Firearm background checks hit new record on Black Friday

An Executive Order issued earlier this month by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey instructs all state agencies to adopt new hiring procedures related to the employment of individuals with a criminal record. The order intends to provide a second chance and increased employment opportunities to Arizonans who have served their time and been released. Under the new policy,…

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20,000 gun background checks conducted in Florida since San Bernardino

dramatic increase in the amount of background checks that were conducted related to gun purchases. The number of gun-related background checks in Florida was up 77 percent, as nearly double the amount of people who purchased firearms in Dec. 2014 chose to purchase guns since the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting. With the increased number of…

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Study: gun background checks save lives

A study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research has found a correlation between Missouri’s background check laws and the state’s murder rate. In 2007, Missouri legislators fought to repeal a law that required anyone who wished to buy a firearm to acquire a “permit to purchase” first. Only those who had…

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Mass. bill to repeal checks on pepper spray

Legislators in Massachusetts have introduced a series of bills to eliminate restrictions and licenses for those who wish to purchase pepper spray. Currently, the licenses and background checks that are required to purchase pepper spray are the same as those required to purchase firearms in the state. The state is working on stricter legislation to…

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Colorado gun bill dead

After Colorado passed a law expanding the background check process required for purchasing firearms last March, a new bill was introduced attempting to roll back checks for private and online gun sales. The law was signed eight months after the July 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora movie theater, in which a lone gunman opened…

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New proposed background screen regulations for gun purchases

Both the federal government and state lawmakers have been working to regulate mental health requirements and background screen requirements for those who wish to purchase firearms. These requirements are expected to protect citizens from injuring themselves or others by preventing the mentally ill or those who have been charged or convicted of a crime from…

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Black Friday firearm background checks down this year

(Photo: Seth Perlman, AP)[/caption] The FBI processed 144,758 mandatory background checks Friday, representing a 6.5% decline from the number processed on the same day last year when the bureau’s computers were briefly overwhelmed by the unprecedented volume. The FBI does not track actual gun sales, as multiple firearms can be included in one background check…

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Giffords takes background check campaign to New York gun show

(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption] Giffords and husband Mark Kelly, a former combat pilot and astronaut, were with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman at the Saratoga Springs Arms Fair on Sunday to highlight a voluntary agreement and stricter state gun control law. It was the latest event visited by Giffords and Kelly in their national campaign…

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Navy Yard Shooter passed two firearm background checks

background checks to purchase a shotgun from Sharpshooters Small Arms Range in Lorton, Va. the weekend prior to the shooting, according to reports on the Navy Yard Shooter. As we predicted a few days ago, this incident has quickly brought firearm background checks back onto the political agenda, with several leaders – including the President –…

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Will the Navy Yard Shooting revive the firearm background check debate?

I mourn those killed today at the Navy Yard in Washington and send my thoughts and prayers to those families grieving the loss of loved ones. There are reports the killer was armed with an AR-15, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol when he stormed an American military installation in the nation’s capital and took…

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