WASHINGTON — Conceding vulnerability on a hot campaign issue, House Republican leaders today sent to the floor a popular gun-crime bill, written by Republicans, and passed it so they would have something to show before next week's anniversary of the fatal shootings at Columbine High School. Lawmakers voted 358 to 60 to send $100 million in block grants to states that imposed mandatory jail sentences for gun crimes. Only six states would now qualify for the grants,... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — The House quickly approved a Republican-backed bill promising millions of dollars in new federal aid to states that enact tougher minimum mandatory sentences for criminals who carry guns. The lopsided 358-60 vote belies the partisan maneuvering surrounding the gun-safety issue ahead of the April 20 anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado a year ago. House Democrats voted 149-56 for the bill, but accused the GOP of rushing the... (GunPolicy.org)

The House passed legislation yesterday providing financial rewards to states that impose a five-year mandatory minimum sentence on any person who uses a gun while committing a violent crime or serious drug trafficking offense. The bill, modeled on Virginia's "Project Exile" program, was rushed to the floor to commemorate next week's one-year anniversary of the school killings in Littleton, Colo. "I think everyone wants to see an end to gun violence in this country,"... (GunPolicy.org)

President Clinton yesterday declared Gov. Parris N. Glendening's new gun safety law a model for the country and called on Congress to follow Maryland's example and pass national legislation requiring childproof locks for handguns. The president spoke at the State House in Annapolis, where he attended the bill-signing ceremony for Glendening's legislation, which makes Maryland the first state in the nation to require that new handguns be sold with built-in locks. The... (GunPolicy.org)

Gov. Bill Owens will participate in a town hall debate on gun issues today in Denver. So will President Clinton. They just won't do it at the same time. The two leaders will miss each other by hours at the University of Denver. After days of negotiations between MSNBC and the governor's office, the upshot is that anchor Tom Brokaw will host two town meetings on gun issues in Denver today. The first, at 1 p.m., will feature Clinton. Owens will be interviewed by... (GunPolicy.org)

Carroll Goldsmith sits on her porch on a soft spring evening, talking on the phone and greeting neighbors who stroll by. Her three sons are asleep inside. She pauses in her conversation as a truck rumbles by. "I could never do this before — sit outside at night and feel safe," she says. When she and her husband moved to Richmond's Highland Park neighborhood nearly four years ago, gunfire was heard almost nightly. Children working as drug couriers carried firearms.... (GunPolicy.org)

CONTRA COSTA — Local backers of the Million Mom March got a boost yesterday when the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the group's Mother's Day gathering in Washington, D.C. The supervisors also demanded that the federal government pass strict new gun-control laws. The resolution was introduced by Supervisor Gayle Uilkema and board Chairwoman Donna Gerber and passed by a unanimous vote. Supervisor Joe Canciamilla was absent. The... (GunPolicy.org)

Despite a new Pennsylvania law that prohibits such suits, Philadelphia filed a lawsuit against 14 handgun makers yesterday, charging them with negligently distributing their products to make it easy for criminals and juveniles to buy them. Philadelphia's action brings to 31 the number of cities or counties to sue the gun industry over the past year and a half and adds to the pressure on the firearms companies. The Philadelphia lawsuit, like most of the other cities',... (GunPolicy.org)

OCEANSIDE — A Southern California woman is planning to file a lawsuit and wipe Teletubbies from the face of the earth after a Tinky Winky doll allegedly talked to her baby daughter about guns. "I want them all gone," declared Renee Michelle Taylor, who has hired a lawyer to help her sue the company that manufactures a set of talking Teletubby dolls. "They shouldn't be on the air. They shouldn't be on the shelves." But the chairman of the company that licenses the... (GunPolicy.org)

UTICA, New York — America is evenly divided on the question of which major presidential candidate would do the best job on gun violence. In the Zogby April survey of 842 likely adults, 39.6% favored Al Gore as the candidate with the best shot at making a difference in the rate of gun violence plaguing the nation, and 36.5% said the same of George W. Bush. A further 4.8% said Ralph Nader, 2.7% Pat Buchanan, and 16.4% were not sure. African Americans and women were... (GunPolicy.org)

SHORT HILLS, New Jersey — It took an unforgettable image of young children escaping a racist gunman to transform Donna Dees-Thomases from a wealthy suburban mother into a grassroots activist. The image was from Aug. 10, when a white supremacist opened fire on a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif. Dees-Thomases was flipping channels when she saw the video of children the same age as her daughters crossing the street hand-in-hand with police... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Although President Clinton asked Congress to pass new gun laws before the first anniversary of the killings at Columbine High School, the White House acknowledges the deadline will slip. Clinton was to complain about Congress and the gun lobby today while urging voters in Colorado to take their own steps for gun control. A week before the April 20 Columbine anniversary, Clinton was endorsing a state ballot measure that would impose new requirements for... (GunPolicy.org)

DOVER, Delaware — On the day Maryland enacted a law to mandate trigger locks on handguns, a Delaware lawmaker introduced legislation to require similar safety locks on guns sold and traded here. State Sen. Robert Marshall, a Wilmington Democrat, said the bill he introduced yesterday offers a "common sense" approach to gun control. But there are those who doubt Marshall's legislation will ever become law. Firearm regulation has not always received a warm reception in... (GunPolicy.org)

GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts — The envelope was hand-addressed. When Gregory Gibson glimpsed it one afternoon in November, mixed in with the junk mail and the bills, he knew right away what it was. The return address was a post office box in Norfolk, Mass., near Boston where, Mr. Gibson knew all too well, there is a state prison. His son's killer was getting in touch. So much came back that afternoon when the letter arrived at the Gibsons' clapboard house in... (GunPolicy.org)