WASHINGTON — The National Rifle Association mocks John Kerry's attempts to portray himself as friendly to hunting and other gun sports, putting the Democrat in its sights with a $400,000-a-week television ad buy in several presidential battleground states. "There's a 20-year record he's trying to run away from," said NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre, who announced the ad buy in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. The ad, a half-hour infomercial... (GunPolicy.org)

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says suicide is a huge but largely preventable public health problem. To mark World Suicide Day, which falls on Friday, WHO is calling for global action to prevent these needless and tragic deaths. The World Health Organization reports suicide causes almost half of all violent deaths worldwide. Every year, it says nearly one million people die by their own hands. It estimates this number could rise to 1.5 million by 2020 if... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW DELHI — US small arms-maker Smith & Wesson, whose lineup includes the .44 magnum, made famous by filmstar Clint Eastwood in the cult Dirty Harry movie series of the early 1980s, are looking to re-establish their presence in India. "We had done a quite of business in India until 1998, when we had to cease operations because of the restrictions imposed by the US Government. However, with the lifting of these, we are returning to India and anticipate doing a lot of... (GunPolicy.org)

Do guns kill? No. People do. Catchy words, which those who are involved in the illegal sale of guns could use to justify their actions. After midnight on Monday, in its interactive program Midnight Life, privately run station MetroTV interviewed an illegal gun supplier and a buyer. The supplier, using the pseudonym of Anton, lives in Los Angeles, USA, while the buyer — the interviewer called him Jimmy — lives in Jakarta. The supplier, around 30 years old, said that... (GunPolicy.org)

By any measure, the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons errs on the side of permissiveness. A gun can't have both a grenade launcher and a bayonet mount, but it can have one of those attachments. It can't be sold with an ammo clip holding more than 10 rounds unless the clip is one of hundreds of thousands made before the law took effect. It can't be one of 19 specified weapons — unless it, too, was around before 1994. Now, as the law marks its 10th anniversary,... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Senators warned that the likely demise next week of a 10-year ban on semi-automatic assault guns will trigger a flood of such weapons in US cities. Senator Dianne Feinstein called the assault weapons ban "one of the most important public safety measures this country has seen." "This is truly a dark day in the Senate's history, as we let this ban, which has worked so well and saved lives, simply fade away," Feinstein said on the Senate floor. The... (GunPolicy.org)

SARAJEVO — The UNDP office in BiH presented the results of the Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey on Tuesday (7 September). According to the document, a total of 353,000 weapons are currently registered to civilian owners: an estimated 200,000 in Republika Srpska, 144,500 in the Federation of BiH and 8,500 in Brcko District. The UNDP also noted that the BiH armed forces have more than 350,000 pieces of surplus arms, running up unnecessary storage and maintenance... (GunPolicy.org)

It was a coming of age moment straight out of Bowling for Columbine. A young Japanese woman who's been living in Atlanta for the past decade recently delivered some enlightenment on America's culture of fear and firearms. The newly-single woman I'll call Yoko laments to being "limited in where I can go as a female." But not to fear fear itself, adds Yoko: Those cheeky Beatles had it right — happiness really is a warm gun. "I finally learned how to shoot," she... (GunPolicy.org)

Gun manufacturers are gearing up for the scheduled expiration next week of a 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons and are taking orders for semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines that may soon become legal again, according to a report released yesterday. The report by the Consumer Federation of America, which favors greater regulation of the gun industry, concludes that "assault weapons will be more lethal and less expensive" without the ban... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Congress will not vote on an assault weapons ban due to expire Monday, Republican leaders said Wednesday, rejecting a last-ditch effort by supporters to renew it. "I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters. The 10-year ban, signed by President Clinton in 1994, outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons. A clause directed that the... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — In the expanding universe of hot-button political issues, little has been heard of an old favorite — gun control — in this campaign until now. At midnight on Monday night, the 10-year-old ban on certain assault weapons will almost certainly expire as scheduled. Activists on both sides of the issue have lobbied fiercely: Gun-rights advocates, with the National Rifle Association leading the charge, argue that the ban has done nothing to stop criminals... (GunPolicy.org)