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In Colorado, Democrat governor prepares to sign gun controls amid warning of political peril
• DENVER (AP) -- Firearms play an outsized role in the hearts of Coloradans. It's a frontier state that adopted gunslingers Buffalo Bill and Doc Holliday as native sons, where treasured guns are routinely passed from generation to generation.
• So when Colorado's Democratic governor made known that he plans to ratchet back gun rights Wednesday by signing two limits into law, Republicans and gun-rights supporters gasped.
• Then they set to work trying to undo the new laws to limit most ammunition magazines to 15 rounds and to expand required background checks to private and online gun sales.
• At least two ballot petitions had been filed. Some Republicans hinted at lawsuits. More predicted political repercussions for Democrats in a state poised to be first outside the East Coast to put new restrictions on firearms after last year's mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, Conn.
• Hickenlooper says he supports gun rights. But a few months after famously saying the Aurora movie theater shooting couldn't have prevented by gun control, the self-described moderate started explaining how his thinking changed.
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Scenes from Baghdad, 10 years on
• BAGHDAD (AP) -- To the first-time visitor, Baghdad might seem like a normal city. Well, almost normal: Pockmarked buildings and pervasive checkpoints serve as a stark reminder of the violence that nearly tore the country in the decade following the U.S.-led invasion, which began on March 20, 2003.
• Today, the Baghdad Zoo is a popular destination for families wearing their finest clothes and enjoying spring weather before the temperature climbs. Nearly 10 years ago, the zoo's staff fled just before Baghdad fell to U.S. troops. All but 35 of the animals died. Later, an American platoon set up a small base at the zoo, where they protected the facility from looting while it was rebuilt.
• Abu Nawas Park, where orphans sniffed glue and slept beneath American tanks, now too is a haven for families and a place for die-hard soccer players to practice in the afternoons.
• The Iraqi National Museum lost countless treasures during a chaotic period before Americans moved in to secure it. Today, the grounds are under renovation. Fewer than half of the antiquities have been recovered.
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