During a regional anti-gun conference, officials said that the estimated two million unlicensed guns in the Philippines are leading to an increase in crime and aiding a Muslim rebellion, the Associated Press reported July 9. According to David Kilgour, Canadian secretary of state for Asia-Pacific, police in the Philippines report 775,000 legally registered guns and estimate 250,000 to two million unlicensed firearms. "In Southeast Asia, as elsewhere, there has been a... (GunPolicy.org)

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says that if criminals continue to use guns it may be necessary to consider arming police routinely. Mr Peters' comments follow the funeral of Detective Constable Duncan Taylor, who was shot and killed near Feilding on Friday. "Given this most recent event and the escalation of violence in our society, New Zealanders need to be concerned that they may wake up and find their police force wearing guns," he said. "What would have... (GunPolicy.org)

The state House yesterday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would weaken landmark gun control laws passed in 1998, voting for legislation that would allow convicted felons to legally obtain and carry a gun in Massachusetts. Backed by House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran's leadership team, the bill passed 114-32 despite outraged gun control advocates and legislators who denounced the House for loosening gun restrictions while violent crime is on the rise. "The... (GunPolicy.org)

Four people were shot and chopped up in broad daylight in Mendi town and Tari district in Southern Highlands Province yesterday morning. And according to dismissed Governor Anderson Agiru, thousands of ballot papers had been destroyed or kept in custody of rival candidates and their gun-wielding supporters throughout the trouble-torn province. "There was no proper and fair polling conducted in the province and therefore a supplementary or fresh election be conducted... (GunPolicy.org)