Virginia Senator to Bring Back Expanded Background Check Bill

“It’s coming back,” said Virginia Senator Joe Manchin Tuesday about his bipartisan bill to expand background checks on gun sales, a bill which failed to pass on its first run through the Senate last month. [more]

HOUSTON - Members of the National Rifle Association were assured that they would never have to surrender their firearms. Along with this statement they were told that the fight against government gun control is far [more]

Senate Rejects Expanded Gun Background Checks

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades Wednesday, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons [more]

Day of Reckoning for Expanded Background Checks

D-Day: Today, consideration of the Manchin-Toomey background check proposal and a myriad other gun amendments, including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity clips, will be the main event on Capitol Hill. The outcome of [more]

Deal Reached on Gun Background Check Bill

WASHINGTON - Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. announced that they have reached a compromise bill on Wednesday that expands background checks on gun purchases, and possibly paving the way for votes [more]

Both Gun Control Parties Make Public Appeal

WASHINGTON — Two of the loudest voices in the gun debate say it’s up to voters now to make their position known to Congress. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and National Rifle Associate Executive Vice President [more]

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Gun Sale Background Checks Increase Dramatically After Batman Massacre

Colorado Gun Background Check Spike

In the three days following the shooting at an Aurora theater during a Batman film, there has been a dramatic increase in total gun sales and gun background checks in the state of Colorado. After friday’s massacre, the shooting that resulted in the death of 12 people and the injury of 58 others, 2,887 people were run through a firearm purchase background check, a 43.5% increase compared to the weekend before the incident. During the past decade, this time of year has consistently been the slowest months for gun sales, according to FBI background check databases and data.

“Many people’s first reaction is how do I protect myself,” a gun store employee said. Apart from the background checks, gun shop workers were met with throngs of people lined up at their shops. Firearms instructors were also met with an increase in applicants for their courses, now booked for weeks after the tragedy.

So Colorado residents have decided to fight fire with fire – and the increase in background checks and firearm purchases have made this statement more evident. The background checks are there to weed out certain categories of potential gun purchasers including convicted felons, people convicted of domestic assault or abuse, illegal immigrants, and the mentally ill.

The spike in Colorado gun sales and background checks follow a similar pattern after most mass shootings. Debates over gun laws after such high-profile shootings usually prompt talk of gun control measures, and they have in the Colorado case. But they also can prompt gun sales. Last year, one-day sales in Arizona jumped 60% after a gunman killed six people in a Tucson parking lot and wounded others, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. There was also a similar spike after the shootings at Virginia Tech University in 2007.

The FBI declined to release data on background checks nationally since the Colorado shooting, said spokesman Stephen Fischer. State data and interviews elsewhere, however, suggest sales also were up outside of Colorado.