A typical gun show at the Cow Palace in Daly City is a family affair. A husband-and-wife team puts on the event five times every year. Families are routinely attracted to the show in search of hunting rifles, personal protection devices and collector's items. Just outside the Cow Palace, 35-year-old Shawn Richard has been trying to develop another kind of family — one in which young black men reject gangs and gun violence. The two cultures, gun-show enthusiasts... (GunPolicy.org)

BANJUL, Gambia — The Inspector General of Police and the SOS for Interior have been taken to task by two opposition figures for purported lapses in the country's situation and ongoing investigations to unravel the last week's murder attempt on lawyer Ousman Sillah. Both Hamat Bah and Omar Jallow believe that the incident presents what they called "testing challenges" to the country's security apparatuses, which must deal with the growing proliferation of arms from... (GunPolicy.org)

Just 75 minutes into the new year, shots rang out at a party in the Weston Road and Sheppard Avenue West area. The 16-year-old victim was hit twice in the back and was transported to Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital, where she is expected to recover. Had she died, the statistics suggest her murderer would have gotten away with it. A National Post survey of the 65 homicides committed in Toronto during 2003 shows that guns were used in 31 of them, or 48%. And of... (GunPolicy.org)

The BBC was warned yesterday that it may have fallen victim to a mass lobbying campaign after a controversial plan for a "Tony Martin" law topped a Today programme poll yesterday. Suspicions were raised when thousands of listeners voted for the mock parliamentary bill which would allow homeowners to use "any means" to defend their homes from intruders. Such a law would have protected Mr Martin, who was jailed for the manslaughter of a teenage burglar, Fred Barras, in... (GunPolicy.org)

If listeners of the Today programme could introduce a new law to Britain, it would be one allowing them to kill an intruder in their home should the need arise. That was the surprise — and, in the programme's own word, controversial — choice of listeners who voted for the piece of legislation they would most like to see in the statute book. The audience for the Radio 4 programme were asked to put forward ideas that had a real chance of becoming law. Five were... (GunPolicy.org)

People fear guns. Yet, while guns make it easier for bad things to happen, they also make it easier for people to protect themselves. With the avalanche of horrific news stories about guns over the years, it's no wonder people find it hard to believe that, according to surveys (one I conducted for 2002 for my book, "The Bias Against Guns," and three earlier academic surveys by different researchers published in such journals as the Journal of Criminal Justice) there... (GunPolicy.org)

It was trailed as a "unique chance to rewrite the law of the land". Listeners to BBC Radio 4's Today programme were asked to suggest a piece of legislation to improve life in Britain, with the promise that an MP would then attempt to get it onto the statute books. But yesterday, 26,000 votes later, the winning proposal was denounced as a "ludicrous, brutal, unworkable blood-stained piece of legislation" — by Stephen Pound, the very MP whose job it is to try to push... (GunPolicy.org)

The nation's capital had the highest number of crimes with armed robbery being the most common crime committed in 2003, according to statistics released by police headquarters yesterday. The statistics confirm what is general knowledge among people — that Port Moresby crime is the worst in the country. Between January and December last year Port Moresby city had the highest number of crimes committed which were; - MURDER; - SERIOUS sexual offence - ROBBERY; - BREAK... (GunPolicy.org)