The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged gun reform

Taking on the Gun Show Loophole

By | 10.09.09 | 12:28 pm

Roughly two-thirds of unlicensed gun show dealers sold weapons to undercover investigators even after those investigators told dealers that they probably wouldn’t pass a background check, according to a report released this week by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The sellers are exploiting an enormous More…

A Push to Keep Guns From Foreign-Convicted Felons

By | 07.29.09 | 3:04 pm

Perhaps emboldened by a rare victory over the gun lobby last week, a group of liberal senators introduced legislation Wednesday to prevent people convicted of felonies overseas from owning firearms.

The proposal attempts to close a loophole created by a 2005 Supreme Court decision, which found More…

Columbine Dad Takes on Colorado Dems Over Thune Vote

By | 07.29.09 | 12:27 pm

It’s no Washington secret that lawmakers voting against the the nation’s powerful gun lobby will likely suffer the National Rifle Association’s wrath come election time. But, as evidenced in Colorado today, there can also be political consequences of voting with the NRA.

In large ads published in Wednesday’s Denver Post More…

In Virginia, a Dance Around Gun Reform

By | 07.27.09 | 2:14 pm

As the battle over gun reform has raged on Capitol Hill this year, it’s become ever-more clear that this is more a regional issue than a partisan one. Indeed, 20 Democrats voted last week in support of a proposal forcing states to honor conceal-carry permits issued by More…

Gun Lobby Questions Accuracy of Terrorist Watch List

By | 06.23.09 | 10:29 am

Here’s Chris Cox, top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, explaining in a statement to The Washington Post that the group opposes efforts to prevent those on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from buying weapons, because some of those folks might be on the list erroneously.

The NRA cited

More…

Terrorist Watch List is No Hurdle to Gun Purchases

By | 06.22.09 | 5:22 pm

Another day, another damning federal report regarding the ease with which potential criminals can purchase guns in America.

Just days after issuing findings that thousands of guns are being funneled illegally into Mexico, the Government Accountability Office reported that, in the last five years, folks known to be on More…

Senate Approves Coburn Gun Amendment…in Credit Card Bill

By | 05.12.09 | 6:44 pm

The Senate on Tuesday night easily passed an amendment to credit card reform legislation that would allow concealed weapons in national parks. The vote was 67 to 29.

The question now is this: Will a controversial gun proposal attached to popular underlying legislation be the poison pill that sinks that More…

And the First Amendment to the Senate Credit Card Reform Bill Is …

By | 05.12.09 | 5:29 pm

A proposal allowing guns in national parks.

That’s right. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is pushing a provision to overturn the Obama administration’s dismissal of a controversial Bush administration rule allowing concealed weapons in national parks and refuges.

Senators Introduce Bill to Close ‘Gun-Show Loophole’

By | 04.21.09 | 3:45 pm

It’s a curiously enormous loophole in the federal effort to keep firearms out of the hands of felons, fugitives, minors and the mentally ill: Unlicensed gun-show vendors — unlike their licensed counterparts — have no obligation to do background checks on prospective weapons buyers.

Today, Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg More…

Beware the Hostile Elk

By | 04.20.09 | 4:18 pm

It was one of the final rule changes of the Bush administration: A controversial new regulation allowing gun owners to bring concealed weapons into national parks. But that change hit a major snag last month when a federal judge blocked it, finding that the rule resulted from “an More…