Page 5 - Jon Patterson News Today

Two states. Two tragedies. Two different approaches to improving public safety.

Two states. Two tragedies. Two different approaches to improving public safety.

Legislatures in about 20 states already have passed measures this year to expand gun rights or restrict access to firearms. Dozens more proposals are pending. The divide continues a trend seen last year, when more than half the states enacted firearms legislation, with Democrats generally favoring more limits and Republicans more freedoms for gun owners.

Six months after a deadly mass shooting by an Army reservist, Maine lawmakers this week passed a wide-ranging package of new gun restrictions.Three months after

On Wednesday, legislation sponsored by Republican state Rep. John Black of Marshfield was approved on a 106-49 vote.

The measure is the latest Republican attempt to rein in the power of voters to change the Missouri Constitution.

One Democrat suggested Republicans would pay a political price at the ballot box this November.

One Democrat suggested Republicans would pay a political price at the ballot box this November.

Missouri law says that “life begins at conception.” But conception is not defined, and it is unclear if conception includes embryos create through in vitro fertilization.

Democrats want to give Kansas City and St. Louis local control over firearms regulations.