WASHINGTON — Government lawyers helping craft the rules for future political fund-raising have raised the possibility that interest groups like the NRA and Sierra Club could continue spending unlimited amounts on political ads. The law, scheduled to take effect after the fall election, will bar many groups from airing ads identifying federal candidates within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election. The law also imposes new disclosure requirements on... (GunPolicy.org)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A disgruntled Education Ministry employee opened fire Wednesday at colleagues at a ministry office, killing eight people and wounding five before he was apprehended by police, police officials and witnesses said. A financial dispute was behind the shooting, and police dismissed any sectarian motives, Beirut police chief Maj. Gen. Walid Koleilat said. But others, noting the gunman was Muslim and most of his victims Christian, questioned whether... (GunPolicy.org)

Last year, John Ashcroft proposed a new policy of destroying Brady Act gun purchase records after 24 hours, even though a federal appeals court had ruled that it is perfectly legal for the department to maintain those records for six months to audit the background check system. The attorney general cited the "privacy interests" of gun buyers as paramount. He ignored the Federal Bureau of Investigation's recommendation that the record retention period be increased to one... (GunPolicy.org)

VALPARAISO — Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber dug around his desk and pulled out a single-page notice likely to come as a surprise to some recently divorced individuals and their attorneys. The official-looking document announces in capital letters and bold type that as a result of specific wording used in divorce agreements to protect one or both parties from harm, the federal Brady Act has been invoked. The result is the potential offender loses his or her... (GunPolicy.org)

WAUSAU — A state appeals court Tuesday upheld a state law that makes it a crime to carry a concealed weapon for everybody but police officers. A Green Bay man had argued the law was unconstitutional because voters in 1998 had amended the state constitution to say people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose. The 3rd District Court of Appeals said nothing in the amendment grants the right to carry... (GunPolicy.org)