The new Conservative government has the federal long gun registry in its crosshairs, which has prompted some defenders of the program to plead with the Tories not to pull the trigger on the much-maligned registry. But the cries of clemency coming from crime victims and now police chiefs, as compelling as they may be, must not be heeded and the registry must be put out of its misery. The head of Canada's police chiefs stopped short this weekend of saying he will lobby... (GunPolicy.org)

The Jan. 16 editorial "Killing Made Easy" advocated a national ban on handguns and said such a ban had been proposed a decade ago. It then asked, "So what's new today?" Here's the answer: Since 1993 the U.S. handgun murder rate has decreased 48 percent, even as the number of privately owned handguns in America has increased by more than 20 million. Today, murder rates are at a 39-year low and the rate for total violent crime is at a 30-year low. Handguns are... (GunPolicy.org)

The state Assembly failed today to override Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of bill that would have allowed Wisconsin residents to carry a concealed weapon with a permit in most cases. The vote was 64-34, two short of the two-thirds majority required. The Senate approved the override Thursday on 23-10 vote. Two Democrats who had voted for the bill when it originally passed changed their votes. They were Rep. John Steinbrink of Pleasant Prairie and Rep. Terry Van Akkeren of... (GunPolicy.org)

Twenty rifles and ammunition have been stolen from a rifle club in Kent by robbers who managed to break through a reinforced door. Police believe they used a sledgehammer to access the Tonbridge Rifle Club in Scabharbour Lane, Hildenborough. Once inside they cut through concrete blocks and steel rods to get into the armoury. The burglary happened between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon. Tyre tracks suggested a 4x4 vehicle had gone across fields to get to the... (GunPolicy.org)

Some shootings at post offices: Jan. 30, 2006 — A female ex-postal worker opens fire at a mail processing plant near Santa Barbara, Calif., killing six people before committing suicide, authorities say. April 17, 1998 — Maceo Yarbough III, a 27-year-old letter carrier, fatally shoots a post office clerk in Dallas after they argue in a break room. He is found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Dec. 19, 1997 — Postal employee Anthony Deculit, 37, kills... (GunPolicy.org)

Beyond its grim death toll, the fatal rampage by a female ex-postal worker in California was striking as an exception to the rule. Among the many high-profile workplace shootings in the United States over the years, virtually every perpetrator was male. Several experts in homicides and workplace violence said they knew of no other case in which a woman, aggrieved over some job-related problem, had killed as many people as the five gunned down at a Goleta, Calif.,... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN FRANCISCO — The number of shootings in the city shot up more than 20 percent last year, an increase police blamed on a crop of impulsive younger gunmen and an influx of firearms into violent neighborhoods. San Francisco police responded to 315 shootings last year, a 21 percent jump over the 260 shootings logged in 2004, officers said Monday at a Board of Supervisors committee meeting to address the rise in violence. Killings resulting from gunshots have steadily... (GunPolicy.org)

Tucson, Arizona — State Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa and Sen. Tim Bee of Tucson are asking the Legislature to expand the laws governing self-defense. Their bills are poorly thought out, unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Pearce's bill expands the concept of self-defense to cover situations that are ludicrously rare and circumstances that are so obvious that they'd be well-covered by existing law. The Pearce bill allows a person to use deadly force if he or she... (GunPolicy.org)

Members of the Georgia General Assembly, or at least some of them, have never met a gun restriction they thought necessary. Aside from Senate Bill 396, which would allow citizens who "reasonably believe" they are under attack to use deadly force anywhere, there is House Bill 998, sponsored by Tom Graves, R-Ranger, and Earl Ernhardt, R-Powder Springs. Their bill states: "It shall be lawful for any person who may lawfully possess firearms to park a motor vehicle on any... (GunPolicy.org)