WASHINGTON — Since a severely mentally ill man rampaged through Virginia Tech last year, killing 32 people before turning a gun on himself, Congress and several states have been working to tighten rules on who can legally purchase a firearm.

But a push in the U.S. Senate would remove from the national background check the names of 115,000 veterans who have been declared "mentally defective" — and would prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from adding any more names unless the agency goes through a judicial system.

The problem, says the senator behind the efforts, is that the veterans were added not because they were a danger to themselves or to others, but because they were assigned fiduciary guardians by the Department of Veterans Affairs. » read more

WASHINGTON — The room was full of military families as Muppets sang new "Sesame Street" songs aimed at preschoolers with parents in faraway Iraq and Afghanistan.

When Elmo, who speaks to that age group as only a 3 1/2-year-old furry red Muppet can, said sadly in his high-pitched voice, "Sometimes there are days when I miss my daddy," a child in the audience blurted out, "I miss my daddy, too!"

It nearly brought the room to tears. » read more