background check

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Former NRA Chief Tricked Into Addressing 'Lost Class'

He delivered commencement speech to chairs representing victims of gun violence

(Newser) - The words of former NRA president David Keene and gun rights activist John Lott echoed over a sea of empty white chairs at a stadium in Las Vegas earlier this month. The men, who thought they were rehearsing graduation speeches to deliver to students at the private online high school...

In 2020, Background Checks Blocked Most Gun Sales Ever

As firearm sales surged in US

(Newser) - The number of people stopped from buying guns through the US background check system hit an all-time high of more than 300,000 last year amid a surge of firearm sales, according to new records obtained by the group Everytown for Gun Safety. The FBI numbers provided to the AP...

Residents Won't Fund Cops. Now, Untrained Volunteers

Oregon town to be policed by locals without training, who can ID criminals by 'way they dress'

(Newser) - A small town in Oregon plans to have a volunteer watch group monitor security cameras for criminals since residents refuse to raise taxes to fund a police force. Sheriff's deputies patrol Cave Junction, a town of 2,000 along US 199, during regular work hours Monday to Friday. At...

Big-Name CEOs to Congress: You Need to Act Now

Heads of Twitter, Uber, others write letter asking for tougher gun laws

(Newser) - The CEOs of nearly 150 companies are stepping into the nation's gun debate, imploring Congress to expand background checks and enact a strong "red flag" law. In a letter sent to the Senate on Thursday, CEOs from businesses including Airbnb, Twitter, and Uber asked Congress to pass a...

As Trump Flips on Background Checks, an 'Audacious' Plan

March for Our Lives' bold proposal calls for an assault weapons ban, raising gun-buying age

(Newser) - Student activists who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., are responding to more recent mass shootings in a bold way: with a full-blown gun-control proposal. "It's nothing like anyone else is proposing. We are really setting audacious goals," March for Our Lives board member Tyah-Amoy...

Sessions Wants to Get Tough on Background-Check Liars

He calls for 'swift and aggressive' prosecution

(Newser) - The Justice Department's response to the Parkland mass shooting is apparently going to involve tougher enforcement of existing laws instead of calls for new ones. On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutors have been told to "swiftly and aggressively" pursue people banned from owning firearms who...

Trump Backs Beefing Up FBI Database on Gun Buyers

Bipartisan bill is in the works

(Newser) - President Trump offered support Monday for an effort to strengthen the federal gun background check system. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president spoke on Friday to GOP Sen. John Cornyn about a bipartisan bill designed to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers, the AP reports. "...

Background Check Lapse Let Dylann Roof Buy His Gun

If records were entered correctly, purchase would have been denied

(Newser) - Dylann Roof should not have been able to buy the gun he's accused of using to kill nine people inside a South Carolina church. Because Roof had admitted possessing drugs following an arrest in February, his purchase of the .45-caliber handgun should have been denied, says the FBI....

Report: Firm That Does US Background Checks Cut Corners

Company allegedly skipped second step, says Washington Post

(Newser) - We already knew Edward Snowden was hired by NSA contractor Booz Allen even though his resumé had issues —but the mess surrounding how Snowden got top-secret clearance grows. The Washington Post reports that USIS, another contractor that screened Snowden for the clearance, allegedly told the government its background checks...

Last Week's Gun Control Vote Won't Impact 2014
Last Week's Gun Control
Vote Won't Impact 2014
OPINION
Apr 23, 2013 11:48 AM CDT

Last Week's Gun Control Vote Won't Impact 2014

Nate Silver explains why

(Newser) - With as much as 90% of the public in favor of expanding background checks for gun purchases, you'd think all those senators who voted against last week's proposal to do just that may have been sticking their necks out. But in the New York Times , Nate Silver explain...

Gun Control Heads for Showdown This Week

Bipartisan deal on background checks could be coming

(Newser) - It's a big week for gun control supporters, as the issue heads to the Senate floor this week. Democrat Joe Manchin spent the congressional recess looking to forge ahead on background checks with GOP support, and he and Republican Pat Toomey have spent the past few days hashing out...

Giffords to Congress: Background Checks. Now.

Misinformation is stalling a no-brainer that everyone wants

(Newser) - "I think about patience every day," says Gabrielle Giffords, as she rehabilitates from being shot in the head two years ago. But as she looks at the gun control dance playing out on Capitol Hill, she finds herself running short of that particular virtue. "What are they...

NRA: We'll Fight Universal Background Checks

Assault-weapons ban odds: 'very, very small'

(Newser) - The NRA plans to oppose mandatory background checks on all gun purchases, its president tells USA Today yesterday, rejecting one of the most popular proposals on gun control: the closure of loopholes allowing gun-show purchases without background checks. If the measure, which polls with 85% support, can't get through,...

90% Want Gun Background Checks


 90% Want Gun 
 Background 
 Checks 
NEW POLL
Jan 17, 2013 12:58 PM CST

90% Want Gun Background Checks

Including NRA members, Republicans

(Newser) - Looks like President Obama was right when he said the majority of Americans support universal background checks for gun buyers—in a huge way. A whopping 90% of the public supports the idea, according to a new New York Times / CBS News poll, including 95% of Independents, 93% of...

Liars Who Attempt to Get Gun Not Punished

Only 44 charged of 80K who fudged background-check forms in 2010

(Newser) - Both sides are bracing themselves ahead of Joe Biden's expected delivery of gun-control recommendations to President Obama tomorrow, with the head honcho of the NRA yesterday declaring that any attempts to pass an assault weapons ban would be DOA. But the New York Times today takes a look at...

Gun Background Checks Miss Millions of Mentally Ill

Many states don't share mental-health records with FBI

(Newser) - Millions of mentally ill people could pass a gun background check today, because many states simply don't bother submitting mental-health records to the FBI, according to reports today in both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal . Thanks to a 1997 Supreme Court ruling, states don't have...

Jerry Sandusky Sex Abuse Case: Juniata College Rejected Coach After He Failed Background Check
School: Sandusky Failed Background Check Last Year
PLUS, A NEW ACCUSER
Dec 7, 2011 11:22 AM CST

School: Sandusky Failed Background Check Last Year

Meanwhile, another victim comes forward

(Newser) - There have been red flags waving around Jerry Sandusky for a while—just ask Juniata College, which today revealed that Sandusky tried to get a volunteer coaching job there in May 2010, but was turned down after flunking a background check, the AP reports. Juniata discovered that a high school...

NYC Probes Arizona Gun Show
 NYC Probes Arizona Gun Show  
Jan 31, 2011 2:54 AM CST

NYC Probes Arizona Gun Show

Investigators who 'probably couldn't pass background check' sold guns

(Newser) - Private investigators sent by New York City found it all too easy to buy semiautomatic pistols at an Arizona gun show, even after telling the dealer that they "probably couldn't" pass a background check. The shows are exempt from background checks but dealers are barred from selling weapons to...

Sex Offenders Able to Land Jobs at Schools
Sex Offenders Able to
Land Jobs at Schools
new report
Dec 17, 2010 7:27 AM CST

Sex Offenders Able to Land Jobs at Schools

Criminals slip by background checks

(Newser) - A number of people with histories of sexual misconduct have had little trouble getting new jobs in schools, despite a system of background checks intended to prevent exactly that, the Government Accountability Office reported yesterday. In 11 of the 15 cases federal investigators looked into, people who had previously targeted...

House Next to Obamas' Chicago Digs Hits Market

Agent calls area 'the world's ultimate gated community'

(Newser) - Got a couple million and think you can pass a Secret Service background check? The house next door to President Obama’s Chicago digs is on sale, the Tribune reports. Round-the-clock protection puts the 17-room brick home in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood in “the world’s ultimate...

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