LONDON — Months after imposing a near-total ban on handguns, Britain today tightened checks on those applying for firearms licenses. Police now have the right to seek the full medical history of all applicants, including details of any mental health problems. Every applicant will have to give the names of two people who have known them for at least two years and who support their application. Britain adopted some of the world's toughest gun laws after disturbed... (GunPolicy.org)

Mayor Rendell's attempt to reach common ground with the gun industry failed its first test yesterday when the firearms manufacturers rejected his plea for limits on their sales. The industry's leading trade group wrote Rendell to reject his call to restrict gun buyers to the purchase of one handgun a month, dismissing the limit as a "slogan without a solution." The American Shooting Sports Council letter states that traffickers would get around the limit by simply... (GunPolicy.org)