OLYMPIA — For the first time in years, activists on opposite sides of the gun-control debate in Washington state have agreed on something: to hold adults responsible if kids get their hands on loaded firearms. Washington Ceasefire, a Seattle-based gun-control organization, has been trying for three years to persuade lawmakers to take action in memory of Whitney Graves, a Marysville girl who died in September 1996 when a playmate found and fired his parents' loaded... (GunPolicy.org)

The United Nations is launching its first full-scale project to disarm a country's civilian population. A pilot project is to be implemented in the district of Gramsh in Albania where the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) plans to spend about $500,000 on encouraging villagers to surrender their weapons. It will later be expanded to cover the whole of Albania. The UNDP expects roughly 10,000 weapons — mostly assault rifles and pistols — to be handed over in the first... (GunPolicy.org)

Republican Gov. Bill Owens signaled another major difference Monday compared with Democratic predecessor Roy Romer: Owens is more sympathetic to Coloradans who want to carry concealed weapons. In an interview on KOA-AM radio, Owens said he'd be willing to sign a bill making it easier for residents to carry concealed weapons. Romer, the former governor, had opposed liberalized restrictions for concealed weapons. Owens also said he opposes recent lawsuits by cities that... (GunPolicy.org)

NOBLESVILLE, Indiana — A Carmel woman accused of killing her husband Friday had been ordered held for an emergency psychiatric examination two weeks ago. But the physician who examined Alice Ellen Louise Gray determined she didn't meet the criteria for involuntary commitment, and she was discharged from an Indianapolis hospital Jan. 14. On Friday, Gray went to a Westside Indianapolis gun shop. Under Indiana's new "no waiting" law for handgun purchases, she went home... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — A former handgun company executive's testimony that the firearms industry could do more to keep its products away from criminals was read to jurors in a civil trial charging gunmakers with negligence. Robert Hass, a retired Smith & Wesson Corp. official, volunteered as a witness after reading about the suit. He is the nearest thing to a whistle-blower in the case, which has been likened to earlier legal actions against tobacco companies. "The grownups who... (GunPolicy.org)

Like Pope John Paul II, Jim Brady survived an assailant's bullet. The pope and the one-time presidential press secretary met on Tuesday, when Brady joined President Clinton's entourage in welcoming the pontiff to St. Louis. Brady came to town early to campaign against a state ballot measure that would legalize the carrying of concealed guns. About 30 states allow concealed guns. But on April 6, Missouri will become the first state to submit the question to... (GunPolicy.org)