(First of a two-part series on special protections enjoyed by the gun industry and how some groups are responding.) South Miami city officials believed that an ordinance to require trigger locks in their municipality would save lives. But on March 20, the 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled that they couldn't do it because state law forbids Florida localities from passing laws that are tougher on guns than relevant state laws. Atlanta city officials believed that the... (GunPolicy.org)

A desperately embarrassed French government launched a high-level inquiry yesterday after the man responsible for Wednesday's council massacre killed himself by jumping from a fourth-floor skylight at Paris police headquarters. Richard Durn, 33, a humanitarian activist and gun-lover who murdered eight members of Nanterre council in the western suburbs of Paris, forced open the window while under questioning by two detectives. Despite efforts by the officers to drag him... (GunPolicy.org)

Proponents of gun control predicted yesterday that Boston's decision to drop its three-year-old lawsuit against dozens of gun manufacturers is not likely to end the efforts of 33 other cities around the country that are suing the gun industry. Evidence of the will to fight handguns, they said, was the decision yesterday by Jersey City to become the latest municipality to sue gun manufacturers. Boston's decision was unique to Boston, said Dennis Henigan, director of... (GunPolicy.org)

SACRAMENTO, California — California should bite the bullet to fund its cash-strapped trauma centers by slapping a 5-cent tax on every round of ammunition sold in the state, a state lawmaker has proposed. State Sen. Don Perata, a Democrat and long-time advocate of gun control legislation, plans to ask the legislature to put his bullet tax idea on the November ballot. Bullets cause injuries that are expensive to treat and generally speaking, the public is footing the... (GunPolicy.org)

PARIS — The massacre of eight suburban officials this week followed by the suicide of the killer while under police interrogation thrust France into a bitter debate Friday that intruded on the presidential campaign. President Jacques Chirac criticized Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant, saying he failed to quickly alert him after the 1:15 a.m. shootings Wednesday at Nanterre city hall. An unemployed 33-year-old man turned semiautomatic pistols on council officials,... (GunPolicy.org)

PARIS — In a startling twist to a massacre that caused a political uproar, a 33-year-old psychiatric patient accused of gunning down eight suburban city council members escaped interrogators Thursday and then jumped to his death from a rooftop at police headquarters, authorities said. France's justice and interior ministers immediately announced an investigation into the suicide of Richard Durn, who police say had confessed to the Wednesday shooting rampage in... (GunPolicy.org)

JERSEY CITY — Jersey City today became the 33rd governmental entity in the country since 1998 to sue the gun industry, charging that negligent sales practices have helped create a black market in weapons for criminals. As he announced the lawsuit on the front steps of City Hall, Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, a former Jersey City police captain, spoke of the devastating impact illegal handguns in the hands of drug dealers, gangsters and children have had on the quality... (GunPolicy.org)

Is there really a store where you can walk in and buy a machine gun? Yes, there is, and Fairly Honest Don's Machine Gun Parlor in Hillsboro is the place. Look for the Hummer parked out front. Oregon allows citizens to possess machine guns. California and Washington do not. These fully automatic weapons deliver multiple rounds (from 500 to 1,200 per minute) with a single pull of the trigger. But federal law only permits the public to own machine guns manufactured and... (GunPolicy.org)

France may reconsider its gun laws in the wake of a mass shooting by a gunman that left eight dead and a further 19 injured. French President Jacques Chirac said that vital warning signs were missed by authorities in the case of Richard Durn, who gunned down eight council members in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre. The 33-year-old loner was reported to have sat in the public gallery for the six-hour council meeting before standing up and calmly spraying the... (GunPolicy.org)

Better late than never. Boston Mayor Tom Menino was right to drop the city's lawsuit trying to extract big bucks from 31 firearms manufacturers. It should never have been brought. This case was frankly a publicity stunt — an expensive publicity stunt supposedly in the cause of public health. But the roughly $500,000 it cost so far was diverted from other goals. There is no telling how many more infants might have been recruited for immunization, how many more mothers... (GunPolicy.org)

BOSTON — Boston's decision to drop its lawsuit against the gun industry points up the battle that cities face in trying to hold firearms manufacturers accountable for gun-related deaths and violence. Wednesday's announcement marked the first time that a city voluntarily dropped its lawsuit against gunmakers. It follows the dismissals of cases filed by nine other cities, including a January ruling against Philadelphia. In all, 34 cities have filed suit with little... (GunPolicy.org)

A series of bills to relax handgun laws in Tennessee, including one to allow people with permits to carry a concealed weapon into places where liquor is sold, were shunted aside yesterday and are apparently dead for the year. All of the bills, sponsored by state Rep. Ben West, D-Hermitage, were sent to a summer study subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. West was questioned closely about one bill, which would make a permit issued in another state valid in... (GunPolicy.org)

Editor's note: This contribution from a GPN subscriber comes with the warning: it was found on a bizarre web humour site, linked from english.pravda.ru headlines. Any citation should either return to the Russian-language source or note this caveat — PA The sum of 1,000 rubles (approximately $ 30.00) is promised to every citizen of Chelyabinsk, who will hand over a machine-gun of his own free will. For Weapon operation, the city administration apportioned 300,000... (GunPolicy.org)