AK-47s. Grenades. Submachine guns. Small mortars. Shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. These small arms and "light" weapons (so called because they can be carried by an individual or fired by a small crew) are widely considered to be the critical arms control issue of our day. Discarded or sold off by governments or departing armies as the detritus of Cold War conflicts and the arms race, enormous quantities of these weapons have ended up in the hands of terrorists,... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — U.S. companies are temporarily barred from exporting firearms to Britain, the State Department announced Thursday in an action taken in consultation with the British government. The revocation of all firearms export licenses to Britain responds to concern for the prospect that weapons could be diverted from Europe to third countries not eligible under U.S. laws to receive them, said spokesman James P. Rubin. There is, however, no plan to halt firearm... (GunPolicy.org)

FRESNO, California — A husband and wife pulled guns on each other and shot it out at church during a marriage counseling session after he arrived late drinking a beer. Both were wounded. With a beer in one hand and a gun in the other, Michael Martin shot his wife Wednesday as she tried to walk out of the meeting at St. James Episcopal Cathedral, their counselor said Thursday. A bleeding Bonnie Martin pulled a pistol from her purse and shot her husband in the... (GunPolicy.org)

VIENNA, Austria — The Clinton administration notified the British government Wednesday that it was revoking all pending licenses for the export of American firearms to British companies, American officials said. The revocation is the first step in a plan to halt the sale of firearms by American companies to all 15 members of the European Union. Licenses to export firearms will not be issued for European Union countries until the governments have adopted laws to... (GunPolicy.org)

WELLINGTON — Ninety-thousand gun owners had had their gun licences revoked for failing to renew them, police said today. Police have been introducing 10-year gun licences on an alphabetical basis since 1993, and during that time 220,000 people have been re-licensed to own a gun. Assistant Commissioner Ian Holyoake said today a growing number of people were responding to the call to re-license. Those who had not responded within six months to a police mail-out... (GunPolicy.org)

LONDON — Britain's small arms and ammunition exports are still ending up "in the wrong hands," despite a government pledge not to sell weapons to countries with poor human right records, Oxfam said on Thursday. The aid agency said in a report that between 1995 and 1997 Britain exported small weapons to over 100 countries, many of which were classified by international research institutes as "sensitive destinations" — countries crippled by political unrest or... (GunPolicy.org)