Two men have been arrested after police seized 54 packages of new psychoactive substances and an unregistered shotgun in Latvia, LETA reports. The two men were arrested at their home in the Jugla region in Riga for selling illegal narcotic substances. The police also found two grams of methamphetamine on both detainees. After raiding their homes, the police found in one of the apartments 54 packages of new psychoactive substances packed in one-gram packets. Police... (GunPolicy.org)

The Methodist Church has praised the government's ratification of the UN's Arms Trade Treaty. The President of the Methodist Conference, the Reverend Ruth Gee, hailed it as a "legal milestone that should help to protect those who are abused and oppressed". Countries that ratify the treaty will be required to establish national arms regulators to control the exporting of conventional weapons and weapons components, and to properly regulate arms brokers. Domestic weapon... (GunPolicy.org)

UNITED NATIONS — Eighteen countries, including five of the world's leading arms exporters, ratified a landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade on Wednesday, giving a significant boost to the campaign for the treaty's entry into force. The ambassadors of the 18 countries handed over the documents at a U.N. ceremony on the first anniversary of the General Assembly's adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty, which is aimed at stemming the global... (GunPolicy.org)

According to the Saeima's supported amendments to the Law On the Handling of Weapons and Special Means, firearms licence requirements will be made stricter than they are now. A new section was added to the law. It accounts for general health inspection. This section states conditions under which a person is to be sent for initial, regular and emergency health inspections. Regular health inspections will be required to be undergone by individuals who hold firearms... (GunPolicy.org)

Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters. The 33-page report, Communities shattered by arms proliferation and abuse in Côte d'Ivoire, documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms... (GunPolicy.org)

On Tuesday, October 16, the Cabinet of Ministers accepted amendments to the Law on the Handling of Weapons and Special Means. These amendments provide for stricter conditions for receiving weapon permits, as well as state specific requirements for performing examinations of a person's health and psychological characteristics. In order to increase requirements for keeping a firearm, it is planned to return to the previous practice – when firearms permits were issued... (GunPolicy.org)

Spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Savinykh denied reports of arms shipments to Côte d'Ivoire in violation of the UN sanctions. "It's not even an accusation; it's a clumsy attempt of individual journalists to muddy the waters, as the proverb says," he said. "The Belarusian side has been always cooperating openly with experts from the UN Security Council Committee on Côte d'Ivoire, whose reports these pseudo-journalists referred to. If they really... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: Nearly a third of crimes against women are committed with a firearm and in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras this indicator is 60% - Small Arms Survey.] El mayor nivel de feminicidios se registra en Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Catorce países latinoamericanos aparecen entre los 25 del mundo con la tasa más elevada de crímenes contra la mujer. El informe de la organización de investigaciones independientes Small Arms Survey,... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: With the support of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Brazilian gun manufacturers seek new markets in countries with a history of human rights violations: Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen. Brazil is among the six countries in the world with annual exports exceeding $ 100 million, according to recent research from Small Arms Survey. According to the Army, responsible for supervising and controlling exports from 2005 to... (GunPolicy.org)

RIGA, Latvia — A fatal shooting inside a crowded movie theatre in Latvia has sparked public outrage and forced lawmakers to rethink the Baltic country's lax gun control laws. Police on Thursday said Nikolai Zykov, a 28-year-old lawyer, shot four times while killing 43-year-old banker Aigars Egle after an exchange of words about Zykov's allegedly disorderly behaviour during a showing of "Black Swan." Egle, a father of four, died in front of his 14-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)

A man has been shot dead at a cinema in Latvia after a fellow movie-goer objected to the volume at which he was eating his popcorn. The assailant, 27, reportedly had a brief argument with the man, aged 43, who was sitting next to him during a screening of Black Swan in the Forum cinema, one of the largest in the city of Riga. When the credits rolled, the younger man pulled out a legally registered firearm and shot the other man dead. Other audience members then phoned... (GunPolicy.org)

RIGA, Latvia — Riga offers quite a few interesting nooks and crannies, places a little outside of the ever popular restaurant, bar, music and art scene. Old Soviet style shooting ranges are prime examples of these sorts of intriguing hideaways. While Riga used to have quite a few shooting ranges, over the past few years they have been disappearing and now only a handful can be found around town. I decided to try to find one of these places before they all disappeared... (GunPolicy.org)