A serious glitch in the firearm amnesty process this week sparked a national and provincial investigation into the readiness of the police to deal with firearms handed in as part of the current campaign. The alert was prompted by the actions of English teacher Louis Podbielski, who took two firearms to the Westville Police Station last Sunday night and was told by the police on duty that they had neither the correct forms to process the handing over of arms, nor enough... (GunPolicy.org)

Reporter Anita Chang attended a 12-hour course to obtain a concealed-carry permit in New Albany, Ohio. COLUMBUS — The guns were laid out on blue rubber mats printed with the Smith & Wesson logo. I sat in my seat for several moments, just looking at the smooth metal of the barrels and the darkness of the empty chambers. Tentatively, I stuck out my index finger and spun the cylinder on the revolver. Cooool. It was the first time I'd ever touched a handgun. A revolver... (GunPolicy.org)

Douglas Kerley has voted in more than two dozen elections since 1995 and even served as a precinct worker in the 1980s. But until November, the 55-year-old Lynnwood man was voting illegally. "I shouldn't have been voting or buying hundreds of guns," he said, "but I was." Kerley, a registered Republican who even ran a congressional campaign in 1984, said he had no idea he had cast illicit ballots in King and then Snohomish counties until about 18 months ago, when... (GunPolicy.org)

Nine out of 10 Richmond-area residents support a proposed law that would close the so-called "gun-show loophole," a newly released crime-and-safety survey shows. The loophole allows unlicensed gun dealers to sell firearms at Virginia gun shows without making background checks of purchasers. The survey also shows that residents in the region overwhelmingly rank crime as the biggest threat to their quality of life and that most believe the crime rate is tied to the... (GunPolicy.org)

Today, 96 years ago, London was rocked by a terrorist outrage. Two Latvian anarchists, who had crossed the Channel after trying to blow up the president of France, attempted an armed wages robbery in Tottenham. Foiled at the outset when the intended victims fought back, the anarchists attempted to shoot their way out. A dramatic pursuit ensued involving horses and carts, bicycles, cars and a hijacked tram. The fleeing anarchists fired some 400 shots, leaving a... (GunPolicy.org)

South Africa's draconian Firearms Control Act, a decisive attempt to limit gun ownership in a society awash with weapons, has confronted a gun culture that is every bit as deep as America's. It is hard to imagine better representatives of this culture than Piet and Rossouw Botha, the two sons of former President PW Botha. The first member of their family to settle in South Africa in 1679 was a gunsmith and many of his descendants have been involved in the gun trade.... (GunPolicy.org)