Mention of Gun Control Drives Sturm, Ruger & Co.'s Sales Upward

A man who survived the  Columbine High School massacre in 1999 is not pleased with President Barack Obama's proposed gun control reforms.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, talk about their continued push for gun regulation in the upcoming issue of Vogue magazine. The couple has formed a political action committee in hopes of preventing gun violence and changing laws to require compulsory background checks for gun buyers. The PAC will also work to limit the size of ammo magazines and to ban the sale of assault weapons to civilians. Kelly said “now is the time” to do something in the wake of recent mass shootings in Colorado and Connecticut.

Grace McDonnell's parents gave one of her paintings to Barack Obama. The seven-year-old, who dreamed of being a painter, was shot dead in her classroom last month.

TUCSON, Ariz. — A campaign promising free shotguns for people to protect themselves in this Arizona city has divided some residents in a community still reeling from a shooting rampage in 2011 that killed six people, left a congresswoman and several others wounded, and made Tucson a symbol of gun violence in America.

With his gun proposals dividing Congress, President Barack Obama conceded Monday the challenges he faces in winning support for measures ranging from criminal checks on gun buyers to an assault weapons ban. But, he declared: “We don’t have to agree on everything to agree it’s time to do something.” Obama argued that there’s bipartisan support for universal background checks and for gun trafficking laws. But, acknowledging the political challenges he faces, he would say only that the assault weapons ban deserves a vote in Congress.

For many in Congress, a big goal in the push to curb gun violence is a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban that expired in 1994. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced a similar bill, which President Barack Obama will likely mention this afternoon during remarks on gun violence in Minneapolis, Minn. 

WASHINGTON – The TD Bank suddenly found itself in the cross-hairs of the high-caliber political debate over gun control after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sent a letter to the bank’s U.S. subsidiary asking it to stop lending money to gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson because the company doesn’t support gun controls.

By Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. You can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller