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First Word: Senators announce bipartisan deal on background checks

A bipartisan group of senators has struck a deal -- forged by Sens. Joe Manchin and Patrick J.

A bipartisan group of senators has struck a deal -- forged by Sens. Joe Manchin and Patrick J. Toomey -- to expand gun background checks to all commercial sales, including gun shows and the Internet, but would not cover private transactions between individuals. The agreement would be much stricter than the existing law, which requires checks only when purchases are made through a licensed seller, but is short of what President Obama and congressional Democrats were hoping to pass, which aims to expand background checks to nearly every kind of sale.

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