Duke Cunningham

From Behind Bars, Randy "Duke" Cunningham Begs For The Right To Own A Gun

Ryan J. Reilly | May 25, 2012, 6:07PM

Randall "Duke" Cunningham, the disgraced former congressman currently serving an eight year sentence for his involvement in one of the biggest bribery scandals in congressional history, would like his second amendment rights restored when he leaves prison so he can hunt, fish and protect himself from rabid cougars, he wrote in a letter to a federal judge this month.

Unfortunately for 71-year-old Cunningham, that wouldn't happen because legislation passed during his time in Congress bans ATF from using federal funds to investigate whether felons should get their gun rights restored.

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Fast And Furious

Fast And Furious: GOP Moves Towards Holder Contempt Resolution

Ryan J. Reilly | April 27, 2012, 1:50PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Led by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Republicans in the House are preparing a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging that the nation's top law enforcement official has obstructed a congressional investigation into a federal operation that allowed guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels.

A congressional source with knowledge of the contempt resolution confirmed to TPM that a draft does exist and said Republican leadership had been very supportive of the measure, which was first reported by CBS News. CBS said House Speaker John Boehner had given Issa the go-ahead to pursue the resolution, but a GOP leadership aide disputed that report and told TPM that "no decision" had been made.

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Fast And Furious

Obama Has 'Full Confidence' In Eric Holder Ahead Of 'Fast And Furious' Hearing

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2011, 1:05AM

While House Republicans gear up to grill Attorney General Eric Holder about what-he-knew-when about ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, the White House is signaling they're standing by the nation's top law enforcement officer.

"As the President has made clear, he believes Eric Holder is an excellent Attorney General who has his full confidence," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement to TPM on Wednesday.

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Chuck Grassley

Giffords Shooting Survivors Slam Grassley's 'Disregard' For Gun Violence Victims

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:13PM

Tucson, Arizona Shooting Witness Patricia Maisch And Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley

Eleven survivors and family members of victims of the January 2011 shooting in Arizona that nearly killed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) are criticizing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for what they say was a "dismissive and political response" to Tucson shooting survivor Patricia Maisch's testimony in support of legislation which would close holes in the gun background check system.

In a letter sent to Grassley on Wednesday and obtained by TPM, Retired Colonel Bill Badger, Nancy Bowman, Carol Dorushka, Kenneth Dorushka, Randy Gardner, John Maisch, Patricia Maisch, Angela Robbinson, Faith Salzgeber, Foger Salzgeber and Mavy Stoddard write of their "profound disappointment" with Grassley's "obvious disregard for the gun violence survivors in the room" as well as his "apparent ignorance of the deadly serious issue we came to discuss with you."

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Gun Rights

Report Finds Holes In Gun Background Check System

Ryan J. Reilly | November 15, 2011, 9:41AM

Chinese-made SKS rifle on counter at A & A Guns in Fairfax, Virginia.

Over 60 survivors and family members of gun violence victims -- including 13 survivors or family members of victims of the shooting at Rep. Gabby Giffords's town hall -- are hitting Capitol Hill on Tuesday to encourage lawmakers to close holes in the gun background check system.

Their visit will be accompanied by a report by Mayors Against Illegal Gun Violence that finds missing records may help put guns in the hands of killers. The report finds that millions of records what would identify individuals as mentally ill or drug abusers are missing from the federal background check database due to lax reporting by state agencies. It also finds that federal agencies are not reporting requirements to the background check system despite the law that all federal agencies report "any record of any person" who is prohibited from purchasing firearms to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

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ATF

Emails: Bush-Era Embassy, Prosecutor's Office Approved ATF 'Gun Walking' Tactic

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 5:00PM

As House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) continues to try to pin the flawed "gun walking" tactic employed in Operation Fast and Furious on the Obama administration, it's becoming increasingly clear that problems with ATF's Phoenix division date back at least into the Bush era.

TPM has obtained the documents relating to another Bush-era ATF operation (on top of Operation Wide Receiver) which deployed the "gun walking" tactic. The development was first reported by Pete Yost of the Associated Press.

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ATF

ATF Didn't Consult White House On Emergency Request For Controversial Gun Rule

Ryan J. Reilly | October 6, 2011, 6:00AM

Here's some news for all the NRA members convinced that ATF's rifle reporting requirement in four border states is a diabolical plot by the Obama administration to crack down on the Second Amendment. ATF didn't consult the White House before they published an emergency request for a proposed rule requiring gun dealers in four border states to report bulk sales of semi-automatic weapons in the Federal Register.

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Florida

Would You Like A High Capacity Magazine With That? FL Co Gives Away AK-47s To New Customers

Jillian Rayfield | September 16, 2011, 12:31PM

AK-47s

A Florida company called Merchant Service is offering potential clients a voucher for a free AK-47 for opening an account with them, as part of their "No Merchant Victims" campaign.

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Florida

Judge Blocks Florida Law That Restricts Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns

David Taintor | September 15, 2011, 6:10AM

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Florida law that restricts doctors -- namely pediatricians -- from asking their patients about guns.

"At issue in this litigation is a law directed at maintaining patients' privacy rights regarding firearm ownership within the context of the doctor-patient relationship," the ruling reads. "In effect, however, the law curtails practitioners' ability to inquire about whether patients own firearms and burdens their ability to deliver a firearm safety message to patients, under certain circumstances."

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Brady Center

Brady Center Report: Manufacturers 'Lost' At Least 16,000 Guns Over The Past Two Years

David Taintor | September 5, 2011, 11:13AM

Glock 9mm handgun and its ammunition.

Every day over the past two and a half years, 18 guns have gone missing from firearms manufactures without any record of being sold, according to a report from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. That adds up to 16,485 "missing" guns since 2009.

The report comes after a January 2011 report from the Brady Center that showed gun retail dealers "lost" more than 62,000 guns since 2008. The Brady Center cites data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in its analysis.

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ATF

Report: ATF Officials Left Colleagues In Mexico Out Of The Loop On 'Fast And Furious'

Ryan J. Reilly | July 26, 2011, 12:01AM

Acting ATF Head, Ken Melson

Ahead of another House Oversight Committee hearing on ATF's "Fast and Furious" controversy on Tuesday, the Republican and Democratic staffs of the House Oversight Committee have issued dueling reports on the latest information uncovered by congressional investigators.

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Fast And Furious

Dem Response To ATF Scandal: Hey, Maybe We Should Make Gun Trafficking Illegal

Ryan J. Reilly | July 18, 2011, 3:50PM

Rep. Darrell E. Issa (D-CA) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

Everyone seems pretty upset right now with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) over their botched "Fast and Furious" program. Agents allegedly watched as suspected "straw purchasers" bought weapons they intended to give to Mexican drug cartels. So Democrats have a crazy idea: maybe buying weapons for drug cartels should be, you know, illegal.

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Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

To Combat Gun Trafficking, ATF Ask Dealers To Report Sales Of Semi-Automatic Rifles

Ryan J. Reilly | July 11, 2011, 3:27PM

Amid ongoing probes of the ATF Fast and Furious scandal, the Obama administration announced Monday that they are asking gun dealers in four border states to report when they sell two or more semi-automatic weapons to an individual in a period of five business days.

The rule, enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is meant to slow the trafficking of weapons across the Southern border and into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

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Florida

Florida Bill Would Bar Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns

David Taintor | May 9, 2011, 2:44PM

As NPR reports, a Florida bill would bar doctors -- in particular pediatricians -- from asking their patients if they own guns. Gov. Rick Scott (R) is expected to sign the bill this week, which would make Florida the first state with such a law.

Scott's office would not release a timeline on when the governor plans to sign the bill. But Scott's press secretary, Lane Wright, told TPM "it's likely he will support it."

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Project Gunrunner

Issa's Office: Obama Admin Wouldn't Answer Questions On 'Role In Arming Deadly Drug Cartels'

Ryan J. Reilly | April 29, 2011, 12:55PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and President Barack Obama (D)

As congressional investigators ramp up their investigation into Project Gunrunner, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is ramping up his rhetoric.

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ATF

Amid Probe Of 'Project Gunrunner,' Obama Seeks Comments On ATF's Anti-Gun Trafficking Rule

Ryan J. Reilly | April 28, 2011, 3:55PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and President Barack Obama (D)

As House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) probes Project Gunrunner -- the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) effort aimed at combating gun trafficking on the Mexican border that went awry -- the Obama administration is seeking another round of comments on a controversial proposal to make gun dealers in four border states report sales of multiple rifles.

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Gun Rights

Arizona Legislature Approves Colt Revolver As Official State Gun

David Taintor | April 20, 2011, 6:24PM

Arizona is hot on Utah's heels, following its lead to designate its own official state gun.

The Arizona House early Wednesday narrowly approved the Colt Single Action Army Revolver as the state's official gun. The bill had been rejected earlier in an all-night session, the AP reports, but it eventually won approval by a 32-25 vote.

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High-Capacity Magazines

Fiancée, Father of Giffords Staffer Support Ban On High Capacity Clips

Melissa Jeltsen | April 12, 2011, 11:52AM

Efforts to ban high-capacity gun magazines, like the one allegedly used by accused Tuscon shooter Jared Loughner, are gaining some momentum. On Tuesday morning, Kelly O'Brien - the fiancée of congressional staffer Gabe Zimmerman, who was killed in the Tuscon rampage - joined legislators for a press conference to endorse House and Senate bills banning high-capacity magazines, or assault clips.

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Gun Control

Pro Gun Group Claims Obama Has Secret 'Freedom Crushing Plan' For Second Amendment

Melissa Jeltsen | April 1, 2011, 10:02AM

President Barack Obama

When it comes to the thorny issue of guns, President Barack Obama is finding it difficult to please anyone. Gun control groups are dissatisfied with his progress on the issue, though a recent meeting with Obama administration officials about reducing gun violence may improve relations. Gun-rights groups, on the other hand, paint Obama as an 'anti-gun' President, intent on destroying the Second amendment.

Now a conservative gun-rights organization has launched an email fundraising campaign claiming that Obama is secretly planning to eviscerate the Second amendment through an executive order.

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Guns

Brady Campaign: DOJ Meeting Shows Obama Is 'Serious' About Combatting Gun Violence

Ryan J. Reilly | March 16, 2011, 3:20PM

President Barack Obama

A coalition of pro gun-control groups met with Obama administration officials at the Justice Department Tuesday to discuss ways to prevent gun violence.

The meeting at DOJ headquarters, the first in a series of meetings the administration is trying to schedule to address the issue, was led by Christopher H. Schroeder, Assistant Attorney General for DOJ's Office of Legal Policy. Representatives of the White House, the Vice President's office, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also in attendance.

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NRA

NRA CEO Says Gun Control Debate Shouldn't Be About Guns (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | March 14, 2011, 5:10PM

President Barack Obama's editorial calling for a fresh dialogue on the issue of guns in the wake of the shootings in Arizona went out of its way to avoid offending gun owners. He said "almost all gun owners in America are highly responsible," called them "our friends and neighbors," and said they "buy their guns legally and use them safely, whether for hunting or target shooting, collection or protection."

He pointed out that gun rights have been expanded during his administration, and didn't call for any new restrictions on guns -- instead advocating for "enforcing laws that are already on the books."

But the National Rifle Association appears determined to be offended by Obama's call for a new tone in the discussion over gun policy. Appearing on Fox News on Monday, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre told Megyn Kelly that Obama has an "administration embedded with people who spent their lifetime trying to destroy" the freedom of the Second Amendment.

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Barack Obama

Two Months After Tucson, Obama Calls For Conversation On Gun Safety

Ryan J. Reilly | March 14, 2011, 9:35AM

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama has weighed into the gun-control debate two months after the mass shooting in Arizona.

In an op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star over the weekend, Obama writes that "like the majority of Americans, I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. And the courts have settled that as the law of the land."

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Arizona

Arizona May Designate Colt Revolver As Its Official State Gun

Jillian Rayfield | February 23, 2011, 2:37PM

Not so fast Utah -- Arizona is now giving chase in the race to be the first state with an official gun. A bill to make the Colt revolver the state's official firearm passed out of the Arizona State Senate appropriations committee Wednesday by a vote of 9-4.

The vote comes less than two months after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) was shot in Tuscon, in a shooting that killed six people. Giffords survived and is currently in rehabilitating in Texas.

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Carl Wimmer

Utah Legislature Approves Official State Gun Despite Controversy

David Taintor | February 11, 2011, 3:18PM

Utah is poised to be the first state to designate an official state gun.

The state senate on Thursday voted 20-7 to recommend the Browning M1911 pistol as its official state gun.

State Rep. Carl Wimmer (R) -- the bill's chief sponsor -- told TPM in December that he considers the Browning pistol "an instrument of freedom and democracy."

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Michael Bloomberg

NYC Investigation Into AZ Gun Show Finds Dealers Sold Guns Without Background Checks

David Taintor | January 31, 2011, 5:35PM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday announced the results of an undercover investigation into a gun show in Arizona -- and that those results show just how simple it is to buy a gun there with minimal oversight.

According to the the Gun Show Undercover: Arizona report, undercover investigators successfully bought guns after telling unlicensed dealers, "I probably couldn't pass a background check." The investigation took place January 23 at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix.

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Gun Control

Gun Rights Battle Heads To Bars, Churches, Doctors' Offices And Day Care

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | January 28, 2011, 9:40AM

After ignoring the issue of gun control for his entire presidency to date, aides to President Barack Obama said Wednesday he'd take up the issue within the next few weeks. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney has said he'd be okay with banning high-capacity clips in the wake of the mass shooting that nearly killed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and left six others dead.

But there's a whole other lot of Second Amendment supporters who, instead of discussing middle-of-the-road measures to curb gun violence, are advocating to rescind or roll back even current restrictions.

In state legislatures around the country, conservatives lawmakers are introducing some of the most enthusiastic right-to-bear-arms bills to date. Here's TPM's round up.

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Gun Control

Obama Doesn't Mention Gun Control In State Of The Union

Ryan J. Reilly | January 26, 2011, 9:55AM

To the dismay of groups hoping the White House would take the lead on proposed legislation to ban high-capacity extended magazines in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), President Barack Obama did not mention gun control in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

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Gun Control

Brady Campaign: 'Gun Violence Destroyed Christina And Her Dreams'

Ryan J. Reilly | January 25, 2011, 10:50PM

President Barack Obama

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued a statement criticizing President Barack Obama for not mentioning gun control during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

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Gun Control

Republican Jean Schmidt Doesn't Want Obama After Her Guns

Ryan J. Reilly | January 25, 2011, 7:15PM

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH)

There are plenty of people hoping President Barack Obama mentions gun control during his State of the Union address this evening in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) is not among them.

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Dick Cheney

Cheney Okay With Limiting High-Capacity Magazines In Wake Of Giffords Shooting (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 19, 2011, 1:45PM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney is no gun control advocate. In fact, as Rachel Maddow pointed out in a recent segment, he was one of only a couple members of the House of Representatives who voted against a ban on plastic guns back in the 1980s and is a regular at meetings of the National Rifle Association.

But in the wake of the mass shooting in Arizona that gravely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and killed six others, even Cheney indicated he's support restrictions on high-capacity magazines such as the clip allegedly used by Jared Lee Loughner.

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Emerson Begolly

Alleged Nazi Jihadist Blamed Pedophile Pastor For Hatred Of America

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | January 17, 2011, 8:54AM

TPM Illustration

Instant messaging conversations allegedly written by Emerson Begolly reveal him as anti-Semitic, extreme, armed and dangerous. But they also reveal what he claimed was the genesis of his extremist views: an interaction with a Christian pastor who was a registered sex offender.

Begolly's is a cautionary tale about the threat of homegrown terrorism: the radicalized 21-year-old college student reportedly obsessed over violence and martyrdom and said he was disgusted by a country where "homosexuality... abortion... assisted suicide, whores, and dru(g)s r all legal."

But it's also the strange story of a loner living on a farm in a small Pennsylvania town who had easy access to weapons and vented his frustrations with his family (a father who dressed him up in Nazi regalia and hit him as a child and an estranged mother with reported mental health issues of her own) in jihadist web forums.

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NRA

NRA: Anti-High-Capacity Clip Bill Just A Scheme To Impose 'Gun Ban'

Ryan J. Reilly | January 15, 2011, 9:53AM

Sarah Palin speaks before the National Rifle Association

Six days after a gunman attempted to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and killed six others in a mass shooting, the National Rifle Association (NRA) broke its silence, pledging to fight off any and all attempts to impose harsher regulations on guns and high-capacity magazines.

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Westboro Baptist Church

Westboro Baptists Not Big On Obama's Call To Dial Down The Rhetoric

Ryan J. Reilly | January 14, 2011, 2:30PM

Shirley Phelps-Roper

There's a least one group not taking kindly to President Barack Obama's call for civility this week in the wake of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ): the Westboro Baptist Church.

Not surprisingly, a spokesperson from the infamous congregation (best known for protesting the funerals of soldiers killed in action with anti-gay signs) blew off Obama's plea to bring it down a notch in a phone interview with TPM on Friday.

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Emerson Begolly

Alleged Jihadist Joked FBI Was 'Drunk' When He Got His AK-47

Ryan J. Reilly | January 14, 2011, 9:46AM

Nobody was more surprised than 21-year-old Emerson Begolly when he cleared an Federal Bureau of Investigation background check and was allowed to purchase an AK-47 assault rifle last year. After all, he'd been a moderator and contributor on Islamic extremist web forums, posted songs praising suicide bombers, discussed his jihad fantasies in the open and even made an appearance in Newsweek under a pseudonym that his grandmother clipped and saved. He knew for a fact "the man" was onto him.

"i honestly think that the day the[y] ended the hold and sold me the gun someone at the FBI showed up to work drunk," Begolly wrote on a jihadist web forum under the name Abu Nancy (the name of his imaginary daughter), according to transcripts filed by the feds yesterday.

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Frank Lautenberg

Lautenberg: 'We Don't Have More Madmen, We Have More Guns' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2011, 1:37PM

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said on Tuesday that America's problem isn't that there are more madmen, it's that guns are too readily available to them. In the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the murder of six others in a mass shooting over the weekend is pushing legislation to ban high-capacity gun clips.

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Gabby Giffords

No Signs Obama Will Shift On Gun Control After Giffords Shooting

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | January 11, 2011, 8:37AM

Virtually since the Obama administration took office, the White House has avoided touching the third-rail issue of gun control with a 10-foot pole. So will the mass shooting in Arizona that gravely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and killed six others (including a federal judge) change their approach?

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Jared Lee Loughner

Woman Who Grabbed Loughner's Gun Clip: 'Extreme Right' Added To Problem (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 10, 2011, 10:49AM

Patricia Maisch, the 61-year-old woman who grabbed a magazine away from the alleged shooter on Saturday, suggested in an interview with Fox News on Sunday night that hateful rhetoric was in part to blame for the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the mass shooting which killed six others and left more than a dozen injured.

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ATF

As Deadline On Anti Gun Trafficking Rule Passes, ATF Fights Back In PSA (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 5, 2011, 9:25AM

Today's the day the White House's Office of Management and Budget was supposed to give the ATF the go-ahead to implement a rule requiring gun dealers on the Mexican border to report bulk sales of semiautomatic weapons to the feds, a plan intended to combat the trafficking of such firearms south of the border.

But the Obama administration says it needs more time.

"ATF's information collection request is still under review," an administration official told TPM.

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ATF

ATF To Require Dealers To Report Bulk Semiautomatic Rifle Sales

Ryan J. Reilly | December 20, 2010, 12:00PM

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Friday requested emergency permission to require that gun dealers report to them bulk sales of the high-powered semiautomatic rifles favored by drug cartels -- all part of the Administration's effort to combat the flow of guns to Mexico.

It is a plan that had languished for months at the Justice Department because of concerns over what the National Rifle Association (NRA) might think. The Washington Post reports now that it was held up by the White House in the spring -- around the same time that President Barack Obama promised Mexican President Felipe Calderon he'd work to prevent gunrunning south of the border.

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ATF

Gov't Too Scared Of NRA To Stop Border Gun Trafficking

Ryan J. Reilly | December 15, 2010, 1:53PM

Just how much power does the National Rifle Association wield in Washington? Enough that a plan quietly proposed by federal agents to combat illegal gun trafficking along the Mexico border has languished at the Justice Department for months -- all because officials are worried about what the NRA might think.

The Washington Post published an account of the internal debate today, outlining the enormity of the influence the gun lobby -- led by the NRA -- holds over federal gun policy and its enforcement.

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