U.S. workers now have a greater chance of being murdered on the job than dying from machine-related injuries, falls or electrocution, Reuters reported April 23. A new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that homicide is now the second-leading cause of on-the-job deaths, trailing only motor-vehicle crashes. Between 1980 and 1994, the study said, 88,622 workers died from work-related injuries. Of that number, 23.1 percent died... (GunPolicy.org)

NORWALK, Connecticut — A landlord was convicted Friday of murdering five men in a feud that started with a bounced rent check. Geoffrey Ferguson, 47, was found guilty of fatally shooting three of his tenants and two of their guests in 1995 and then setting the Redding apartment house on fire to cover up the crime. Each of the men was shot in the head; four of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Ferguson faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without... (GunPolicy.org)

FRESNO, California — A husband and wife pulled handguns 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)

AUCKLAND — Foreign agents may be given special permission to import state-of-the-art weapons to protect world leaders at the Apec meeting in Auckland next year. After quiet diplomatic pressure on the Government, Parliament is expected to consider amending New Zealand's strict gun-import laws before the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in September 1999. The need for change has grown as overseas agencies plan security measures for heads of state... (GunPolicy.org)