Gun laws in the US, state by state: President Obama has indicated a move towards strengthening federal gun control measures, but the reality is that the majority of gun legislation in the US is enacted at the state level. That has brought broad variations across the country, with states taking different approaches to issues ranging from sales, permits, licensing, self-defence and carry laws

Seven key points about the data: Weapons laws can vary dramatically from state to state. Here are the key findings we collected while building our interactive

More reading: 

• Obama’s gun laws agenda: Live blog
• Background on Obama’s agenda 

Eighty-four images released to White House Flickr stream show the president in a variety of settings and always looking good: http://bit.ly/ZlwUwA (Photograph: Pete Souza/The White House) http://on.fb.me/VocX2J

In the end, Congress went over the ‘fiscal cliff’ but threw together a deal. Five stories to help you explain what happened on Capitol Hill: http://bit.ly/ViWRay

(Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) http://on.fb.me/VvLT3Q

It’s half a century since Mariner 2 swept past Venus at a distance of 22,000 miles, and this year’s stunning pictures from across the solar system show how much Nasa photography has advanced: http://bit.ly/VowLp0

(Photograph: Nasa) http://on.fb.me/VbxPu4

(via Approaching a deadline - latimes.com)