WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush signed the nation's first new gun-control legislation in 14 years Tuesday to help keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill, and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy immediately announced she would take her crusade to the next step. This time, she and others want to close the so-called "gun show loophole" that allows some dealers to sell firearms without background checks. The Mineola Democrat, elected on a platform of gun... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — A rare piece of gun legislation finds the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence on the same side, and President Bush signed such a bill Tuesday. The measure, Congress' response to last year's Virginia Tech shootings, is the first significant federal legislation in years aimed at tightening gun laws. It seeks to expand the federal database used to screen gun buyers to include the estimated 2 million-plus people,... (GunPolicy.org)

It took too many years and too many deaths to persuade Congress to act, but President Bush is expected to sign into law today a measure that will make it harder for people with a history of dangerous mental illness to purchase firearms. That is good news, but there is more work to be done. The new law — the product of a rare partnership between gun control advocates and the National Rifle Association — addresses a glaring problem. Millions of criminal and mental... (GunPolicy.org)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — A Florida man was taken into custody after police said he allowed his 6-year-old daughter to sleep with a loaded gun under a pillow. Robert Lee Johnson was charged with suspicion of child abuse and domestic battery. According to an arrest report, Johnson told authorities that he owned a gun because he "watches too much CNN." The report said that authorities were called to a home because Johnson and his stepfather were fighting.... (GunPolicy.org)

Nearly 100 gun licences have been handed out to teenagers or children in Cumbria during the past two years. Figures released by the county's police force show 90 shotgun and eight firearm certificates were granted to under-18s. The constabulary stressed anyone under 17 had to be supervised at all times with a shotgun and all candidates, regardless of age, were thoroughly vetted. The Countryside Alliance also defended the role of shooting sports, saying they were... (GunPolicy.org)

ATLANTA — A debate about whether workers can keep guns in their cars while on the job brought the president of the National Rifle Association to Georgia for a news conference where he was heckled by one of his own members. The issue pits two lobbying groups — the NRA and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce — against one another about the question of which right is more important: private property or bearing arms. NRA President Wayne LaPierre said his... (GunPolicy.org)

RICHMOND, Virginia — An emotional Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday proposed mandated background checks for everyone who attempts to purchase firearms at gun shows — legislation he called critical to helping prevent future tragedies like the shootings at Virginia Tech. Many families of those killed or injured in the April shootings have called on lawmakers to close Virginia's so-called gun show loophole, which allows people to purchase firearms from unlicensed... (GunPolicy.org)

All sales at gun shows would be subject to instant background checks under a legislative proposal proffered yesterday by Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. "It is long past time to apply existing Virginia law to every firearm sale at a gun show," said Kaine, flanked by state legislators, local law-enforcement officers and family members of Virginia Tech shooting victims at state police headquarters in Chesterfield County. Efforts to pass legislation closing the "gun-show... (GunPolicy.org)

HOUSTON, Texas — A Houston-area man was killed in a hunting accident after his dog stepped on a loaded shotgun in the back of a pick-up truck, triggering a blast that pierced the vehicle and the hunter's leg, a local sheriff said. Perry Price, a 46-year-old math teacher, shot a goose on Saturday then put his gun in the back of the truck where the dog was waiting to retrieve the bird. "I've been in law enforcement 20 years and this is probably the strangest one I've... (GunPolicy.org)

When Kenneth Warren moved to San Joaquin County to take care of his elderly parents, he wanted to make sure his gun collection was safe. He kept about 50 guns and as much as 2,000 rounds of ammunition in a double-walled, fireproof safe that, when empty, weighed 1,300 pounds. He moved it into a climate-controlled metal and concrete storage unit at U-Haul in Lodi. And he even got a second-floor storage unit for added security. But on Dec. 31, thieves managed to get into... (GunPolicy.org)