WASHINGTON – About 1.6 percent of applications for gun purchases were rejected in 2003 by the nation’s background check system, according to new Justice Department figures.
The number of rejections was slightly below the 2002 level and continued a decline seen in recent years in the denial rate, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said in a report released Thursday.
The bureau attributed the decline to more extensive background checks, involving more records and an increased number of databases – giving pause to potential purchasers who know they would be prohibited from getting their hands on a gun.
Overall, 126,000 of the approximately 7.8 million applications for guns last year were blocked, the report said.
U.S. to push for protection of sharks
The United States will join with Australia and Madagascar in arguing that great white sharks need to be protected through new global trade restrictions. The Bush administration supports protecting the sharks, which are listed as endangered in many parts of the world, said Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson. The sharks, which can grow to about 24 feet in length, are slow to breed. Hunters have targeted them in the past, and fishermen may accidentally catch them in nets.
Florida: Ruling in brain death case
Dealing a defeat to Gov. Jeb Bush, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a law that was rushed through the Legislature last fall to keep a severely brain-damaged woman hooked to a feeding tube. The seven-member court unanimously said Bush and lawmakers improperly tried to pull an end run around the court system in the case of Terri Schiavo, who has been at the center of a long and bitter right-to-die dispute that pits her husband against his in-laws.
California: Hybrid cars get priority
Rebuffing lobbying by the chairman of Ford Motor Co., Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday that will let thousands of single-occupant hybrid vehicles use carpool lanes. Supporters hope that will prompt more consumers to buy the fuel-efficient, low-emission cars. The bill allows up to 75,000 hybrids to obtain decals from the state to use carpool lanes without having to have the minimum number of two or three occupants. Certain other advanced-technology vehicles could also qualify.
Universities up entry requirements
University of California regents voted Thursday to raise the required grade-point average for incoming students, drawing an angry response from students that the move would hurt enrollment of blacks and Hispanics. The decision raises the minimum required GPA from 2.8 to 3.0. The vote infuriated about three dozen students at the meeting, and they greeted the decision with shouts of “Education is a right. Not just for the rich and white.”
Pennsylvania: No horseback DUIs
The state Supreme Court ruled that Pennsylvania’s drunken driving law can’t be enforced against people on horseback. The court ruled Wednesday in a case against two men in Mercer County in 2002. Riders Keith Travis, 41, and Richard Noel, 49, were charged with drunken driving along with a man driving a pickup who allegedly rear-ended the horse Travis was riding away from a bar on a dark country road. All three men failed field sobriety tests, police said.
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