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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 2010 GunPolicy.org</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:22:02 +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>US Gun Dealers Try to Guess Which Buyers Will Be &#39;Agents of Destruction&#39;</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33225</link>
<author>Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Give Mark Koscielski the slightest indication that the gun you want to buy from him may not be for you, and the sale's over.

"Say a couple comes in, and the male is looking at guns while the female doesn't do anything, and finally he says, 'I will take this gun,'" said the owner of Koscielski's Guns and Ammo in south Minneapolis. "We hand him the federal form, and he will hand it to his girlfriend or wife. Can't do that."

That's how federal authorities want gun... [Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33225</guid>
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<title>Handgun Battle in Seattle Park, 2 Deaths Underline Need for Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33187</link>
<author>Seattle Times, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The recent tragic shooting at Lake Sammamish State Park once again illustrates that where there are guns, particularly when accompanied by alcohol, there is a much greater chance of death and violence. Contrary to the claims of the gun-rights groups, guns do kill people, and they do it very efficiently.

The tragedy at Lake Sammamish began with fisticuffs and escalated when someone fired shots in the air in an attempt to quell the fighting. In the span of a minute or... [Seattle Times, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33187</guid>
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<title>Rush for Hidden Handgun Permits to Avoid Queues at Texas State Capitol</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33043</link>
<author>Associated Press,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[AUSTIN, Texas - Everyone from lobbyists to lawyers and journalists is rushing to get permits to carry guns inside the Texas Capitol, where legislators already often tote pistols in boots and purses or stow them away inside their desks.

A unique loophole in a new security procedure means a gun permit is like a special-access pass into the domed building, allowing people who are certified to carry a gun to bypass lines at the metal detectors that were set up after a... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33043</guid>
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<title>Strict Chicago Handgun Law Stirs Illinois Gun Owners, Dealers, Gun Lobby</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33030</link>
<author>Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Steve March, a gun buyer at Game Masters sporting goods store in Quincy, believes there is one good thing about a restrictive gun control ordinance that took effect in Chicago last Monday.

"It's got people talking about it again. It does kind of bring to light the absurdity of what they're trying to do up there," March said.

On July 2, Chicago aldermen voted 45-0 for an ordinance that restricts the use, sale and transporting of handguns within the city. They... [Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/33030</guid>
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<title>Easy Access Makes US Guns Available to Criminals, Mexican Drug Lords</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32968</link>
<author>Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The Star Tribune's June 21 editorial, "Gunrunning leaves a long trail of bodies," suggested that the cause of gun violence is drugs.

Sorry, but the cause of gun violence is guns. You can't mow down police officers with drugs, or even with bathtubs, knives or bottles. But you can make society much safer by adopting effective gun violence prevention laws and enforcing them.

The editorial states that in the case of one gunrunner, Paul Giovanni de la Rosa, the "system... [Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32968</guid>
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<title>Private Gun Sales, Gun Shows, Regulation and Public Safety in America</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32941</link>
<author>New England Journal of Medicine, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In 2007, a total of 12,632 people in the United States were murdered with firearms, and it is estimated that another 48,676 were treated in hospitals for gunshot wounds received in assaults. Guns are frequently used to commit crimes in the United States, partly because they are so easy to get. This ease of access, in turn, is partially attributable to the fact that there are two systems of retail gun commerce in this country, one involving licensed gun retailers and the... [New England Journal of Medicine, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32941</guid>
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<title>US Supreme Court Gun Decision Relied on &#39;Selective&#39; Reading of History</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32919</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[About 10,000 Americans died by handgun violence, according to federal statistics, in the four months that the Supreme Court debated which clause of the Constitution it would use to subvert Chicago's entirely sensible ban on handgun ownership. The arguments that led to Monday's decision undermining Chicago's law were infuriatingly abstract, but the results will be all too real and bloody. 

This began two years ago, when the Supreme Court disregarded the plain words of... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32919</guid>
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<title>Scofflaw Dealer Gets to Stay Open, Sell 2600 Guns a Year in Wisconsin</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32808</link>
<author>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[SHAWANO — From almost the time it opened in 1998, Shawano Gun and Loan has been in trouble with federal authorities.

After repeatedly warning the store about missing records and other violations, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took the unusual step of revoking its license in 2007.

Nearly three years later, the case is tied up in federal court in Green Bay where an appeal could grind on for years.

And the store continues to sell guns -... [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32808</guid>
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<title>Reporter Tests for Gun Show Loopholes, Describes Scene in Minnesota</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32835</link>
<author>City Pages (Minneapolis),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA["If there's an unequivocal opposite to growing up around guns," says Andrew Rothman, "it's being raised by New York Jews." He puts down his glass of water and wipes his dark goatee with a napkin. It would be quite the outlandish statement were he not talking about himself.

"I grew up believing guns were bad," he continues. "That's what my parents taught me. But they also taught me to read. That was their first mistake."

Rothman is the executive director of the... [City Pages (Minneapolis), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32835</guid>
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<title>Mexican President &#39;Lectures&#39; US Congress, Calls for Assault Weapon Ban</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32727</link>
<author>National Journal (USA), Blog,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Gang violence has killed approximately 23,000 people in Mexico since 2006, in a country where gun sales are highly restricted. Mexican President Felipe Calderon stressed this in his joint address to Congress Thursday when he urged the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban.

"We have seized 75,000 guns and assault weapons in Mexico over the last three years," Calderon said. "More than 80 percent of those we have been able to trace came from the United States."

Some... [National Journal (USA), Blog, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32727</guid>
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<title>US Congress Still Allows Terrorist Watch-list Suspects to Legally Buy Guns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32625</link>
<author>Washington Post,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told a Senate panel Wednesday that he strongly supports congressional efforts to close a "terror gap" in the nation's gun laws, which currently allow persons on a federal terrorist watch list to buy guns and explosives legally in the United States.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in the wake of the latest alleged terrorist plot against his city, Bloomberg (I) pointed to a new Government Accountability Office... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32625</guid>
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<title>Mass Shooting Victims&#39; Families Campaign to Close Gun Show Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32653</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[There are two tragic anniversaries this month. It is 11 years since two Colorado students gunned down 12 of their fellow classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School and three years since 32 students and faculty members were gunned down at Virginia Tech.

Those horrors haven't slowed the gun lobby's relentless push to weaken the nation's already far too weak gun laws — or Congress's eagerness to do the gun lobby's bidding. Last week, House Democrats had to pull... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32653</guid>
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<title>Kopel: New York Mayor Pushes an Aggressive Nationwide Gun-Control Bill</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32597</link>
<author>Denver Post (Colorado), Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York City, has been funding a national advertising campaign to promote his congressional gun-control bill. Monday's Denver Post featured a full-page ad urging Sen. Mark Udall to support the Bloomberg bill; Colorado's other senator, Michael Bennett, is already a co-sponsor.

According to the ad, the Bloomberg bill would nationalize Colorado's rule about background checks at gun shows. But in fact, only a small fraction of... [Denver Post (Colorado), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32597</guid>
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<title>Gun Show Loophole Enabled US Mass Shootings, Needs Closing Now</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32580</link>
<author>Toledo Blade (Ohio), Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[What do John Bedell, Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold have in common? The gun Bedell used to kill two Pentagon police officers in March and the weapons Harris and Klebold used to kill a dozen students and a teacher at Columbine High School in 1999 all were bought at gun shows without background checks.

Congress can close the loophole that allows criminals and people with serious mental health problems to buy weapons at gun shows. But for that to happen, lawmakers such as... [Toledo Blade (Ohio), Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32580</guid>
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<title>US Mayors Launch Gun Control Blitz in DC to Close Gun Show Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32565</link>
<author>Roll Call (Washington DC),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Gun-control proponents, outspent and outmaneuvered on Capitol Hill, are pushing back this week using the anniversaries of two high-profile tragedies to make the case for legislation that would close gun show loopholes.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D), is expected today to unveil a lobbying blitz to prod Congress to approve legislation that would require background checks on all... [Roll Call (Washington DC), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32565</guid>
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<item>
<title>Columbine Anniversary Highlights Failure to Close US Gun Show Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32558</link>
<author>Christian Science Monitor,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on their shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, three of the four guns they used were purchased at a gun show by a friend who wasn't subjected to a background check.

Now, on the 11th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting where Harris and Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher and injured 23 others before shooting themselves, gun-control activists are focusing on the so-called "gun... [Christian Science Monitor, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32558</guid>
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<item>
<title>Recent American Trend Is to Normalise Carrying Loaded Guns in Public</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32552</link>
<author>Washington Post,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In Virginia, they carried handguns on their hips and rifles slung over their backs.

In the nation's capital, where possession of guns is strictly regulated, they came carrying only signs and handbills, which one man had thrust into an empty holster.

The protest by hundreds of gun-rights advocates, billed as a national march in support of the Second Amendment, drew small but fervent groups to the Washington area. As many as 2,000 gathered in the shadow of the... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32552</guid>
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<title>Washington Gun Law Debate Draws Intimidating Protesters to City Borders</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32551</link>
<author>Washington Examiner,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Washington has turned into ground zero for the nation's polarizing gun debate, with rifle-toting protesters lining the banks of the Potomac, Congress on the verge of potentially gutting the District's gun regulations, and area lawmakers calling for a crackdown on gun shows.

The events coincide with the anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and Virginia Tech massacre, which have galvanized both sides in their cries to limit or expand gun control in the... [Washington Examiner, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32551</guid>
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<title>A Few Gun Owners Strut Their Weapons, US Ignores Gun Show Loophole</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32556</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Two rallies by gun rights celebrants and anti-government polemicists are planned Monday on both sides of Washington's Potomac River. They will invoke the Second Amendment and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. A more apt, and tragic, anniversary to keep in mind is the Columbine school massacre of 1999. Eleven years later, and Congress has failed to close the gun show loophole that made the carnage possible.

Two Columbine students had a friend obtain four... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32556</guid>
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<title>Gun Laws in U.S. are Increasing Gun Violence, Where Does it End?</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32566</link>
<author>US News &#38; World Report, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[There are only three states, Florida, Texas, and Illinois, and the District of Columbia that outright prohibit the open carrying of handguns. Only three! Now, contrary to public perception, I have never been against people owning guns for protection, hunting, or sport. But there are days when I read the newspaper or am watching the news and it seems as if our country is back in the Wild West. Brazenly carrying firearms into restaurants and bars and schools and churches... [US News & World Report, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32566</guid>
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<title>Virginia Lawmakers Push for &#39;Loophole&#39; Background Checks at Gun Shows</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32525</link>
<author>Associated Press,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[RICHMOND, Virginia - Three Virginia congressmen are asking their colleagues to support closing the so-called gun-show loophole. 

Democrats Jim Moran, Bobby Scott and Gerald Connolly sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives Thursday asking them to support a bill to require private sellers to perform background checks on buyers at gun shows. 

The letter went out a day before the third anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student gunman... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32525</guid>
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<title>Bloomberg Coalition of US Mayors Asks White House for More Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32549</link>
<author>New York Post,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[President Obama is under the gun when it comes to Mayor Bloomberg and his crusade against illegal weapons.

Bloomberg, generally considered a White House ally, put Obama on notice after he fired off a letter to the White House this month where he reportedly accused the president of dragging his feet when it comes to gun control, according to a report today.

In the March 3 letter sent from Bloomberg's coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the mayor points to a... [New York Post, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32549</guid>
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<title>Barack Obama Hasn&#39;t Followed Through on One Promise - Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32461</link>
<author>Boston Globe / Crime and Punishment, Blog,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Earlier this month, I was interviewed by a reporter from Politico regarding Barack Obama's recent White House chat with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted. During their tet-a-tet video-op, the President endorsed the notion of expanding the federal DNA data base to include biological samples from all persons arrested, regardless of offense and regardless of subsequent findings of guilt or innocence.

As an aside, I expressed my disappointment that the President had not... [Boston Globe / Crime and Punishment, Blog, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32461</guid>
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<title>The Obama Administration, Missing In Action on Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32417</link>
<author>Washington Post, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Apparently, one of the weapons John Patrick Bedell used to shoot two Pentagon police officers this month was sold to a Georgia gun dealer by the Memphis Police Department, which had confiscated the weapon during a drug bust. The gun was sold several times more, including at a gun show in Nevada last year. Little is known about that gun-show purchaser because of giant loopholes in the law that allow unlicensed private vendors, or "hobbyists," to dispense with federally... [Washington Post, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32417</guid>
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<title>Pro-gun Lobby Stirs It Up At Starbucks, Obama Fails to Deliver Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32304</link>
<author>Sunday Times (UK),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON - It is not exactly Gunfight at the OK Corral -- more like Lattes at High Noon -- but the Starbucks coffee chain has become an unlikely battleground for US gun owners campaigning to carry their weapons openly in public.

Last Thursday morning, Jim Snyder walked into a Starbucks cafe in Virginia and ordered a tall hot chocolate without cream. On his left hip was his mobile phone. On his right hip was a semi-automatic Browning pistol.

"I don't see why I... [Sunday Times (UK), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32304</guid>
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<title>Effort to Tighten Minnesota&#39;s Gun Show Law Getting Folks Riled Up</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32277</link>
<author>Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[From Virginia to Arizona, federal and state gun laws are loosening everywhere from national parks to Amtrak trains.

But in St. Paul, a proposal that would send Minnesota in the opposite direction is headed toward its first hearing Friday -- a bill requiring background checks on the purchaser of any firearm sold at a gun show.

The proposal pits its DFL sponsor, St. Paul Rep. Michael Paymar, against the mighty arsenal of gun rights advocates and lobbyists who have... [Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32277</guid>
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<title>Ohio Gun Owners Push Obama Fear Factor, Hidden Handgun Permits Soar</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32230</link>
<author>Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio issued a record 56,691 concealed handgun licenses in 2009, shattering the previous one-year high of 45,497 set in 2004, according to the state attorney general's office.

That means Ohio is now approaching 200,000 concealed permits issued since 2004, when the state started handing out licenses to qualified people.

And those for and against tougher gun control laws agree the smoking gun for the 2009 spike in licenses is President Barack Obama, who... [Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32230</guid>
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<title>Gun Laws Loosen in US, Even as Gun Policy Changes Little Under Obama</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32213</link>
<author>CBS News (USA) / Political Hotsheet, Blog,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Gun rights advocates are pushing for a slew of new laws in numerous states to loosen gun control, the New York Times reports, in anticipation of stricter gun control laws from the Obama administration. Those policies, however, have yet to materialize.

Because he campaigned on promises to make the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, to close the loophole that allows unlicensed dealers to sell firearms at gun shows without background checks and promote other... [CBS News (USA) / Political Hotsheet, Blog, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32213</guid>
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<title>Fearing Imagined Obama Agenda, US States Push to Loosen Gun Laws</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32209</link>
<author>New York Times,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[When President Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition. 

And yet the opposite is happening. Mr. Obama has been largely silent on the issue while states are engaged in a new and largely successful push for expanded gun rights, even passing measures that have been rejected in the past. 

In Virginia, the General Assembly approved a bill last week that allows people to carry concealed... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32209</guid>
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<title>Virginia Senate Approves Sweeping Relaxation of Hidden Handgun Rules</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32112</link>
<author>Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Virginia's drinking establishments soon may be open for business to a new clientele -- people carrying concealed guns.

The Courts of Justice Committee of the state Senate yesterday narrowly approved legislation that will enable holders of concealed-guns permits to take their firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol.

The committee also approved legislation that would allow people without concealed-guns permits to stow weapons in their cars and approved another bill... [Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32112</guid>
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<title>Shame on Maine Lawmakers Who Condone Gun Trafficking Loopholes</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32115</link>
<author>Bangor Daily News (Maine), Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The Brady law requires a criminal background check to find out if a prospective gun buyer is prohibited from purchasing a gun. It is a critical law enforcement tool that prevents felons, domestic abusers and other prohibited people from buying guns.

The law works. Since it was passed in 1994, almost 2 million criminals and other prohibited people have been stopped from purchasing a gun. In 2007, 297 people in Maine where prevented from purchasing guns thanks to a Brady... [Bangor Daily News (Maine), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32115</guid>
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<title>Florida&#39;s Slack Hidden Handgun Permit System Arms Philadelphia Felons</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32068</link>
<author>Philadelphia Daily News,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Imagine having your driver's license revoked in Pennsylvania but then being able to get one in Florida - through the mail - that must then be honored here.

Now imagine it happens with guns. Because it does.

Pennsylvania residents who are denied a license to carry a concealed weapon, or have theirs revoked, have found a loophole that allows them to get a license from another state that must be honored here.

"They could be disapproved here and they could apply in... [Philadelphia Daily News, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32068</guid>
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<title>Arizona Mulls Dropping Training, Background Checks for Hidden Handguns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32042</link>
<author>Daily Sun (Arizona) / Capitol Media Services,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[PHOENIX, Arizona - A Senate panel agreed Monday that any Arizona adult should be able to carry a concealed weapon without special training or background check.

The 4-3 vote would create a major loophole in the existing laws that require those who want to have a hidden weapon to undergo special training. This includes classes on when people can legally use deadly force as well as marksmanship.

And it also requires a background check to weed out felons.

The measure... [Daily Sun (Arizona) / Capitol Media Services, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/32042</guid>
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<title>Loopholes in US Gun Show Laws Should Raise Security Alarms</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31941</link>
<author>Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), Column,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[It is hypocritical for lawmakers to decry steps not taken to prevent Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding NWA Flight 253 on Christmas Day when they willfully ignore other glaring holes in Americans' security.

A security risk big enough to accommodate a jumbo jet full of terrorists is the failure, both in federal and most state laws, to mandate background checks at gun shows when the seller is not a federally licensed firearms dealer. Indeed, private sellers may set... [Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), Column, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31941</guid>
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<title>America&#39;s Law Enforcers Shift Focus from War on Drugs to War on Guns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31916</link>
<author>Christian Science Monitor,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In the roll call room of Baltimore's Northwestern District Police Headquarters, a squat building in a neighborhood of liquor stores and crumbling row houses, photos of the city's most wanted suspects flash on a new, flat-screen TV.

They are not necessarily drug kingpins or murderers or even dealers. But to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, they are top priority in this city with one of the highest homicide rates in the country; a city that residents... [Christian Science Monitor, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31916</guid>
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<title>Athletes Should Avoid Firearm Dispute-Resolution 2010</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31828</link>
<author>New York Times, Opinion,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In our search for comity and common ground this year, perhaps we can all agree that professional athletes should try to reduce the use of firearms to resolve personal disputes in 2010.

 You may have heard that the Washington Wizards are engulfed in a crisis over Gilbert Arenas, one of the team’s star players. His fight with a teammate over a gambling debt led to a display of handguns in the Wizards locker room.

Seldom have we seen so many words that do not belong in... [New York Times, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31828</guid>
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<title>Poll Finds Most NRA Members Favour &#39;Reasonable&#39; US Gun Control</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31717</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The National Rifle Association has long fulminated in the gun control debate in Washington like the Great Oz in the Emerald City. Now along comes Frank Luntz, a conservative Republican pollster who, Toto-like, has snatched back Oz’s curtain to reveal that gun owners favor much more reasonable gun controls than the gun lobby would ever allow the public to imagine.

Mr. Luntz queried 832 gun owners, including 401 card-carrying N.R.A. members, in a survey commissioned by... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31717</guid>
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<title>New Yorkers &#39;Got Their Money&#39;s Worth&#39; from Video Sting of Lax Gun Shows</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31699</link>
<author>New York Daily News,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg's crusade against guns comes with a price tag attached.

Bills obtained by the Daily News show the city Law Department has paid almost $1.5 million to Kroll Associates, a high-end detective firm, for its undercover probe of out-of-state gun sales.

The mayor announced the results of that investigation with a big splash in October, playing secretly recorded videos of dealers improperly selling guns at gun shows.

Detectives were able to buy guns even... [New York Daily News, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31699</guid>
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<title>Pistols from Virginia Gun Shows Fuel New York Gang, Street Crime</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31715</link>
<author>Daily Press,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[NEW YORK - Hundreds of guns are seized in New York City everyday by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Semi-automatic pistols are the most popular crime guns that are recovered on the streets of New York today.

In fact, it was the same type of gun used in Times Square last Thursday, when a street peddler tried to take on a New York City police sergeant and lost. Raymond Martinez was killed in the showdown, his Mac 10 knock-off, with 30... [Daily Press, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31715</guid>
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<title>Texas Moves Slowly to Prevent Severely Mentally Ill People Buying Guns</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31672</link>
<author>San Antonio Express News (Texas),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Gun-control advocates Tuesday promoted a recent federal law that encourages states to report people with severe mental illnesses to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

The NICS, established in 1998, is used by licensed gun dealers to check records on people who might be disqualified from buying firearms.

People deemed “mentally defective” or who have been committed to a mental institution are among the prohibited, but the Brady Act of 1993... [San Antonio Express News (Texas), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31672</guid>
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<title>Most NRA Members Want to Close Gun Show Loophole to Curb Trafficking</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31669</link>
<author>Los Angeles Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Gun control is one of those culture-wars issues on which liberals and conservatives often don't even seem to be speaking the same language, let alone coming to consensus. Gun owners -- especially the hard-core enthusiasts who belong to the National Rifle Assn. -- are often thought to oppose any restriction on their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. Except that, according to a recent poll, they don't.

The gun-control debate is replete with suspect polls and fishy... [Los Angeles Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31669</guid>
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<title>Wisconsin Lawmakers Buck National Trend, Tackle Gun Lobby Head On</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31631</link>
<author>Cap Times (Wisconsin),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Earlier this fall, while scanning the merchandise at a state gun show for an antique handgun, longtime gun enthusiast Guy Gorsky took notice of more than the array of potential investment pieces.

Based on the attire worn, questions asked and weapons eyed by a group of young men, Gorsky, who attends three or four gun shows a year, had a feeling they were gang members looking to make a quick purchase.

“They were only looking at automatic weapons,” says Gorsky, who... [Cap Times (Wisconsin), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31631</guid>
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<title>Congress Should Close &#39;Ridiculous Loophole,&#39; &#39;Terror Gap&#39; in US Gun Law</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31615</link>
<author>New York Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Under federal law, people who pose a heightened risk of violence cannot buy or own firearms, including convicted felons, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill and several other categories. Suspected terrorist is not one them.

Individuals on the government’s terrorist watch list can be barred from boarding airplanes, but not from purchasing high-powered guns or explosives. Bipartisan legislation in both houses of Congress would end this ridiculous loophole,... [New York Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31615</guid>
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<title>Smart Gun Control Proposals Could Deny Weapons to US Terrorists</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31583</link>
<author>Washington Post, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of roughly 500 U.S. mayors, has been pushing for smart and sensible law enforcement solutions to reduce the number of illegal guns obtained by criminals or would-be criminals. Last month the mayors renewed their call for adoption of two relatively modest but potentially powerful proposals. 

The first aims to close the so-called "terror gap" in existing gun laws by prohibiting any one on the country's "no fly" list... [Washington Post, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31583</guid>
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<title>Fear, Fundraising Drive US Misinformation Attack on UN Gun Trade Treaty</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31633</link>
<author>FactCheck.org (USA), Fact sheet,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[International Gun Ban Treaty?
Q: Has Obama found a "legal way around the Second Amendment"?

A: The administration's agreement to talk about writing a United Nations treaty to regulate arms exports and imports is a far cry from banning possession of firearms, which Obama says he doesn't want to do and the Supreme Court has said can't be done anyway.

FULL QUESTION

Is this correct?

Obama Finds Legal Way Around The 2nd. Amendment and Uses It. The Full Article Here... [FactCheck.org (USA), Fact sheet, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31633</guid>
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<title>Americans Pay a Steep Price for &#39;Gun Crazy&#39; Fascination with Firepower</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31549</link>
<author>Los Angeles Times, Editorial,  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[News that an armed fugitive who shot and killed four police officers near Seattle on Sunday was still at large prompted fear, anger, sorrow and something else: The desire to grab a gun. "I can tell you that most people have probably got their weapons loaded right now," a retired computer worker from Parkland, Wash., told The Times. "I think people should carry their guns and be ready," a local taxi driver told National Public Radio.

It's a typical American response to... [Los Angeles Times, Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31549</guid>
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<title>Washington State Gun Show Dealers Feed Weapons to Mexican Cartels</title>
<link>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31491</link>
<author>Yakima Herald-Republic (Washington),  via GunPolicy.org</author>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +1100</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[YAKIMA, Washington — ATF agent Jessie Summers tried to deal with misconceptions before he talked about the illegal gun trade in Central Washington.

"We're not here to take anybody's guns," he told a group of city and law enforcement officials from across the state gathered at the Yakima Convention Center. "The image of us being jackbooted thugs doesn't hold water."

Not that Summers is worried so much about public image of federal agents. He and fellow ATF agent... [Yakima Herald-Republic (Washington), via GunPolicy.org]]]></description>
<guid>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/rss/go/31491</guid>
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