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... (GunPolicy.org)

Walking the talk of valuing diversity can lead to some unusual places. Brian, a regular at monthly meetings of a diversity coalition in Overland Park, talked me out of going to church one Sunday in June and into riding with him to a gun show at the KCI Expo Center in the Northland. I grew up with guns, and this place was very familiar to me. Dad still has the six-shooters his father carried every day to work as a railroad brakeman, beginning in the late 1800s. I shot... (GunPolicy.org)

OLYMPIA — After 2009 ended in a hail of high-profile gun violence, Washington state's gun-control advocates are frustrated by an apparent lack of political support for an assault weapons ban, warning that the state will likely face more deadly shootings without it. The bill comes just weeks after a spate of deadly police shootings, and proponents of the ban say those killings should force politicians to confront gun violence. "There's more guns, a repressed economy... (GunPolicy.org)

When a Venango County judge returned a rifle to a man who completed probation on a stalking charge more than a decade ago, state law contained no restrictions to prevent it. Pennsylvania State Police officials last week said they intended to investigate why then-President Judge H. William White ordered a .30-.30 rifle returned to Michael Smith in November 2000. Smith used that rifle to fatally shoot Trooper Paul Richey, who responded to a domestic violence call at... (GunPolicy.org)

For New Hampshire lawmakers who support a ban on handguns and other deadly weapons at the Statehouse, a defining moment came last March 4 when the House voted down a resolution affirming "states' rights based on Jeffersonian principles." A group of about 15 supporters of the resolution were carrying handguns in the House gallery and heckling lawmakers who had their backs turned to the gallery. Also, a group of visiting school children was in the gallery and Rep. Susan... (GunPolicy.org)