“Black Friday Gun Background Checks Reportedly Soar”

Shoppers hunting for Black Friday deals seemed to include a record number of those in the market for firearms; the FBI says it fielded 203,086 background check requests for gun purchases on the day after Thanksgiving — the highest daily total ever. Background checks are considered the best available proxy for gun purchases since overall sales numbers are not made public. But the number of firearms actually sold on Friday was probably higher because a buyer would require just one check but could purchase multiple firearms in a single transaction. It is a popular time of year to buy guns. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System is designed to keep guns from falling "into the wrong hands," according to the FBI, although the reality sometimes falls short of the goal. Federal law bars convicted felons or anyone under a domestic violence protective order from owning a firearm, among other people.  In the vast majority of cases, the background check takes just a couple of minutes, and if it comes out clean, the buyer walks away with the weapon, citing FBI data.

In Other News Some 100,000 people in Bali are being evacuated from a danger zone around a volcano that has been spewing ash thousands of feet into the air since last week, forcing the closure on Monday of the airport on the Indonesian resort island. The eruption, which is sending white and gray ash streaking off the top of the cone, began on Tuesday and was a first for the volcano in 50 years. Loud explosions from Mount Agung could be heard miles away. Officials say lava is welling up in its crater — a sign that a larger eruption is possible. Former President George H.W. Bush is now the longest-living president in U.S. history at the age of 93 years and 166 days. Bush on Saturday surpassed the previous record held by Gerald Ford, who lived to be 93 years and 165 days old before he died in December 2006. Ronald Reagan, the third-oldest living president, lived to be 93 and 120 days, 46 days less than H.W. Bush. Bush has faced several health scares in recent months, including two hospitalizations for chronic pneumonia and one for bronchitis.