A gunman whose house was plastered with pictures of guns held a pistol to the head of a policeman and sparked a dramatic armed siege. After John Soderquest gave himself up, police found four firearms in his Tynemouth flat, Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday. Police said the case of Soderquest, who habitually dressed in black and answered his door while holding a gun, was "disturbing". Soderquest was arrested after the siege at Sandpiper Court, Hotspur Street,... (GunPolicy.org)

Excerpts from Wednesday's debate in Durham, N.H., between Democratic presidential candidates Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley, as transcribed by Federal Document Clearing House … On gun control: BRADLEY: Al, I have proposed registration and licensing of all handguns, all 65 million handguns in America. President Clinton has said he is for that. We're in the midst of this tremendous rash of gun violence in America. Thirteen children are killed... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are a step closer to a nationwide computer system that will let them identify and trace guns and bullets in much the same way individuals are identified and tracked by fingerprints. The agencies have been trying to make their systems compatible for more than a year. Last week, they said they had succeeded. "We now have an advanced tool," Treasury Undersecretary James Johnson says. "The next step is... (GunPolicy.org)

Two local anti-gun activists are angry at what they say are "veiled threats" posted on the Illinois State Rifle Association's Web site. Steve Young, an advocate for victims of gun violence whose son was shot and killed by a gang member, and Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence board member Mark Karlin are among those singled out by the association's Web site. Located at ISRA.org, the site includes a page under the heading "Support Freedom." It contains pictures... (GunPolicy.org)

SACRAMENTO — Fearful that they could be accused of selling outlawed assault weapons, two major California gun dealers said Wednesday they have indefinitely suspended the sale of many popular hunting rifles. Executives of Turner's Outdoorsman, a big retail sporting goods chain in Southern California, and Trader Sports Inc. of San Leandro, a Northern California firearms retailer, said hundreds of rifles had been removed from sales shelves on Jan. 1. In interviews,... (GunPolicy.org)

Mary Anne Bradfield and Ted Pascoe are both terribly hoarse this week. Bradfield is the National Rifle Association's chief lobbyist in Colorado. Pascoe is director of the Colorado Coalition Against Gun Violence. They've had a lot to talk about as the Colorado Legislature gears up for a gun-rights showdown. Not to each other, but to rooms of activists and legislators. On one side are hunters, target shooters, Second Amendment activists and gun lovers of all... (GunPolicy.org)

Gun retailers, worried that their interests aren't being represented by manufacturers in industry talks to settle municipal litigation, are forming a new trade group to demand a place at the table. The move is sure to stir controversy, because the dealers have hired an industry operative whose pragmatic approach has put him at odds with a number of major manufacturers and the National Rifle Association, which represents gun owners. The operative, Robert Ricker, has... (GunPolicy.org)

DURHAM, New Hampshire — Vice President Gore and former senator Bill Bradley sparred tonight over health care, gun control and who would make the better leader in a spirited but civil debate that launched the final month of campaigning here in New Hampshire. Gore questioned whether Bradley had the right kind of experience to avoid "big mistakes by a president who stumbles into something that can be avoided with the [right] kind of judgment and experience." He argued... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN FRANCISCO — Some California legislators want handguns treated the way cars are: licensed and registered. Handgun owners in California would have to register their weapons and get licenses to use them, just as they do with their automobiles, under proposed legislation that would give the state some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation. Democrats who control both houses of the legislature have proposed at least four separate bills in an aggressive effort... (GunPolicy.org)

Here's a correction (and more): An item in Tuesday's column noted that U.S. Sen. Carl Levin had ripped on "the glib rhetoric" and "bumper-sticker logic" of the National Rifle Association in a May 3, 1999, speech to the Economic Club of Detroit. But it erred in suggesting that Levin may not have followed through on a pledge, in the same speech, to speak out weekly in the Senate on gun issues. For that, we apologize … and are delighted to set straight the record: Sen.... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — The television networks are so badly slanting the gun control debate they have become the "communications division of the anti-gun lobby," says the head of a conservative media watchdog group that studied the issue. The Media Research Center, chaired by Brent Bozell, released a study Wednesday on two years of television news stories on gun control. The study analyzed the morning shows and evening newscasts between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1999 on ABC,... (GunPolicy.org)