Arrests connected to the home-built weapons are growing rapidly in the U.S. and around the world. It’s likely to prove harder for governments and police to keep them out of the hands of criminals and extremists.
Analysts attribute the surge in background checks for firearm purchases to a fear of COVID-related closures, a summer of protests and a contentious presidential election in the fall. But the increase in purchases has created shortages.
At issue is the right to carry handguns in public, not just keep them at home. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Nov. 3.
The proposed California bill would have created excise taxes on the sale of new guns and would have raised more than $100 million annually for gun violence prevention programs. It failed by nine votes.
It's been with us for nearly four decades, but we still can't definitively answer the question of whether it prevents crime in our cities.
It may be hard to remember, but there was a time when the National Rifle Association was a bipartisan organization.
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