The nation in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “There were people who said they’d never

vote for an African-American president.

Now they’ve voted for him twice, and he won the popular vote and the electoral vote. That says something about his policies and his team.” Julius Cherry, a 58-year-old lawyer from Sacramento, Calif., who took his family to Washington, D.C., to watch President Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremonies Article, 1A

Gun advocates rally across nation

AUSTIN, Texas - Gun owners and Second Amendment advocates rallied in state capitals nationwide Saturday, days after President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping package of federal gun-control proposals.

Some 600 attendees in Austin carried signs bearing messages such as “An Armed Society is a Polite Society” and “The Second Amendment Comes from God.” About 2,000 people - many carrying American flags and “Don’t Tread On Me” banners - turned out for the chilly outdoor rally at the New York state Capitol in Albany.

The “Guns Across America” rallies, which activists promoted primarily via social media, also followed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signing last week of the nation’s toughest assault-weapon and magazine restrictions.

Police in Connecticut said about 1,000 people showed up on the Capitol grounds in Hartford, about 50 miles from the site of last month’s mass shooting at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School. Demonstrators there urged state and federal authorities not to introduce new restrictions on gun ownership as task forces created by the Legislature and Gov. Dannel Malloy consider changes to state gun laws.

Sen. Leahy: Close ‘gun-show loophole’

WASHINGTON - As Senate Democrats grapple with how much of President Barack Obama’s broad gun-control agenda is politically achievable, or even desirable, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over gun laws, said that moving to tighten background checks should be a top priority.

“One of the first things you want to do is close the gunshow loophole,” said Leahy, in an interview for C-SPAN’s Newsmakers, referring to a legal provision that permits unlicensed gun sellers to sell to people without conducting background checks. The provision is a small piece of a much broader agenda introduced by Obama on Wednesday.

Leahy declined to detail precisely how the Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on potential gun legislation this month, would proceed with Obama’s request to push legislation that includes a renewal of an assaultweapons ban, a limit on magazine capacity and universal background checks.

5 injured in U.S. gun-show accidents

MEDINA, Ohio - Five people have been injured in accidental shootings at gun shows in North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio.

At the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh on Saturday, a 12-gauge shotgun discharged as its owner unzipped its case at a security entrance. Two bystanders were hit by shotgun pellets, and a retired sheriff’s deputy’s hand was struck.

In Indianapolis, a man was unloading his .45-caliber semiautomatic weapon when he shot his hand while leaving the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show.

And in Medina, Ohio, a gun dealer was checking out a semiautomatic handgun he’d bought when he accidentally pulled the trigger. Police say the gun’s magazine had been removed, but one round remained in the chamber.

The bullet ricocheted off the floor and struck a friend’s arm and leg.

Michigan justice faces fraud charge

DETROIT - Federal prosecutors have filed a fraud charge against Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway, just a few days before she leaves the state’s highest court in a scandal involving the sale of a Detroit-area home and suspicious steps taken to conceal property in Florida.

The charge was filed Friday as a criminal “information,” which means it was negotiated and that a guilty plea is expected in federal court. Defense attorney Steve Fishman declined to comment Saturday.

Hathaway is resigning Monday, months after a series of questionable real-estate transactions first were revealed by a Detroit TV station. Hathaway and her husband, Michael Kingsley, deeded a Florida home to a relative while trying to negotiate a short sale on a house they couldn’t afford in Grosse Pointe Park.

The sale went through and erased any remaining debt they had with the bank, $600,000. The debt-free Windermere, Fla., home then went back in their names.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/20/2013

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