Changes in US Gun Laws</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36362</link>
<author>Reuters,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is a member of a coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, but when he issued a statement expressing shock and horror on Friday after a mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, he had nothing to say about gun control.

Neither did President Barack Obama nor his Republican rival Mitt Romney, though both canceled campaign speeches on Friday and expressed sorrow for the victims of the shooting rampage.

The killing of 12 people at a... [Reuters, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36362</guid>
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<title>Gun Makers Rush to Loophole, Subvert California Assault Rifle Ban</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36093</link>
<author>CBS News (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[SAN FRANCISCO — California has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. But one wouldn't know that going to the firing range these days. AR-15s and AK-47s are the must-have guns of choice. How can that be?

Every time California tightens up the assault weapons ban, the gun industry finds a way around it. The latest example involves a tiny device.

John Largaespada loves his AR-15 and goes to the range every week to fire it. And he's got plenty of company.... [CBS News (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36093</guid>
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<title>Battleground America: One nation, under the gun - New Yorker feature</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36032</link>
<author>New Yorker,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Just after seven-thirty on the morning of February 27th, a seventeen-year-old boy named T. J. Lane walked into the cafeteria at Chardon High School, about thirty miles outside Cleveland. It was a Monday, and the cafeteria was filled with kids, some eating breakfast, some waiting for buses to drive them to programs at other schools, some packing up for gym class. Lane sat down at an empty table, reached into a bag, and pulled out a .22-calibre pistol. He stood up, raised... [New Yorker, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/36032</guid>
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<title>California Gun Lobby Has High Hopes of Winning Hidden Handgun Fight</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35846</link>
<author>Los Angeles Times,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Chuck Michel's strategy for crime-fighting rests on the element of surprise: Keep the bad guys guessing who's armed and who's not.

"If 5% of the ducks could shoot back, you're not going to go duck hunting," said the Long Beach lawyer representing many Californians denied concealed weapons permits and, in his view, their constitutional right to self-defense.

For decades, that argument has fallen flat in the courtroom. Judges have routinely held that denying permits to... [Los Angeles Times, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35846</guid>
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<title>How America&#39;s Lax Gun Laws Enable Drug Cartel Killings in Mexico</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35803</link>
<author>Washington Post, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Do America's failed gun policies contribute to the terrible violence in Mexico? Alejandro A. Poire Romero makes a compelling case that the answer is yes.

Law enforcement officials in both countries acknowledge that 70 to 80 percent of the traceable guns seized in Mexico can be tracked to the United States. Mr. Poire Romero, a top Mexican national security and criminal justice official, offers additional evidence that the United States has been an enabler of the... [Washington Post, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35803</guid>
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<title>Obama, US Congress Share &#39;Abject Failure&#39; to Repair Gun Control Laws</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35772</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[House members were moved to tears on Wednesday when Representative Gabrielle Giffords handed in her resignation because, she said, she needed more time to heal from the grievous gunshot wound she suffered last year at the hands of a would-be assassin. The rarest of Congressional events — a display of genuinely bipartisan tributes — was the parting gift from her colleagues along with unanimous approval of Ms. Giffords's bill to fight drug trafficking along the... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35772</guid>
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<title>Illegal Gun Sales Run Rampant on US Internet, Arm &#39;Craigslist Killers&#39;</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35672</link>
<author>Huffington Post (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[A New York City undercover investigation heralded as the first of its kind has found a "vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns" on the Internet, and the worst offender is a website that has gotten mixed up with the law before: Craigslist.

In the report released Wednesday, entitled, "Point, Click, Fire: An Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales," investigators found that sellers on Craigslist agreed 82 percent of the time to sell guns to a purchaser who... [Huffington Post (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35672</guid>
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<title>Want an Illegal Gun? Go to a Gun Show, Says Tennessee Gun Show Promoter</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35635</link>
<author>Tennessean (Nashville),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Let there be no doubt: Bob Pope is a gun-packing Republican. The sixth-generation Tennessean is a Newt Gingrich-supporting Second Amendment advocate who ran gun shows for 25 years.

But he said his buddies in the Tennessee Firearms Association are irritated by his one-man campaign to close the so-called "gun show loophole," which he claims allows murderers and thieves to buy stolen guns.

"If I was going to buy an illegal gun, I'd go to a gun show and buy it," said... [Tennessean (Nashville), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35635</guid>
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<title>Gun Lobby Pressure Makes it Easier for US Felons to Legally Own Guns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35535</link>
<author>New York Times,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In February 2005, Erik Zettergren came home from a party after midnight with his girlfriend and another couple. They had all been drinking heavily, and soon the other man and Mr. Zettergren's girlfriend passed out on his bed. When Mr. Zettergren went to check on them later, he found his girlfriend naked from the waist down and the other man, Jason Robinson, with his pants around his ankles. 

Enraged, Mr. Zettergren ordered Mr. Robinson to leave. After a brief... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35535</guid>
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<title>America&#39;s Founding Fathers, Towns Once Imposed Strict Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35385</link>
<author>New York Times, Book review,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In "Gunfight," his provocative, highly uneven new book about the fight over gun control, the constitutional law professor Adam Winkler writes that "gun rights and gun control are not only compatible; they have lived together since the birth of America." He argues that "despite the controversy over the meaning of the Second Amendment, Americans have always had the right to keep and bear arms as a matter of state constitutional law. Today, nearly every state has such a... [New York Times, Book review, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35385</guid>
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<title>Florida Law that Limited Doctors&#39; Ability to Ask about Guns Is Blocked</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35302</link>
<author>Time (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[A federal court has blocked a new Florida law that limited the ability of doctors to ask patients if they had guns in the home. Judge Monica Cooke, a Republican appointee, rightly said that the law interfered with both doctors' right to free speech and patients' right to receive information.

The ruling, which came down last week, struck an important blow for freedom of expression. But it did something more: it dealt a rare setback to a gun-rights lobby that is... [Time (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35302</guid>
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<title>US Gun Lobby Tries to Kill New Law on Reporting of Multiple Gun Sales</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35170</link>
<author>USA Today, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Martin Johnson had a nice little business going in 2008 and 2009. He'd leave home in California and buy dozens of guns in Arizona, where the gun laws are much looser, using an Arizona driver's license to pretend that he still lived there. Back in California, Johnson sold the guns to his neighbor, a convicted felon who couldn't legally buy guns at all. The neighbor sold some of the guns to his buddies, none of whom was a legal buyer, either.

NRA: Gun form won't deter... [USA Today, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35170</guid>
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<title>Gun Show Loophole in Federal Laws, Hot Debate Continues in US</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35168</link>
<author>Dayton Daily News (Ohio),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DAYTON — Two years after a local gun show was a target of a New York City investigation highlighting a loophole in federal firearms laws, local authorities arrested four men Saturday on a variety of weapons violations.

The operation targeted "private" or "occasional" sellers and buyers at Bill Goodman's Gun & Knife Show at the Hara Arena on Saturday. Under federal laws, licensed firearms dealers must conduct background checks on those purchasing weapons. Private... [Dayton Daily News (Ohio), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35168</guid>
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<title>Dangerous Omissions, US Controversy over Mental Background Checks</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35033</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre, Seung-Hui Cho, should never have been allowed to buy the weapons he used in the 2007 rampage. He had been found mentally ill and ordered into treatment by a court, yet that record never made it into the database of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System used for screening prospective gun purchasers.

Prompted by that tragedy, Congress approved a law, signed by President Bush in 2008, authorizing new grant money... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/35033</guid>
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<title>600 US Mayors Invoke Terrorism as an Argument‎ for Stricter Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34993</link>
<author>Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- America's love affair with guns is a passionate and enduring one, the bonds strengthening even further in recent years thanks to the country's powerful pro-gun lobby.

But could the prospect of al-Qaida terrorists exploiting U.S. gun loopholes to purchase weapons for sinister purposes change historic attitudes about the right to bear arms in America?

A group of more than 600 urban mayors is clearly hoping recent remarks by Adam Gadahn, an American-born... [Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34993</guid>
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<title>Gun Lobby Cripples US Agency in Charge of Tracking Down Illegal Guns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34988</link>
<author>Washington Post, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The gun rights lobby has spent considerable time and energy in pursuit of one goal: crippling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It has largely succeeded — and with dire consequences.

Concerned to the point of paranoia about the erosion of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, the National Rifle Association and far too many lawmakers have fought against virtually every proposal to empower the bureau to better track and crack down... [Washington Post, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34988</guid>
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<title>With Gun-running Scandal, Now&#39;s the Time to Target US Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34982</link>
<author>Guardian (UK),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[When Republican chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, Representative Darrel Issa, called for the resignation of ATF acting director Kenneth Melson, few in American political circles found it controversial. Melson, after all, was responsible for overseeing the ATF's botched gun-tracking operations that led to the trafficking of thousands of weapons into Mexico and countless consequent deaths – including that of US customs agent Brian... [Guardian (UK), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34982</guid>
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<title>Badly Flawed US Background Check System Fails to Contain Gun Sales</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34990</link>
<author>Center for Public Integrity / iWatch News (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Like many states, Maine depends on the FBI to conduct background checks of people who want to acquire firearms from the state's federally licensed gun dealers.

And like many states, Maine is a slacker in supplying the records that the FBI depends on to run those checks.

That's how Raymond Geisel got his guns, including a Glock Model 17 pistol and a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle. Geisel had previously been committed to a psychiatric hospital in... [Center for Public Integrity / iWatch News (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34990</guid>
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<title>Hypocrisy, Locked and Loaded: US Floods Mexico with Assault Weapons</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34976</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[If Congressional Republicans are really intent on getting to the bottom of an ill-conceived sting operation along the border by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, they should call President Felipe Calderón of Mexico as an expert witness. 

Mr. Calderón has the data showing that the tens of thousands of weapons seized from the Mexican drug cartels in the last four years mostly came from the United States. Three out of five of those guns were... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34976</guid>
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<title>Obama Offers No Change, &#39;No Leadership to Combat Gun Violence&#39; in US</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34962</link>
<author>Associated Press,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[More than five months after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head, the White House has yet to take any new steps on gun violence, even though that's what President Barack Obama called for in the wake of the shooting.

The silence from the administration is drawing criticism from gun control activists and even some of Obama's Democratic allies. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., told the president in a letter last week that the administration "has not shown the... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34962</guid>
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<title>US Al Qaeda New Message Revives the Debate over Gun Control Laws</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34910</link>
<author>Al Arabiya News (UAE),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[File it under "Fact is Stranger than Fiction." An American citizen working for Al Qaeda calls on Americans in the US to take advantage of their country's lax gun laws to better kill fellow Americans.

"What are you waiting for?" he asks in a video thought to have been produced somewhere in Pakistan.

The question came from Adam Yahiyeh Gadahn, who was born in Oregon, grew up in California, converted to Islam and became a spokesman for al Qaeda.

His message has the... [Al Arabiya News (UAE), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34910</guid>
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<title>US Govt. Urged to Move on Legislation to Close the Gun Show Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34914</link>
<author>Washington Post, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[THERE MAY NEVER be a better spokesman for closing the gun show loophole than Adam Yahiye Gadahn.

A 32-year-old American and convert to Islam, Mr. Gadahn referred to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as "blessed raids" and called for additional "jihad against America." He has been on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list and faces criminal charges for treason and for providing material support to al-Qaeda. Mr. Gadahn is believed to have left his native Orange... [Washington Post, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34914</guid>
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<title>US Gun Lobby Promising &#39;Acres of Guns&#39; to All: Including Future Criminals</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34746</link>
<author>Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh), Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The National Rifle Association has been holding its annual meeting in Pittsburgh for the past few days, heralded with billboards promising "acres of guns and gear."

Here's a billboard you didn't see, but would have if the group was honest about its mission to paint even the most sensible gun laws as a step toward tyranny: "The NRA: Because if Richard Poplawski can't have an arsenal, neither can you."

Mr. Poplawski, of course, was one of those "law-abiding" citizens... [Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34746</guid>
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<title>Democratic National Party Boss Slams &#39;Outrageous&#39; US Gun Sale Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34713</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Months after Al Gore's defeat in 2000, Terry McAuliffe, then the Democratic Party chief, urged Democrats to steer clear of gun control, warning of the "devastating impact on elections" wrought by the gun lobby's monied campaign attacks. Far too many Democratic politicians have since followed that cynical doctrine. The gun lobby's power has only grown while 30,000 Americans die each year by gun violence. 

So it is heartening to hear an unwavering call for stronger... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34713</guid>
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<title>Shooting Tragedies Have Little Sway in Changing America&#39;s Gun Laws</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34657</link>
<author>Houston Chronicle (Texas),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Emblazoned on the red billboard truck that motored through downtown Houston last week was this number: 2,995 — a tally of the people believed slain with guns since the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The truck started off in New York's Times Square and will traverse the U.S., keeping a running tab on gun deaths as part of an effort by 550 Mayors Against Illegal Guns to galvanize... [Houston Chronicle (Texas), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34657</guid>
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<title>30 Years After Reagan Shooting, Jim, Sarah Brady Still Push Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34625</link>
<author>Christian Science Monitor, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Remember the Bradys? Not the bunch, but the dedicated couple that has pushed gun control for decades.

Thirty years ago, Jim Brady was shot in the head as part of the assassination attempt on President Reagan by John Hinckley. At the time, Mr. Brady was the president's press secretary. This week, Brady – in a wheelchair – and his wife, Sarah, visited the Capitol and White House to again advocate for restrictions on guns.

One marvels that they have not yet given up.... [Christian Science Monitor, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34625</guid>
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<title>30 Years After Reagan Shot, Outlook Looks Dim for American Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34600</link>
<author>Miami Herald,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON - Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. Gun-control advocates, including Reagan's wounded press secretary, Jim Brady, will use the day to launch a renewed push for curbs on guns.

Once again, chances are they won't get very far.

The public remains sharply divided, largely along geographic lines, over gun rights vs. gun control. Gun-rights groups, led by the National Rifle Association, dramatically outspend... [Miami Herald, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34600</guid>
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<title>Legal Gun Owners, Dealers, Gun Shows Fuel Minneapolis Gun Violence</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34602</link>
<author>Minnesota Public Radio, Transcript,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[MINNEAPOLIS — In January 2010, three men were gunned down during an apparent robbery attempt at the Seward Market in south Minneapolis. One of the victims worked at the store. The second victim was the clerk's cousin who stopped by to chat. The third was a man who just happened to walk in at the wrong time.

The report from the police homicide investigation shows that five shell casings found at the crime scene likely match a test casing provided by the maker of a... [Minnesota Public Radio, Transcript, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34602</guid>
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<title>In Op-Ed to Our Paper, Obama&#39;s Political Self Interest Trumps Public Safety</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34574</link>
<author>Daily Star (Arizona), Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Political self-interest must never trump public safety - and yet President Obama is dancing delicately around the fringes of life-and-death gun-control issues rather than facing them down. This is not leadership.

Obama's call in the Arizona Daily Star last week for better firearms enforcement fell far short of the kind of common-sense, middle-of-the-road reforms that are needed in this country - and that also, ironically, generally prevail in public opinion polls.

The... [Daily Star (Arizona), Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34574</guid>
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<title>In US Gun Control, &#39;NRA Has Shown, Once Again, That It Is the Problem&#39;</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34569</link>
<author>Huffington Post (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[President Obama has broken his silence on the gun issue. His opinion piece in Sunday's Arizona Daily Star is a meticulously worded effort to define a middle ground on the issue on the president's terms, and then to invite those serious about finding solutions to join him in that middle, where ultimate agreement is possible. Although one gets the distinct impression that the president would prefer not to receive a positive reaction from gun control advocates like myself,... [Huffington Post (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34569</guid>
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<title>To &#39;Lingering Shame&#39; of Gun Lobby, Obama, American Public Face Disdain</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34567</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[More than two months after the killings in Tucson, Ariz., and some 2,400 American gun deaths later, President Obama has finally broken his silence on gun violence. 

In an op-ed article on Sunday in The Arizona Daily Star, Mr. Obama called on gun control and gun rights advocates to set aside their broader differences for now and support a worthwhile goal: fixing gaps in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System so that it would be harder for dangerous people... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34567</guid>
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<title>Why the US Gun Lobby Leader Won&#39;t Talk Gun Control With Obama</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34562</link>
<author>CNN,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON - The chief spokesman for the National Rifle Association is expected to get an invitation any day now to sit down at the Justice Department for talks aimed at reaching a consensus on new gun control legislation.

But don't put down NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre as a "yes."

In an interview with CNN, LaPierre accused the White House of trying to pull off a "political maneuver" aimed at weakening the Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep... [CNN, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34562</guid>
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<title>Gun Control &#39;No Longer a Dormant Issue&#39; Following Obama&#39;s Editorial</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34558</link>
<author>The Hill (Washington DC),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[President Obama's new call for tougher gun rules following the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman has energized gun-control advocates, but one leading Democrat isn't holding his breath for reform.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and a long-time proponent of stronger gun laws, said it's unlikely any Second Amendment reforms will move through Congress while Republicans control the lower chamber. Obama's push for... [The Hill (Washington DC), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34558</guid>
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<title>Obama Staff Meet Firearm Safety Advocates, Aim to Tighten Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34557</link>
<author>Huffington Post (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has conducted informal discussions with groups from both ends of the gun-policy spectrum, including law enforcement and gun-rights organizations, and is set to hold formal meetings as early as this week in an effort to chart out a set of new firearms policies, administration officials say.

Spearheaded by the Department of Justice, the talks were described by one individual involved in the discussions as a "feeling-out process."... [Huffington Post (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34557</guid>
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<title>NRA Refuses to Meet Obama, &#39;Dooming&#39; Gun Policy Talks from the Start?</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34554</link>
<author>New York Times,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — More than two months after the Tucson shootings, the administration is calling together both the gun lobby and gun safety groups to find common ground. But President Obama has no plans to take the lead in proposing further gun control legislation, aides say, and the nation's major gun rights group is snubbing the invitation. 

On Tuesday, officials at the Justice Department will meet with gun control advocates in the first of what will be a series of... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34554</guid>
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<title>2,405 More Americans Have Been Shot Dead Since Tucson Mass Shooting</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34547</link>
<author>Newsweek (USA),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[On a snowy Wednesday evening in February, the main attraction on the marquee at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va., was True Grit, the Coen Brothers' bloody homage to the shoot-'em-up Westerns of Hollywood's Golden Age. But the movie playing inside had a very different message to send.

Four years ago, on April 16, 2007, Colin Goddard was one of 49 people shot by Seung-Hui Cho in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall, a mere 1,000 yards from the Lyric Theatre — and one of... [Newsweek (USA), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34547</guid>
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<title>Utah Draws Thousands for No-shooting-required Hidden Handgun Permit</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34473</link>
<author>Reuters,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Texans seeking concealed handgun licenses are increasingly turning to Utah, a state that does not require actually shooting a gun to get a permit.

"Once the word got out, everybody was doing it," said Texas state Rep. Lon Burnam.

From 2009 to 2010 the number of Utah permits issued to Texans more than doubled to 5,678 from 2,173, according to Utah's Bureau of Criminal Identification. Of the 66,371 permits Utah issued last year, more than 70 percent went to... [Reuters, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/34473</guid>
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