Across the Nation

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, left, hugs eight-year-old letter writer Grant Fritz during a news conference on proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. Obama and Biden were joined by law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., last month. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Jan 16, 2013

Obama unveils $500 million gun violence package

"To make a real and lasting difference, Congress must act," Obama said. "And Congress must act soon."

Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, center, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, following a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, victims’ groups and gun safety organizations in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex. From left are, William Kellibrew, Witness to Violence & Founder William Kellibrew Foundation; Hildy Saizow of Arizona for Gun Safety; Colin Goddard, a survivor of Virginia Tech shooting; Annette Nance-Holt, mother of victim to gang violence; and Lonnie Phillips, stepfather of a Aurora, Colo., shooting victim. Biden is holding a series of meetings this week as part of the effort he is leading to develop policy proposals in response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Jan 10, 2013

Biden to meet with NRA to discuss gun safety

The NRA, the nation's largest gun-rights group, has blocked gun-control efforts in the past and is opposing any new ones.

President Barack Obama stands with Vice President Joe Biden as he makes a statement in this Dec. 19, 2012 file photo taken in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, about policies he will pursue following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. Facing an end-of-the-month deadline, the Obama administration is calling gun owner groups, victims' organizations and representatives from the video-game industry to the White House Biden will meet Wednesday Jan. 9, 2013 with gun violence victims' groups and gun safety organizations, a White House official said. On Thursday, he will hold talks with gun ownership groups, as well as advocates for sportsmen. for discussions on potential policy proposals for curbing gun violence. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Jan 9, 2013

Biden to meet with gun-safety, victims groups

Obama has vowed to move swiftly on the recommendations, a package expected to include both legislative proposals and executive action

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, center, holds hands with her husband, Mark Kelly, while exiting Town Hall at Fairfield Hills Campus in Newtown, Conn. after meeting with Newtown officials in this Jan. 4, 2013 file photo. Giffords also met with families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre that left 26 people dead. Tuesday Jan. 8, 2013 is the second anniversary of the shooting of Giffords. Tucson will mark the anniversary by ringing bells across the city at the moment that Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a supermarket where Giffords was meeting with constituents.(AP Photo/The News-Times, Jason Rearick) MANDATORY CREDIT Jan 8, 2013

Giffords, Kelly launch gun control lobbying effort

"Achieving reforms to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings will mean matching gun lobbyists in their reach and resources," they wrote in the column.

In this July 23, 2012 file photo, James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. Holmes was being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and facing additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from a mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured dozens of others. People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible _ partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes. Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including drug use and easy access to guns can increase the likelihood of violence, experts say. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool, File) Dec 24, 2012

Predicting who’s at risk for violence isn’t easy

"They're yellow flags. They only become red flags once the blood is spilled," he said.

Aurora Lawmakers, victims, call for gun control Dec 21, 2012

Aurora Lawmakers, victims, call for gun control

“It’s too easy for criminals to get access to dangerous weapons. We need to do something about that,” said Fields, whose son and his fiancee were gunned down in 2005.

A note, flowers, and other items were left for the victims of last week's deadly shootings at a Connecticut elementary school, at a permanent memorial for those lost in the shootings at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colo., Monday Dec. 17, 2012. Columbine and other sites of mass shootings have been rebuilt by residents determined to reclaim public places invaded by gunmen. Deciding what to do with the scene of a tragic event often determines how a community will heal. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) Dec 17, 2012

Deciding fate of massacre site can help healing

As Newtown, Conn., grieves the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, victims' families and residents will eventually have to decide what to do with the building and how to memorialize the fallen.

This undated photograph released by the Maine State Police shows weapons gathered from the home and vehicle of Timothy Courtois, of Biddeford, Maine, who was arrested Sunday, July 22, 2012 on charges of having a concealed weapon and speeding on the Maine Turnpike. Found in his car were an assault weapon, four handguns and several boxes of ammunition.  A search of his home revealed several additional weapons, including a machine gun, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Courtois told authorities he was on his way to Derry, N.H., to shoot a former employer. He also said he had attended the Batman movie the previous night. (AP Photo/Maine State Police) Oct 1, 2012

Aurora theater shooting victims want gun control debated

"I was lucky. In the next four years, 48,000 Americans won't be so lucky, because they'll be murdered with guns in the next president's term, enough to fill over 200 theaters," Barton says in the ad.

Sep 6, 2012

Not easy to divide Wis. temple-shooting donations

OAK CREEK, Wis. | Officials at the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee are treading carefully as they figure out how to distribute hundreds of thousands …

Aug 28, 2012

Ohioan put on house arrest in Batman weapons case

CLEVELAND  | An Ohio man arrested with a loaded gun, ammunition and knives at a showing of the latest Batman movie has been placed on …