WASHINGTON — Gun makers are using video games to market guns to children, gun control advocates claimed yesterday. The Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based gun control group, said in a report that video games such as "Remington Top Shots" and "Colt's Wild West Shootout" expose children to specific brands of guns and describe the firearms in detail. "Such flagrant marketing of a deadly product to children has not been witnessed since the days of Joe Camel and... (GunPolicy.org)

RICHMOND — A House of Delegates committee killed legislation Thursday that would have denied gun ownership rights to anyone convicted of stalking, sexual battery or domestic assault. The panel also turned aside — at least temporarily — a bill to impose additional restrictions for having guns on school property. On a 12 to 7 vote, the House Militia and Police Committee rejected a bill that would have barred stalkers and batterers from owning a gun for five years... (GunPolicy.org)

Lawsuits may have forced Big Tobacco to buckle — first one company and then, like dominoes, the rest. But the same see-you-in-court tactic does not seem to be working, at least so far, with the nation's gun manufacturers. True, Smith & Wesson, America's largest gunmaker, agreed nine months ago to make significant changes in the way it makes and markets its products. And the company settled a major lawsuit this week with Boston, one of dozens of cities across the US... (GunPolicy.org)

Although gun deaths in Los Angeles County were down nearly 10% in 1999 over the previous year, such deaths for senior citizens and Asian Americans increased, a survey by a gun control group disclosed Thursday. Ann Reiss Lane, head of the Los Angeles-based Women Against Gun Violence, was not especially buoyed by the results from her group's annual survey because Los Angeles police figures for 2000 show that the homicide rate in the city-mainly as a result of guns-is up... (GunPolicy.org)

Let the lawsuits begin. Among the bills that City Council approved yesterday at its last regular meeting of the year was one that's almost sure to get the city sued. Councilman Darrell Clarke said he's already heard from National Rifle Association lawyers who say they plan immediately to challenge his gun registration bill, which passed yesterday by a vote of 14-2. The bill, which would require people with gun permits to turn in an annual list of all the guns they... (GunPolicy.org)

BELLEVUE, Washington — A suburban Seattle shooting range has stopped renting guns to people who come alone after two customers committed suicide within five days. Wade's Eastside Gun Shop in Bellevue, Wash., will allow customers to come alone to target shoot with their own guns, but anyone wanting to rent a gun must bring a companion. The change in policy comes after the suicides of Georg Frey, of Issaquah, and Christina Rose, of Kirkland, who each rented a handgun... (GunPolicy.org)

In Mohammed Siddique's workshop craftsmen will make you any gun that you want. Cheap Kalashnikov working copies are in constant demand although pump-action shotguns are the new favourite of tribal leaders in neighbouring Afghanistan. For generations, Darra Adam Khel, a village caught in the steep valleys of Pakistan's federally administered but lawless tribal areas, has thrived as one of the world's largest unofficial arms markets. Nowadays, Darra has become an... (GunPolicy.org)