A national gun rights group filed suit yesterday against the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the mayors of 23 cities, contending that a flurry of recent lawsuits against gun manufacturers have harmed firearms consumers. The Second Amendment Foundation, a lobbying group based in Bellevue, Wash., had warned for months that it would sue the cities to counter a wave of litigation aimed at the firearms industry. The foundation's suit, filed in U.S. District Court here,... (GunPolicy.org)

Shot through the chest and unable to feel his legs, Mark Chilutti used his arms to drag his limp and bleeding body toward a panic button that summoned help after his Mayfair jewelry store was robbed three years ago. Paralyzed from the chest down, he was told he would never walk again. So he built a new life for himself, living alone in a specially renovated apartment, learning to drive with only his hands, and taking the public stage to work for tougher gun... (GunPolicy.org)

Rod Harder stood smiling in a Capitol hallway, reassuring Rep. Mark Simmons, the House Republican whip. Moments before, a committee had revolted against its chairman and Republican leaders to pass a bill by Democratic Sen. Ginny Burdick that would require criminal background checks for sales at gun shows. The vote blew apart the carefully laid plans of Harder, the National Rifle Association's lobbyist, and other gun-control opponents. They had wanted to keep the bill... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Celebrating the sixth anniversary of the Brady law, which mandates waiting periods and background checks for gun buyers, President Clinton said on Tuesday that the system had blocked more than 470,000 gun sales to "felons, fugitives, stalkers and others prohibited from purchasing firearms." In just the last year, since the Federal Bureau of Investigation began instant computerized checks of gun buyers' criminal histories, 160,000 sales... (GunPolicy.org)

LOS ANGELES — The controversial proposal to end all ammunition sales within Los Angeles city limits has just moved one step closer to reality. On Tuesday, the Police Commission voted 3-2 to recommend that the City Council pass the proposal. While acknowledging that endorsing such a ban could be more symbolic than practical, Commission President Gerald Chaleff told reporters he supports any effort to reduce gun-related violence. "Sometimes making a statement is... (GunPolicy.org)

An Illinois state-court judge in Chicago ruled that relatives of three shooting victims could go forward against the gun industry with lawsuits that rely on the same theory as many of the suits filed against the industry by municipalities. Judge Jennifer Duncan-Brice of the Cook County Circuit Court rejected motions to dismiss the individual shooting-fatality suits filed against several gun companies. The judge said the plaintiffs could base their action on the theory... (GunPolicy.org)

DENVER — Scott Pasternack, a third-generation pawnshop owner, says many of his clients are frustrated a year after a federal law mandated background checks on customers redeeming their guns. As his 3-year-old son, Hunter, played hide-and-seek beneath the pawnshop's gun rack, Pasternack said anger over mounting paperwork and even malfunctioning computers have discouraged sales of pawned guns. "Even if they don't object to all the forms, they might have to wait three... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — More than 160,000 people, nearly three-quarters of them convicted felons, were barred from buying a gun during the first year of computerized instant criminal background checks, the Justice Department says. The overwhelming majority of 8.7 million would-be gun buyers were approved during the year. Most checks took seconds and nearly all were complete within two hours. Combined with the 312,000 handgun purchases barred during the manual checks in effect... (GunPolicy.org)

Mr Chairman, committee members, ladies & gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me here to speak today. My field of research is the international regulation of firearms. I work with police unions, government agencies and universities in North America, New Zealand and Europe — currently with the World Council of Churches Project on Violence in Geneva, Switzerland. I hold accreditation to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice, and for several... (GunPolicy.org)