Heidi Przybyla

Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas split with their party last year to help Republicans stop a bill strengthening background checks for gun purchases. They’ve gotten no help in return from the nation’s largest gun lobby.

A private seller from Pensacola, Fla., is offering to trade an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle for a jet ski or a riding lawn mower. Another in Huntsville, Ala., will barter ammunition and magazines for an iPad Mini.

Twenty-two years after Tailhook, a surge of reported sexual assaults has again roiled the U.S. military. This time, a record number of women are serving in Congress, including 20 in the Senate.

Four Democratic senators who defied President Barack Obama to help defeat gun-safety legislationm -- Alaska Sen. Mark Begich among them -- are facing the wrath of activists who promise to make them pay a political price.