David Sherfinski

Mail addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker tests positive for deadly ricin

An envelope addressed to a U.S. Senate office tested positive for the deadly poison ricin Tuesday, launching a criminal investigation and prompting warnings to other offices to take precautions with their mail.

April 16, 2013

Showdown in the U.S. Senate as hunt for gun-control votes intensifies

Gun control supporters scrambled to find 60 votes to pass expanded background checks on firearms purchases, hoping to sway reluctant senators ahead of a showdown vote.

April 16, 2013

Senators draw line at private gun sales; compromise to test ideals

With chances iffy for winning a broad expansion of background checks in the Senate this week, gun control advocates face a tough choice: Hold out for a wide-ranging bill and risk killing it altogether, or find the stomach for a watered-down approach that ensures at least something passes.

April 15, 2013

Harry Reid warns of ‘unreasonable extremists’ in gun debate

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, kicked off Monday's session by saying the victims of December's Connecticut shooting rampage deserve a vote on gun legislation and warning of "unreasonable extremists" who may try to derail or delay the process.

April 15, 2013

Supreme Court won’t hear New York gun law challenge

As the debate over gun rights heats up on Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition to hear a challenge to a key provision of New York state's restrictive gun laws.

April 15, 2013

Background checks amount to ‘new tax on guns,’ Coburn insists

The deal senators have struck to expand firearm background checks to all Internet and gun show sales will drive up prices for consumers, weapons retailers say.

April 15, 2013

Gun dealers say expanded background checks would drive up costs

The deal senators have struck to expand firearm background checks to all Internet and gun show sales will drive up prices for consumers, weapons retailers say.

April 14, 2013

Gun-rights leader: ‘We snookered the other side’ on Toomey-Manchin

A prominent gun-rights advocate claims his group's staff was in the room during the drafting of the recently unveiled proposal to expand gun-purchase background checks and said that "we snookered the other side — they haven't figured it out yet."

April 14, 2013

Senators uncertain how vote on gun bill will swing; co-sponsors look for GOP support

Lawmakers on both sides of a proposal to expand gun-purchase background checks to sales online and at gun shows said Sunday that they don't know whether it will pass — a hurdle that, if not cleared, likely would kill the prospects of significant gun control legislation on Capitol Hill.

April 14, 2013

Boehner: ‘I fully expect the House will act’ on gun legislation in coming months

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday that he fully expects the House of Representatives to act on gun legislation in the coming months, but said he wasn't prepared to make a commitment on Senate measures that are still in flux.

April 11, 2013

Senators avert gun filibuster, setting up hard fight; 16 Republicans among ‘no’ votes

Senators overcame a Republican-led filibuster on gun control Thursday, ensuring that the first post-Newtown legislation will reach the Senate floor and setting up bruising fights over expanded background checks and bans on some guns and ammunition.

April 11, 2013

Senate poised for key vote on gun bill

The Senate on Thursday was scheduled to key test vote on whether to move forward with debate on wide-ranging gun control legislation that would set the stage for a bruising, potentially weeks-long floor battle four months after Connecticut's school shooting rampage.

April 11, 2013

Sens. Joe Manchin, Pat Toomey roll out background-check compromise on guns

A bipartisan group of lawmakers reached a deal Wednesday to expand background checks to guns purchased on the Internet or at trade shows, clearing the way for the Senate to begin debating a new gun control bill this week.

April 10, 2013

Harry Reid sets stage for showdown gun vote in Senate, dares GOP to filibuster

Senate Democrats have set Thursday as the date for the first major gun showdown in Congress since the Connecticut school shootings, saying they will put their gun control bill on the chamber floor and dare Republicans to filibuster it.

April 9, 2013

Obama takes gun control debate to Connecticut, challenges Congress to remember victims

With his calls for gun control faltering in Washington, President Obama on Monday traveled to Connecticut, the site of December's school shooting rampage, to portray this week's potential Senate showdown as a choice between saving children's lives or caving to special-interest gun lobbies.

April 8, 2013

Filibuster gains support to delay gun control vote

A growing number of senators are trying to quash gun legislation before it even hits the chamber floor as Democrats hold out hope for a compromise and the White House gears up for a weeklong offensive to pressure Congress to act.

April 7, 2013

Maryland girl is armed with arguments against gun control

A three-minute video of Sarah Merkle's testimony about Maryland's new gun legislation has drawn more than 2 million views on YouTube, won her praise from gun rights advocates across the country and even scored her an interview on national television last week.

April 7, 2013

Advocate promises ‘banquet’ for sheriffs challenging fed gun push

Larry Pratt, the executive director of the gun rights group Gun Owners of America, welcomed the idea of a local sheriff defying federal agents who try to come in and enforce new gun controls, saying that "we would immediately fly out and have a banquet in his honor."

April 5, 2013

Drop-off in gun prosecutions began before Obama

Gun rights groups have singled out President Obama for failing to prosecute gun crimes, but the drop in cases filed actually began a decade ago under the Bush administration.

April 4, 2013

Connecticut close to enacting tough gun measure

Four months after the shooting rampage in Newtown, the Connecticut state Senate on Wednesday signed off on what lawmakers touted as the strictest gun controls of any state in the nation after a daylong debate that stretched into early evening.

April 3, 2013