A new, federally funded team of local prosecutors working with police, ATF agents and the U.S. attorney's office will focus solely on curtailing gun violence in the Las Vegas Valley by seeking stiffer sentences for all crimes involving firearms. Top law enforcement officials said Thursday that the team's April 1 launch will bring a new approach to the way firearm violence is prosecuted in Southern Nevada. To put it simply, they said, all gun crimes will now mean hard... (GunPolicy.org)

SOFIA — Bulgaria is ready to become a regional centre for destruction of surplus small arms (up to light machine-guns) and light weapons (of a maximum caliber of 100 mm) because it already has established traditions in this sphere. This statement was made to journalists by Reserve Colonel Konstantin Buchvarov, chief expert at the Defence Ministry's Logistics Department in charge of the Division for Utilization and Destruction of Surplus Armament, Materiel and... (GunPolicy.org)

SOUTH HADLEY, Massachusetts — A generation ago, women here at Mount Holyoke College defied convention by burning bras and moving in with boyfriends. These days, some women here are shocking the campus by embracing something even more dangerous than men — guns. One of my guy friends said, You're a chick with a gun — I m scared, recalled Elizabeth Abbate, beaming. The women at Mount Holyoke, who have formed the first collegiate chapter of Second Amendment Sisters,... (GunPolicy.org)

The ability of Virginia localities to ban guns from public buildings and to keep city and county employees from carrying guns to work is under attack in the General Assembly. The Senate has approved a bill that would block localities from keeping guns out of public buildings, including recreation centers and offices. The bill would apply to any local rules passed after the last day of 1986. The House amended the Senate bill to say that localities cannot block their... (GunPolicy.org)

Pushing back her pink watchstrap and fawn jacket, the 25-year-old primary school teacher goes into a crouch and looses eight rounds at the dimly lit target. As the Israeli Government announced plans to issue 40,000 more gun licences to civilians, Elinor Shor's presence on a Jerusalem firing range is the clearest indication yet of the Israeli public's fear. No settler or gun fanatic, Ms Shor would never have considered acquiring a handgun a few months ago, but she... (GunPolicy.org)

SACRAMENTO — Peel away the jokes about half-baked ideas, spud-SCUD missiles and Idaho farmers. At their core, potato guns are simply too dangerous, insists Assemblyman Jay La Suer. The former San Diego County undersheriff has introduced legislation that would classify the homemade guns as destructive devices — the same category reserved for bombs and grenades. Possession would be a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. You're igniting nothing more than a... (GunPolicy.org)

Nightclub owners were urged by the Home Office yesterday to use metal detectors to search customers for firearms amid growing concerns over gun crime. The call follows a series of fatal shootings in city nightclubs and what one government official describes as the association of firearms with some forms of music . There has been a series of shootings at shows featuring the chart-topping garage collective So Solid Crew and last week a member of the group, Ashley... (GunPolicy.org)

High-tech security systems are being installed in Defence Force armouries around the country with the help of Australia. Defence Force Commander Brigadier General Peter Ilau said after the systems were installed it would be difficult for anyone to break into the armouries. Over the years Defence Force armouries, especially in and around Port Moresby, have been broken into and weapons and ammunition stolen. Brig. Ilau said under the project the security systems were... (GunPolicy.org)