Gun Violence

The Aug. 13 news article "For Colorado victims, challenges go beyond injuries" explored the dim financial prospects facing the surviving victims of the Colorado theater shooting. The available options predominantly involve the victims' ability to pay for their own recoveries, which often can require years. Coping with these expenses, victims increasingly have to rely on the ingenuity of their families and friends to create appealing pitches for contributions. Would gun advocates support a liability fund for gun-violence victims financed...

Jeffrey Nugent is the former president and chief executive of Revlon. I'm a member of the National Rifle Association and a former Army officer with assignments in the military police, artillery, and operations research and intelligence at the Pentagon. I'm also Ted Nugent's older brother. Ted and I recently attended the NRA convention in Houston, where he delivered the gathering's final speech and continued his ardent defense of the Second Amendment. Ted and I have hunted together for...

Maryland residents overwhelmingly support Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to force gun buyers to submit to fingerprinting, safety training and more background checks, according to a new Washington Post poll . Across the state, fully 85 percent back the governor's licensing plan and 73 percent do so "strongly. " They also support banning high-capacity ammunition clips and assault weapons — two other portions of O'Malley's (D) bill, which in the wake of the December school shooting in...

WASHINGTON — Two D.C. councilmembers said Thursday that they support some form of mandate that gun owners carry liability insurance, but they would have to overcome the objections of Mayor Vincent Gray for the District of Columbia to become the nation's first jurisdiction to require such coverage. Councilmembers Vincent Orange and Mary Cheh said after a hearing Thursday that any bill they pursue would likely be narrower than Cheh's initial proposal, which includes a requirement that gun...

Milwaukee Public officials are very selective about when violence and death matter. Massacres and terrorist incidents cannot be ignored, but the day-to-day toll from gun violence is often swept aside. Politicians who tout themselves as advocates of law and order don't want to be unmasked as caring even more about their ratings from gun lobbyists. And opponents of the most moderate gun reforms engage in a shameless game of bait-and-switch. Because measures such as background checks would not stop every murder,...

Charlotte and Harriet Childress are researchers and consultants on social and political issues. They are the co-authors of " Clueless at the Top: While the Rest of Us Turn Elsewhere for Life, Liberty, and Happiness ," on outdated hierarchies in American culture. Imagine if African American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year. Articles and interviews would flood the media, and we'd have political debates demanding that African Americans be "held accountable.

It has been more than a month since Adam Lanza marched into Sandy Hook Elementary School and massacred 20 children and six adult staff members before taking his own life. Since that day, a massive debate over guns has gripped the country. President Obama has announced new measures to reduce gun violence . A Connecticut school was just named for one of the fallen teachers. And the Sandy Hook students are back in class . Yet we still know...

A few years ago, one of us came across a young woman who had just been hit by a car. She was the mother of two young children and one of Atlanta's star runners. I found her unconscious and bleeding profusely from a severe head injury. She died in my arms while I tried to resuscitate her. Her death was tragic, but it wasn't "senseless. " In scientific terms, it was explicable. The runner, who had competed in 15 marathons and broken many records, wore no lights or reflective vest in the...

President Obama delivered remarks at the White House on April 17, 2013, after the Senate rejected the deal on expanded gun background checks reached by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: A few months ago, in response to too many tragedies, including the shootings of a United States congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who's here today, and the murder of 20 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers, this...

The afterglow of President Obama's reelection and inauguration appears to have vanished as increasingly negative views among Americans about his stewardship of the economy have forced his public approval rating back down to the 50 percent mark, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll . In December , just after he won a second term, Obama held an 18-percentage-point advantage over congressional Republicans on the question of...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is planning a mental health conference next month in response to gun violence. Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plan to host the conference June 3 at the White House. Carney said attendees will include mental health advocates, health care providers, faith leaders, government officials, educators and people who have experienced mental health problems. Carney said they will discuss how to reduce the stigma...

WASHINGTON — A political group backed by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is coming to the aid of New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, airing a new television ad in the Republican's home state defending her stance on gun legislation. Rubio's Reclaim America political action committee says in the new ad that Ayotte has sought to reduce gun violence in New Hampshire, home of the nation's first presidential primary. The ad points to "safety, security, family. No one understands these...

Milwaukee Public officials are very selective about when violence and death matter. Massacres and terrorist incidents cannot be ignored, but the day-to-day toll from gun violence is often swept aside. Politicians who tout themselves as advocates of law and order don't want to be unmasked as caring even more about their ratings from gun lobbyists. And opponents of the most moderate gun reforms engage in a shameless game of bait-and-switch. Because measures such as background checks would not stop...

The May 8 news article " Report: Gun violence has fallen greatly since '93 " failed to mention that the 1994 law requiring licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks on those purchasing firearms may be a contributor to reducing gun deaths by 39 percent and injuries by 69 percent between 1993 and 2011. I don't expect universal background checks and gun safety lessons to solve all gun violence. However, if such measures contribute to a further drop of 5 percent or 10 percent, it will make a big difference to...

Eleven years ago, Charles Booker was fatally shot on a Northeast Washington street. On Sunday, younger brother Frederick Booker met the same fate, leaving a mother still grieving over one loss now devastated by another. It was Frederick who had made the tearful call to Charlene Booker in the summer of 2002, according to a news account at the time: "Mommy, somebody shot Charlie and he's dead. " Now, D.C. police are investigating whether a triple shooting Thursday night is related to Sunday's attack two...

BALTIMORE — A 20-year-old cousin of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was fatally shot during a home invasion in the city, an outcome the mayor called tragic but symptomatic of the "senseless gun violence" that plagues Baltimore and other communities. Joseph Haskins was shot late Wednesday night at a northwest Baltimore home, according to city police, who provided few details of what happened. He was alive when police arrived but died early Thursday morning at...

Here's a complete transcript of President Obama's remarks on his administration's plans for gun control, and his views on the impending fiscal cliff, as delivered on Dec. 19, 2012. Transcript was updated as the remarks unfolded. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. It's now been five days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut; three days since we gathered as a nation to pray for the victims, and today a few more of the 20 small children and six educators who...

Gun violence dropped dramatically nationwide over the past two decades, but nearly three-quarters of all homicides are still committed with a firearm, the Justice Department said in a report released Tuesday. The report, by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, painted an encouraging picture of long-term trends at a time of divisive political debate over guns and legislation to regulate them . Firearms-related homicides declined 39 percent between 1993 and 2011, the report said, while...

I salute the people of Walton County, Ga., who were profiled in the article " Ready to aim and fire " [front page, May 5]. Melinda Herman did everything right. She retreated from conflict, using deadly force as a last resort. She kept the gun in a safe. She took firearms training. The county sheriff said he would do everything to ensure that members of the community are trained and responsible gun owners. The head of the community watch program "stresses vigilance" rather than vigilantism and offers talks...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland's comprehensive gun-control measure is constitutional, Attorney General Doug Gansler wrote in a 25-page legal review made public on Wednesday. The letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who proposed the plan in January and is scheduled to sign it at a May 16 bill ceremony, outlines legal opinions about some of the main parts of the measure that was approved by the Maryland General Assembly last month. Gansler noted that the measure was "crafted carefully to balance the rights of legitimate gun...