What will the latest mass shooting in America do to alter legislation on the purchase and possession of firearms? The most likely answer, on the eve of George W Bush's ascension to the presidency, is — precisely nothing. Yesterday, not even the most liberal US newspapers raised the issue of gun control as they described the killing spree in a Massachusetts internet company that left seven dead. Although the suspect, Michael McDermott, owned several high-precision... (GunPolicy.org)

The crunch is on. The 1995 federal gun-control law, much debated and much challenged, will take effect next Monday. Anyone who owns a gun and hasn't at least applied for a possession licence will be in violation of the new rules of life for hunters, target shooters and anyone else in possession of a firearm . Since deadlines concentrate the mind wonderfully, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have begun lining up for permits. This has triggered an equally predictable... (GunPolicy.org)

TAKOMA PARK — This is a town where tie-dyed clothing and Birkenstocks never go out of fashion, a place where aging hippies and young vegetarians, potters and folk musicians, peaceniks and women's rights lawyers make their home. Yet even the free-spirited folks in this self-proclaimed "Berkeley of the East" are having a hard time pushing through one of the most popular of liberal causes: a handgun ban. More than 18 months have passed since anti-gun activists went... (GunPolicy.org)

The Brotherhood of St Laurence is sifting through Christmas donations for disadvantaged children and weeding out fake weapons as part of a policy to remove toys with connotations of violence and war. The welfare agency said its policy for a "war-free zone" meant toys deemed inappropriate for children were either put into storage or destroyed. But acting executive director Sandra Hills could neither confirm nor deny specific claims that several toy guns were smashed... (GunPolicy.org)

Maryland House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. says that bureaucratic bungling in implementing a new gun safety law is creating serious problems for Maryland gun dealers and that many dealers are finding it difficult to get new guns from manufacturers. "Clearly, a lot of people, including myself, voted for this bill because they believe in the gun safety aspects of the bill," Taylor said yesterday. But the regulations were written so vaguely that the state has ended up... (GunPolicy.org)

A hand-wringing Boston Globe editorial lamented the "nightmare that stalks the nation" and "bright river of blood" bursting forth because the country "refuses to pass stringent controls on firearms". Just as with the Columbine school massacre and the Michigan six-year-old who shot a classmate, the tragedy in Wakefield has already ushered in calls for "common sense gun control" and more laws to limit the Second Amendment right of Americans to own weapons. Expect an... (GunPolicy.org)

BOSTON — Anti-gun activists Thursday called on lawmakers to close what they say is a loophole in the state's toughest-in-the-nation gun control law. Pointing to Tuesday's shooting rampage in a Wakefield office building that left seven dead, the activists asked legislators to ban the sale or possession of all assault weapons in Massachusetts. Current law only bans the possession or sale of assault weapons made after September 1994. Investigators say Michael M.... (GunPolicy.org)