First Run News

Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview. “How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?” Ms.

Gun enthusiasts looking for an extra thrill have long found makeshift ways to replicate the exhilaration of using an automatic weapon — the thrill of the noise and the jolt of rapid-fire rounds — while bypassing the legal hassle and expense of getting one. They contrived devices using pieces of wood, belt loops and sometimes even rubber bands, to mimic the speed of a fully automatic weapon — even if it meant sacrificing accuracy. Then came Jeremiah Cottle with an answer. A Texas farm boy turned Air Force veteran, he figured he could do better.

LAS VEGAS — Gunfire crackled, hotel guests called in noise complaints, and just like that, Jesus Campos, armed with little more than the handcuffs on his service belt, was facing a situation on Sunday that he had never encountered before as a security officer at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Stephen Paddock, a longtime gambler who had amassed an arsenal of weapons, w

With support building in Congress for action against devices like those the Las Vegas gunman had, which allow a rifle to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, the National Rifle Association on Thursday endorsed tighter restrictions on the gadgets, but did not say they should be outlawed. The stance by the N.R.A., and growing support for regulation from Republicans on Capitol Hill, represent a small but notable shift for an organization and political party that have consistently opposed any gun controls for many years.

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Conrade, 50, a storage administrator for information technology from Emporia, Kan., checked into the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday night. He was in town for a four-day conference, and assigned to Room 31-134. He, of course, had no idea what was being planned directly over his head.

Read the latest on the Las Vegas shooting with Thursday’s live updates. The night began as a celebration. Thousands gathered in Las Vegas for one last night of song at a long-awaited country music festival. They had driven in from towns all over California. They had flown in from Alaska, Tennessee, West Virginia. They were teachers, police officers, secretaries, retirees. Many had planned for weeks, even months, this weekend of relaxation.

LAS VEGAS — The coroner’s office in Las Vegas completed the grim task of identifying all 58 people killed by a gunman at a country music festival and made their names public on Thursday night, four days after the shooting. The victims include 36 women and 22 men. The oldest was 67, the youngest 20. They traveled to Las Vegas from across the United States. They were teachers, police officers, secretaries, retirees. These are their stories. • The F.B.I.

LAS VEGAS — The man who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, in a 911 call, as the massacre unfolded. The sniper who shot to death five police officers in Dallas told the police that his goal was to attack white people.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise spoke at length about gun control in a new interview tonight, telling Fox News he is “absolutely” as strong as ever on the Second Amendment. The Republican representative from Louisiana recently returned to Congress after he was shot by a gunman in June at a Congressional baseball practice. After a long medical recovery, he'll face revived conversations with fellow congressmen and women on gun control. His return came just days before the worst mass shooting in modern U.S.

Mike Pence is a roll-his-sleeves-up kind of guy. The Vice President visited a United Blood Services blood donation center in Phoenix Tuesday "to raise awareness for those in need in Las Vegas," he tweeted, referring to Sunday night's shooting massacre by suspected gunman Stephen Paddock which left 58 people dead, plus Paddock. "Inspiring to see others donating blood in Arizona to help those hurt in the Las Vegas shooting," Pence wrote in another tweet. "We are one nation and one people united." Pence is no stranger to donating blood.