VIENNA, Austria — The United States and 45 other nations approved a plan Thursday to reduce illegal cross-border trade of civilian firearms. The plan calls for experts to work out internationally accepted programs to slow the gun-running trade. It still must go to the U.N. General Assembly for a vote. But support by the United States and other heavyweights — like Russia, Japan, Britain and Germany — at the Vienna meeting of the U.N. Commission on Crime... (GunPolicy.org)

VIENNA, Austria — A proposal by a U.N. commission intended to curb the illicit trade in firearms has moved toward almost certain adoption, in the wake of a sharp attack by the National Rifle Association. The gun lobby, which has had official status in the proceedings before the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, lashed out at the agency for the secrecy of its proceedings and said the commission had issued an "uncredible" report that "affronts"... (GunPolicy.org)

If you're lucky, the most dangerous weapons in your house are the recipe for "40 cloves of garlic" chicken and your children's mouths, firing rounds of "I hate you" and "I wish I was never born." But you probably have a gun. Because this is Pennsylvania, where 150,000 handguns were sold last year. The state with more concealed-weapons permits than any other — including Texas. That's 575,000 permission slips allowing people of all levels of civility and stability... (GunPolicy.org)

There was the trauma surgeon who talked of being asked by youngsters worried about getting shot: "If you get a colostomy, is it permanent?" There was the federal prosecutor warning that Philadelphia had become one of the leading cities in the nation for firearms violence — with gun deaths growing every year. There was the mayor pounding a table and expressing his anguish at the failure of lock-'em-up strategies: "We've taken the steps that anti-gun-control advocates... (GunPolicy.org)

The United States on Thursday joined a host of nations which have adopted a United Nations resolution to crack down on illicit trafficking in firearms. The initiative is intended to help undermine international crime and the U.S. move to become one of about 30 of its co-sponsors marks the beginning of an effort to make countries more accountable for their firearms exports. The resolution, the first of its kind to be endorsed by the United States, recommended that... (GunPolicy.org)