A former SAS trooper accused of murdering his girlfriend has been has been jailed for life. Scots-born anaesthetist, Dr Thomas Shanks, 48, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court over the death of Vickie Fletcher. Shanks shot dead Ms Fletcher, a 21-year-old nurse, outside a pub in Castleford, West Yorkshire, after she had started a relationship with another man. He had denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Sentencing, Mr... (GunPolicy.org)

The ordeal of Tony Martin touched a raw nerve in people across Britain. Thousands wrote to publicist Max Clifford, who is representing Martin, expressing their support for the farmer and his actions. Three files on the shelves of Mr Clifford's London office, brimming with messages and offers of financial help, bear testimony to the strength of feeling the case has provoked. Martin's solicitor Nick Makin has also received a flood of donations to a fighting fund set up... (GunPolicy.org)

The Queensland National Party is facing another rift with its Liberal Coalition partner — this time over gun laws. The Nationals have finished a review that recommends watering down the gun laws introduced by the Borbidge Government following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. The changes include access to life-long gun licences. Opposition police spokesman, Mike Horan, says the suggested changes are yet to be put to the Liberal Party. "Well we have a process to go... (GunPolicy.org)

Tierney Siegel figured her idea was a long shot. In fact, just getting an audience with sports mogul Abe Pollin was going to be tough. To her astonishment, he took her phone call and put her on his calendar. "I'm nobody," she told him when they met. "I'm just a mom." Yet something about this Montgomery County mom's appeal persuaded the Washington Wizards owner to bend-no, break-his own rules. The tragedy of gun violence and children, he decided, was too important to... (GunPolicy.org)

Smith & Wesson, the gun manufacturer, tried to do a deal with Bill Clinton. The rest is history. Smith & Wesson famously agreed last month to restrictions the Administration proposed on how it manufactures and distributes guns. The Clinton Administration could hardly contain its glee. The same tactics that had been so effective in the tobacco wars-threats to litigate into submission a politically incorrect industry rather than waste time with an elected... (GunPolicy.org)

Propelled into politics by the gun control issue after her family was shattered by a spree killer, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy ousted one-term Republican Rep. Daniel Frisa in 1996 by an astounding 17 percentage-point margin. An overwhelming 1998 re-election in New York's 4th District seemed assured after NBC broadcast a TV movie based on McCarthy's dramatic life story. So when Republican state Rep. Greg Becker surprised by coming within 6 percentage points of her in the... (GunPolicy.org)

As days lapsed into months following last spring's tragedy at Columbine High School, the National Education Association got tired of waiting for federal lawmakers to act on proposals to combat gun violence. So the union quickly assembled a coalition of groups interested in gun control, bought advertising space, and sent a message to Congress. "No More Delays on Common-Sense Gun Laws," declared the ensuing advertisement, which ran in the June 14, 1999, issue of Roll... (GunPolicy.org)

Even as some educators are going up against the National Rifle Association in the hallways of statehouses and the U.S. Capitol over gun control, others are bringing the organization's gun-avoidance program into their classrooms in a different kind of effort to safeguard children against firearms. The NRA's Eddie Eagle Gun Safe Program is not the only program of its kind available to teachers, but it is the largest, having reached by its own estimates 12 million... (GunPolicy.org)

On April 3, Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly issued an announcement that instantly changed the terms of debate surrounding gun control in the U.S. On that day, Reilly stated that his office henceforth would begin enforcement of strict gun-safety rules of a type never before adopted by any state. Starting that day, Massachusetts became the first state in the union to regulate firearms as consumer products. As strange as it may sound, firearms-one of the... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Al Gore wants broad new gun controls. George W. Bush wants stronger enforcement of existing laws. And this year voters care as school shootings, particularly those at Columbine, cast long shadows across the presidential campaign trail. With interest growing — two-thirds of voters say the candidates' views on guns will be an important factor in their choices — both men's positions have been evolving. In a nod to the role the issue will play in the... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — To mark the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, the Clinton administration wants to show what it has done to curb gun violence in the year since America's worst school shooting. With Clinton's favored gun control bill stalled in Congress, the administration is touting a Department of Housing and Urban Development program to encourage city housing agencies to buy and destroy unwanted firearms. The gun buybacks give cash or gift certificates... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — Hoping to get Congress to pass more gun control laws, the U.S. Conference of Mayors today released a report memorializing 4,001 victims of gun violence who died in the year following the Columbine High School massacre. "A year's gone by, thousands continue to be injured and killed, and yet you have obstinate individuals leading organizations such as the NRA [National Rifle Association] saying, 'We don't care how many kids get killed. We don't want to see... (GunPolicy.org)