This section contains news items about guns in America that are not covered in our other discussions of specific topics. To read news about these other gun-related topics, click here
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Toddlers have shot more than 20 people so far this year
| 2016-May-02 | By: Barry Shatzman |
Toddlers in the United States have shot at least 23 people in the just the first four months of 2016, the Washington Post reported.
In most of the cases, the child shot themselves with a gun they found - either at home or in their parents' possession. Nine were killed. In two cases, someone else was killed.
There have been more than 75 cases so far this year where someone younger than 18 accidentally shot someone.
Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Florida, and Michigan are the states with the most shootings by toddlers.
The causes are not clearly understood. Yet the federal government limits the type of gun research that agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are allowed to conduct.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Senate effectively kills gun control - for now
| 2013-Apr-18 |
The Senate effectively killed its most recent legislation on gun control by voting down two major amendments to it.
The amendments were among nine changes proposed to the overall gun-control bill. One of the amendments, which would have required background checks on those who purchase guns at gun shows or over the Internet, received a majority of the vote but failed the receive the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. The other, which would have banned certain assault weapons, failed by a 40-60 vote.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now plans to put the entire legislation on hold rather than pass something that likely would be ineffective. He has the option to reintroduce the bill at a later date.
To read the Lobby99 report on the original bill, click here.
For more, read the New York Times story.
For more on the background check amendment that failed, click here.
For more on the assault weapon amendment, click here.
To read about amendments that would have made the policing of guns more difficult, click here.
States propose to strengthen, loosen gun restrictions
| 2013-Apr-04 |
State legislators in recent weeks have proposed a series of gun laws, including wider background checks for gun buyers, strengthened assault weapons bans, and prohibitions on high-capacity ammunition magazines. In some states however, the proposed laws would loosen restrictions.
The proposals come as Congress is preparing to consider federal gun-control legislation.
The following states are proposing stricter laws...
o Connecticut
o Delaware
o Maryland
o Massachusetts
o Minnesota
o New Jersey
o New Mexico
o New York
o Utah
The following states are proposing looser laws...
o Kentucky
o Maine
o Mississippi
o South Dakota
o Tennessee
o Wyoming
You can read more about what these states are proposing in this Washington Post report.
You can learn more about the connection between gun laws and gun violence in this report from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Senate proposes four gun laws
| 2013-Mar-20 |
The Senate is expected to vote next month on four bills to tackle gun violence.
The bills, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee over the past two weeks, include calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
These are the proposed laws:
o Require background checks for nearly all gun purchases, including private sales at gun shows and elsewhere. It also would require states to do a better job reporting felons and others prohibited from buying guns to the federal background-check database. (S-374).
o Increase the penalties for "straw purchases" - buying guns for those banned from having them. (S-54).
o Expand a Justice Department program to provide $40 million in grants to beef up school security. (S-146).
The Democratic-sponsored assault-weapon and background-check bills both passed the judiciary committee 10-8 on a party-line vote.
Majority Leader Harry Reid has dropped the assault-weapons ban from the package of bills to be voted on by the full Senate, saying it doesn't have enough support to avoid a Republican filibuster. It still will be voted on as an amendment.
For more, read the New York Times story
For more on the package of three bills (minus the assault weapon ban), read our discussion.
President announces 23 executive actions after series of mass shootings
| 2013-Jan-16 |
President Barack Obama today issued 23 executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence - including strengthening the background-check system and providing schools with incentives to hire school resource officers.
He also called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines for civilians, and to require universal background checks.
The White House announcement came a little more than a month after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killed 20 children and six adults. It was one of seven mass shootings in 2012.
For more, read the New York Times story
You can view the complete list of executive actions here (.pdf file)
In 2003, President Bill Clinton stated "Half of all mass killings in the United States have occurred since the assault weapons ban expired in 2005, half of all of them in the history of the country." Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler analyzed that statement, providing a perspective of mass shootings in the United States. You can read his analysis here.