WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.2% annual rate in the first three months of the year, a far better outcome than expected, overcoming a host of headwinds including global weakness, rising trade tensions and a partial government shutdown. The advance in the gross domestic product, the...
NRA Beset by Infighting Over Whether It Has Strayed Too Far
The National Rifle Association is used to battling forces that criticize its fiery and unbending efforts to protect gun rights. But as the group gathers for its annual convention this week, the NRA may be facing its toughest foe in decades: its own members. NRA insiders and longtime observers describe...
How California Got Tough on Guns
The modern American gun debate began on May 2, 1967, when 30 protesting members of the Black Panther Party marched into the California Capitol with loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles. As photos of gun-toting radicals from Oakland hit front pages across the country, many Americans were shocked to see who...
In Plea Deal, Russian Woman Admits to Being a Secret Agent
WASHINGTON — A Russian gun-rights activist admitted Thursday that she was a secret agent for the Kremlin who tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump rose to power. Maria Butina, 30, agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors....
Judge Blocks Release of Blueprints for 3D Printed Guns
SEATTLE — A federal judge on Tuesday stopped the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed plastic guns as President Donald Trump questioned whether his administration should have agreed to allow the plans to be posted online. The company behind the plans, Austin, Texas-based Defense Distributed, had reached...
17 More Shooting Deaths and Still No Common Ground
Let's consider the possibility that both sides — though they are a thousand miles apart — make cogent points in America's torrid debate about gun violence and mass shootings. The "thoughts and prayers" utterances by Second Amendment espousing politicians neither address the problem nor provide even an ounce of consolation...
Valley Republicans Rake in Big Donations from Gun Rights Groups
Whether you are for it or against it, gun control is again leading the national conversation after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history killed 17 people Wednesday, Feb. 14. Those killed included 14 students and three faculty members at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The victims ranged in...
Valley Republicans Rake in Big Donations from Gun Rights Groups
Whether you are for it or against it, gun control is again leading the national conversation after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history killed 17 people Wednesday, Feb. 14. Those killed included 14 students and three faculty members at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The victims ranged in...