Social Issues

Signs of Republican movement to support gun bills with new restrictions
Senate Majority Leader McConnell, R-Ky. isn't budging on his opposition to a bill expanding background checks. But other GOP lawmakers who opposed earlier restrictions are now saying it's time to act.
Not enough affordable housing? What about mobile homes?
Minnesota, like much of the nation, has acute shortages of affordable housing. Manufactured housing costs far less to build than traditional homes and could be a solution. But lack of supply and a decline in the number of mobile home parks are major impediments.
Her Native American identity was omitted from her adoption records. Now she wants it back
Calonna Carlisle’s mother is Native American and her father is black, but her mother’s heritage was left off her adoption records. She’s spent years trying to get local and state officials to restore her race in her files.
Ohio shooter said to have wrestled with dark thoughts
A man who fatally gunned down nine people in Ohio had long wrestled with mental illness that manifested itself in a fascination with tragedy, uncontrollable urges to unleash violence and suicidal thoughts so deep he twice put a gun in his mouth, ready to pull the trigger, a woman who dated him said Tuesday.
In the midst of a housing shortage, Minneapolis struggles to help homeless
The lack of affordable housing across the Twin Cities continues to be an insurmountable obstacle for many people trying to move off the street. That makes it especially difficult for cities like Minneapolis, which wants to respond compassionately while preventing another large encampment.
Lawmakers push for 'red flag' laws to take guns away from people in crisis
President Trump wants to expand laws that allow courts to intervene when someone shows signs of pending violence, and lawmakers are getting behind the idea. But are these laws effective?
Trump's America: Where politics dictate definition of racism
In interviews with The Associated Press across a half-dozen states, voters see a country riven by racial animus — better than a generation ago, but worse than before Trump's presidency, with little choice but to confront the long national struggle anew.
As death count rises in 2 U.S. shootings, a familiar aftermath
Anguished families planned funerals in two U.S. cities, politicians pointed fingers and a nation numbed by gun violence wondered what might come next Monday as the death toll from two weekend mass shootings rose to 31.
Obama urges Americans to reject language that 'feeds a climate of fear'
In a rare political post-presidency statement, former President Barack Obama called for tighter gun laws after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. "We are not helpless here," he said.