Author: Lisa Marie Pane
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‘Quite frankly shocking’: US virus deaths hit record levels
Deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to more than 2,200 a day on average, matching the frightening peak reached last April, and cases per day have eclipsed 200,000 on average for the first time on record, with the crisis all but certain to get worse because of the fallout from Thanksgiving, Christmas and…
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Gun background checks are on pace to break record in 2019
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WASHINGTON • Background checks on gun purchases in the U.S. are climbing toward a record high this year, reflecting what the industry says is a rush by people to buy weapons in reaction to the Democratic presidential candidates’ calls for tighter restrictions. By the end of November, more than 25.4 million background checks — generally…
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In gun buyback talk, how do you round up so many weapons?
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s vow in Colorado and elsewhere to take away people’s AR-15 and AK-47 rifles raised one big question: How is it possible to round up the millions of such guns that exist in the United States? The number of AR-15 and AK-47s in the U.S. is estimated at a staggering 16…
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US mass shooters exploited gaps, errors in background checks
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Most mass shooters in the U.S. acquired their weapons legally because nothing in their backgrounds disqualified them, reports James Alan Fox, a criminologist with Northeastern University who has studied mass shootings for decades. But in several attacks in recent years, gunmen got weapons as a result of mistakes, lack of follow-through or gaps in federal…
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Weakened but unbowed, NRA head digs in against gun control
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In the aftermath of the back-to-back massacres in Texas and Ohio, the debate over gun control has returned to the National Rifle Association and its immense power to stymie any significant legislation on the issue. The man largely responsible for the NRA’s uncompromising stance is its decades-long CEO, Wayne LaPierre, who has been engulfed in…
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Iran-Contra figure Oliver North named president of the NRA
ATLANTA — Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North, the gung-ho Marine at the center of the Iran-Contra affair three decades ago, was named president Monday of the National Rifle Association, giving it star power as it faces a powerful backlash over the massacres in Florida and Las Vegas. North, 74, will be the biggest celebrity to…
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Police experts urge intensive training if teachers are armed
The idea of arming teachers to take out a shooter is alarming some law enforcement experts, who say it takes more than just being a good shot at a gun range. They say it would require specialized and repeated training to teach educators the proper tactics and enable them to conquer their fear and remain…
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Texas massacre is seized on by both sides in gun debate
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Gun-rights supporters have seized on the Texas church massacre as proof of the well-worn saying that the best answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Gun-control advocates, meanwhile, say the tragedy shows once more that it is too easy to get a weapon in the U.S. To…
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Texas killer was able to buy guns because of Air Force lapse
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — The gunman who killed 26 people at a small-town Texas church had a history of domestic violence that spanned years before the attack, and was able buy weapons because the Air Force did not submit his criminal history to the FBI as required by military rules. If the past offenses by…
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Poll finds Las Vegas shooting doesn’t alter opinions on guns
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ATLANTA — The slaying of five dozen people in Las Vegas did little to change Americans’ opinions about gun laws, a poll finds. The nation is closely divided on whether restricting firearms would reduce such mass shootings or homicides, though a majority favors tighter laws as they have for several years, according to the poll…