Gun Control

NEW ENGLAND has a centuries-old tradition of both gun manufacturing and gun control. It shouldn't have to pick between the two. However, at least one manufacturer is trying to force the matter. Proposals to require that guns be made suitable for micro-stamping, a technology which would allow shell casings to be traced back to the exact gun they were fired from, have been introduced in the Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts legislatures. These have drawn significant criticism from gun manufacturers, at least one of which, Colt, is threatening to move out of New England if such legislation is adopted.

WASHINGTON - Bill Cosby said Sunday that the debate over the killing of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer should be focused on guns, not race. In a taped interview on CNN's "State of the Union," the actor and comedian said that calling George Zimmerman a racist doesn't solve anything. He said the bigger question is what Zimmerman was doing with a gun, and who taught him how to behave with it. The fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 has started a nationwide debate about race and self-defense.

WASHINGTON - A funny thing has happened in the three years since gun rights activists won their biggest victory at the Supreme Court. They have been on a losing streak in the lower courts. The activists found the holy grail in 2008, when the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller said the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to own a firearm unconnected to military service. The court followed it up with McDonald v. Chicago two years later, holding that the amendment applies not just to gun control laws passed by Congress but to...

An uncompromising gun rights organization, which previously attacked Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, is now going after his Republican rival, Rick Santorum. The National Association for Gun Rights launched robo-calls against Santorum this weekend, after publishing an anti-Santorum letter on its website last week. The group says Santorum never filled out its survey, and claims he has a "long history of supporting gun control. " But William Cahill, Santorum's New Hampshire campaign co-chair, says the campaign never received any survey.

PHILADELPHIA - A gun- control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and was on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs. The suggestion that Mary Lou McFate was a double agent is contained in a deposition filed as part of a contract dispute involving a security firm. The magazine Mother Jones, in a story last week, was the first to report on McFate's alleged dual identity.

WASHINGTON -- An analysis of efforts to control violence by restricting guns says there is not enough evidence to reach valid conclusions about their effectiveness. The National Research Council said yesterday that a major research program on firearms is needed. "Policy questions related to gun ownership and proposals for gun control touch on some of the most contentious issues in American politics," Charles F. Wellford, chairman of the committee that wrote the report, said in a statement.

WASHINGTON - Bill Cosby said Sunday that the debate over the killing of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer should be focused on guns, not race. In a taped interview on CNN's "State of the Union," the actor and comedian said that calling George Zimmerman a racist doesn't solve anything. He said the bigger question is what Zimmerman was doing with a gun, and who taught him how to behave with it. The fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 has started a nationwide debate about race and self-defense.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is too liberal for conservative Republicans. Republicans unhappy with the current field of GOP presidential contenders have been urging Christie to run. Christie has resisted becoming a candidate, but those close to the governor say he is reconsidering his decision to stay out of the race. Cain tells "Fox News Sunday" that many conservatives won't support Christie once they find out about his views on global warming, illegal immigrants and gun control.

WASHINGTON - Twice convicted of felonies, James Francis Barton Jr. faces charges of violating a federal law barring felons from owning guns after police found seven pistols, three shotguns, and five rifles at his home south of Pittsburgh. As a defense, Barton and several other defendants in federal gun cases argue that last month's Supreme Court ruling allows them to keep loaded handguns at home for self-defense. "Felons, such as Barton, have the need and the right to protect themselves and their families by keeping firearms in their home," said David Chontos, Barton's court-appointed...

The scope of Michael Moore’s documentaries gets bigger with each movie. Twenty years ago he told the story of how General Motors undid his hometown, and went on to tackle gun control, the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war, and health care. Now Moore is going after the entire American economic system. But “Capitalism: A Love Story’’ is redundant for a filmmaker whose work has always dealt with the dismaying consequences of this country’s profit motive. Isn’t every Michael Moore film ultimately about capitalism?

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is too liberal for conservative Republicans. Republicans unhappy with the current field of GOP presidential contenders have been urging Christie to run. Christie has resisted becoming a candidate, but those close to the governor say he is reconsidering his decision to stay out of the race. Cain tells "Fox News Sunday" that many conservatives won't support Christie once they find out about his views on global warming, illegal immigrants and gun control.

That Rick Perry is a laugh riot. The Texas governor, who packs laser-sighted heat, fielded the ultimate softball at an event in South Carolina over the weekend: How does he feel about gun control? "I am actually for gun control," Perry said. Pause. "Use both hands. " Har. We live in an America where views that inhabited the kooky fringe not so long ago are now settled in the mainstream. So polls have the recently declared Perry besting our former governor and previous front-runner Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

NEW ENGLAND has a centuries-old tradition of both gun manufacturing and gun control. It shouldn't have to pick between the two. However, at least one manufacturer is trying to force the matter. Proposals to require that guns be made suitable for micro-stamping, a technology which would allow shell casings to be traced back to the exact gun they were fired from, have been introduced in the Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts legislatures. These have drawn significant criticism from gun manufacturers, at least one of which, Colt, is threatening to move out of New England...

WASHINGTON - A funny thing has happened in the three years since gun rights activists won their biggest victory at the Supreme Court. They have been on a losing streak in the lower courts. The activists found the holy grail in 2008, when the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller said the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to own a firearm unconnected to military service. The court followed it up with McDonald v. Chicago two years later, holding that the amendment applies not just to gun control laws passed by Congress but to...

By Ben Jacobs Although the riots in the United Kingdom have caused approximately $200 million in property damage so far and engulfed almost every major city in England in violence, there has been one small silver lining: Compared to similar outbreaks of unrest in the United States, like the 1992 riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict, there has been relatively little loss of life. In LA, 53 people died; in the UK, four were dead as of Wednesday afternoon. This likely can be attributed to one major...

PHOENIX — Arizona has become a national leader in the gun rights movement in recent years as the state enacted law after law to protect the people’s right to bear arms nearly anywhere, at any time. The shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a former legislative colleague, has done nothing to slow down the Legislature. Gun rights bills were introduced in the days after the shootings last week, and more proposals are to come.

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday rejected letting people carry hidden guns in 48 states if they have a concealed weapon permit in any one of them, a rare victory for gun control advocates in a Democratic-controlled Congress that has been friendly to the gun lobby. Opponents said it would force states with tough concealed-weapon permit restrictions to let in gun carriers from states that give permits to convicted criminals, minors, and people with no firearms training. “It’s extremely dangerous policy,’’ said Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, noting that her state...

The Lost Constitution , By William Martin, Forge, 512 pp., $24.95 This past March, a federal appeals court struck down the District of Columbia's gun control law, ruling it to be an unconstitutional abridgment of the Second Amendment's right of the people "to keep and bear arms" clause. The ruling is likely to bring this politically and emotionally charged constitutional issue before the Supreme Court, but already it makes William Martin a most prescient novelist. And his novel should stand as a provocative entry in the post-Virginia Tech gun control argument.

The scope of Michael Moore’s documentaries gets bigger with each movie. Twenty years ago he told the story of how General Motors undid his hometown, and went on to tackle gun control, the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war, and health care. Now Moore is going after the entire American economic system. But “Capitalism: A Love Story’’ is redundant for a filmmaker whose work has always dealt with the dismaying consequences of this country’s profit motive. Isn’t every Michael Moore film ultimately about capitalism?

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday rejected letting people carry hidden guns in 48 states if they have a concealed weapon permit in any one of them, a rare victory for gun control advocates in a Democratic-controlled Congress that has been friendly to the gun lobby. Opponents said it would force states with tough concealed-weapon permit restrictions to let in gun carriers from states that give permits to convicted criminals, minors, and people with no firearms training. “It’s extremely dangerous policy,’’ said Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California...