SALEM, Oregon — A State Police unit that performs background checks on handgun buyers at gun shows got a lot busier yesterday because of a voter-passed law that extends the checks to rifles and shotguns. Measure 5, an initiative measure probably best known for expanding required background checks for sales at gun shows, was easily approved by voters at the Nov. 7 election. The law that took effect yesterday requires criminal background checks, made by a call to the... (GunPolicy.org)

Closing the gun-show loophole won't be cheap, state lawmakers learned Friday. The price could be anywhere from $350,000 to $800,000, depending on whether a Web-based computer system is created to help speed the task. Members of the legislature's budget committee met with Public Safety Department officials to discuss the fiscal impact involved in voters approving Amendment 22 on Nov. 7 and other issues. The amendment, which goes into effect March 31, 2001, requires... (GunPolicy.org)

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has denied a defendant's argument that the federal law prohibiting possession of firearms by those under domestic-violence protection orders violates the Second Amendment. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball said the Supreme Court has made it clear the Second Amendment offers no guarantee to keep and bear firearms unless there is "some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia." "(And) five... (GunPolicy.org)