Gun Control | featured news

The leading Senate negotiations on gun control legislation favor expanding background checks, but the effort would as of now fall short of the universal approach backed by President Barack Obama and many Democrats, CNN has learned.

President Obama continues a swing through the western part of the country today. Day one of his trip neatly encapsulated both the top priorities and early complications of his second term. Obama stopped in Denver on Wednesday, where he met with law enforcement officials and delivered remarks urging Congress to take action on his stalled gun control agenda.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is expected on Thursday to sign a tough new gun law that restricts sales of the sort of high-capacity ammunition clips that a gunman used to massacre 26 people in minutes in a December attack on a school.

Officers and a bomb-sniffing dog were on hand as the gun-rights group’s unveiled its recommendation that every school hire armed guards.

President Obama is quietly moving forward on gun control. The president has used his executive powers to bolster the national background check system, jumpstart government research on the causes of gun violence and create a million-dollar ad campaign aimed at safe gun ownership.

As proponents increasingly turn to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to campaign in key states, the National Rifle Assn. welcomes the challenge from a man they see as an overstepping 'nanny in chief.' The fate of gun control proposals in Congress this year may depend on who is more potent: Michael R. Bloomberg the billionaire or Michael R. Bloomberg the boogeyman.

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday criticized three Senate Republicans who have threatened to filibuster Senate gun control legislation. Carney said a filibuster would be “unfortunate” and would send the wrong message to the families of gun violence victims.

As Congress inched closer to a vote on gun-control measures, Vice President Biden and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday questioned lawmakers who have been hesitant to get behind their push for sweeping changes.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed landmark new gun laws on Wednesday expanding background checks on gun purchases and limiting the size of ammunition magazines, placing the traditionally firearm-friendly state among the handful to pass new restrictions in the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Conn.

The head of Colorado state's prison system was shot and killed at his home, just hours before the governor signed into law on Wednesday a package of gun control measures spurred by a rash of deadly mass shootings in Colorado and elsewhere.