First Thing: US to require background checks for gun sales online and at shows

Customers browse at the Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show in Des Moines. The US justice department said the sale of firearms on the internet and at gun shows would be subject to mandatory background checks. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Good morning.

The US will require mandatory background checks on the sale of firearms on the internet and at gun shows, the US justice department announced on Thursday, closing a loophole that previously exempted private transactions from restrictions that apply to licensed dealers.