background checks

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New Obama Gun-Control Plan Surprises NRA

Policy could put 4.7M more Americans in background-check system

(Newser) - A new plan to issue background checks on millions of potential gun-buyers has caught the NRA off guard, the Los Angeles Times reports. Responding to an executive order from President Obama, the Social Security Administration is devising a policy that could add millions of its beneficiaries to the National Instant...

Gun Control Fight's New Big Dogs: Bill, Melinda Gates

They back Washington state bill

(Newser) - After helping to save a million kids' lives through their anti-malaria efforts in Africa, as the Daily Beast notes, Bill and Melinda Gates are turning their eyes—and wallets—to an issue closer to home. The two are donating $500,000 each to support a Washington state ballot initiative calling...

Firm That Vetted Snowden Gets New $190M Contract

US Investigations Services has been accused of massive fraud

(Newser) - You might think that giving a green light to Edward Snowden and Aaron Alexis and allegedly fraudulently submitting 660,000 other background checks without actually completing them would prevent you from getting future government contracts. But you'd be wrong, because the Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $190...

LA Ice Cream Vendors May Need Background Checks

Supervisors considering proposal

(Newser) - Overreach or a necessary precaution? Los Angeles County supervisors might require ice-cream truck vendors to undergo background checks before they can drive around ringing bells and selling frozen treats to kids, reports the LA Times . The supervisor behind the push, Don Knabe, says his measure is vital to protect children...

Giffords to Attend 1st Gun Show Since Shooting

To promote background checks

(Newser) - A gun show may seem like the last thing a shooting victim would want to attend, but Gabrielle Giffords won't be at the Saratoga Springs Arms Fair tomorrow to promote firearms—the former Arizona congresswoman is going to promote stricter gun control laws. New York's gun shows are...

Navy Gunman, Snowden Checked Out by Same Firm

USIS has been under federal scrutiny

(Newser) - Both Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis faced background checks in recent years—and both checks were conducted by the same company. USIS ran a background check on Alexis in 2007 for the Office of Personnel Management, the year he joined the Navy; the company said it wasn'...

Giffords Fires Gun for First Time Since Being Shot

She and Mark Kelly are on gun control tour

(Newser) - Gabrielle Giffords kicked off her seven-day, seven-state "Rights and Responsibilities Tour" for gun control by firing a gun for the first time since she was shot by Jared Lee Loughner, Politico reports. The former congresswoman, aided by husband Mark Kelly, took one shot with a handgun at a Las...

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...

Snowden's Resume Had Issues: Source

But Booz Allen hired him anyway

(Newser) - NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton hired Edward Snowden even though it had questions about his resume's accuracy, an insider tells Reuters . The details remain hazy, but the issues seem to relate to claims about his educational background. The future whistleblower, for instance, said he'd taken computer classes at...

US Sues BMW, Says Criminal Checks Were Discriminating

70 black workers after background probes

(Newser) - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against BMW for using criminal background checks to screen out employees—a practice, it says, which put 70 black employees out of a job, the Washington Post reports. The background, as per an EEOC press release : A BMW plant in South...

Daughter of Sandy Hook Victim Calls Out Sen. Ayotte

Erica Lafferty angry over senator's vote against background checks

(Newser) - Republican Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has been taking flak for her vote against stronger background checks , especially because she was the only East Coast senator north of Virginia to do so. Today, at her first town hall meeting since that vote, Ayotte got an earful from the daughter of...

Manchin: I'm Not Done With Gun Control Yet

Says he wants to bring reworked legislation back to Senate floor

(Newser) - Joe Manchin wants to take another crack at gun control, telling Fox New Sunday that he's going to retool his failed proposal on background checks to bring it to the Senate floor. “We’re going to work this bill with all of our hearts," he said today....

Last Week&#39;s Gun Control Vote Won&#39;t Impact 2014
Last Week's Gun Control
Vote Won't Impact 2014
OPINION

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...

Reid Pulls Weakened Gun Control Legislation

Promises to reintroduce after an indefinite 'pause'

(Newser) - Given that the gun legislation moving through the Senate had been stripped of pretty much every reform advocates considered meaningful, Harry Reid today yanked what remained from consideration, reports the Hill . But he promised the Senate would revisit the proposal to tighten background checks after this indefinite "pause and...

Angry Obama: Gun Lobby 'Willfully Lied'

President says Senate caved on background checks in 'shameful day'

(Newser) - After the Senate rejected tougher background checks today, President Obama issued a blistering criticism of senators who "caved to the pressure" and of the gun lobby he says "willfully lied," reports USA Today . "All in all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," said...

Senate Rejects Tougher Background Checks

Parents of Sandy Hook victims watch proposal fail by 6 votes

(Newser) - As expected , the Senate today rejected a bipartisan effort to expand federal background checks on gun purchasers. An attempt to ban assault-style weapons and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines were also rejected in a series of showdown votes four months after the Newtown rampage. The background check measure...

Manchin: Background Checks Will Fail

But spokesman says

(Newser) - Joe Manchin, one of the chief authors of the bipartisan bill on background checks, has told a reporter that it will fail in the Senate this afternoon, Talking Points Memo reports. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell tweeted this morning: "Sen. Joe Manchin tells me 'we will not get...

None of These Gun Laws Will Make Difference
None of These Gun Laws
Will Make Difference
OPINION

None of These Gun Laws Will Make Difference

They'll make us feel better, but that's about it: Kathleen Parker

(Newser) - Background checks ? Sure, put them in place. Bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines? Fine. Just don't expect any of these things to make a difference in the nation's gun violence, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post . Parker, a gun owner, says she is "...

Toomey, Manchin Unveil Deal on Background Checks

Not quite universal, but checks would include gun shows, online sales

(Newser) - Sens. Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin this morning unveiled their bipartisan deal on background checks, anonymous sources tell NBC . “Background checks are not a cure-all, but they can be helpful," said Toomey, in announcing the deal. It wouldn't create truly universal background checks—some transactions, like those...

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...

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