As states loosen gun laws, control advocates worry about inaction of Obama administration

In September we reported that a widespread bullet shortage across the country had resulted, in part, from unfounded fears of impending Obama administration gun regulation, and last month we posted our most recent update about a Tennessee guns-in-bars law. Those two stories appear to be related and part of a spreading trend of states pushing for expanded gun rights before the administration makes any move on the issues. Virginia, Arizona, Wyoming, Tennessee, Montana and at least three other states have all expanded gun rights or are considering such legislation, Ian Urbina of The New York Times reports.

Virginia recently passed its own law allowing concealed weapons to be carried in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. Arizona and Wyoming are considering at least a dozen gun laws, Urbina reports, including one that would allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Tennessee and Montana passed laws last year supposedly exempting "their states from federal regulation of firearms and ammunition that are made, sold and used in state," Urbina writes, and three states are considering similar measures. Meanwhile, gun-control advocates have been critical of the lack of action from Obama.

"We expected a very different picture at this stage," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which last month issued a report card failing the administration in all seven of the group’s major indicators. Still gun rights groups aren't backing down. "The watchword for gun owners is stay ready," Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, told Urbina. "We have had some successes, but we know that the first chance Obama gets, he will pounce on us." (Read more)