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Texas Gun Purchase Requests Plummet

HOUSTON (AP) - The number of Texans who have sought permission to buy firearms has taken an 18 percent drop this year.

The Houston Chronicle reports the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has received 182,000 fewer requests to purchase firearms so far in 2014 compared to this time last year. Experts say the rush to buy guns is slowing down as fears of stricter federal regulation wane. Sales spiked across the nation after the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school massacre in 2012.

A Texas State Rifle Association spokeswoman says some of the public's concerns have relaxed since Congress didn't take action.

Texans submitted nearly 1.1 million requests to the bureau from January to August 2013. That number has dropped to about 910,000 for the same period this year.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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