With a report from Jill Mahoney in Edmonton. Sources: GPC Research OTTAWA — At least 320,000 gun owners in Canada are in breach of the country's new firearms law, according to calculations based on a new federal survey on gun ownership. The survey for the Canadian Firearms Registry, obtained by The Globe and Mail, found that there are 2.46 million firearm owners in Canada, a substantial drop from the 3.3 million under previous government estimates. Government... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Gun-control advocates are calling on Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft to relinquish his National Rifle Association membership, saying it would be a conflict for him to remain affiliated with the gun lobby while enforcing the nation's gun laws. "It's a clear appearance of conflict," said Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based group advocating stricter gun laws. "Ashcroft should resign from the... (GunPolicy.org)

It was like the Hatfields and McCoys getting together to hold a news conference on the perils of neighborhood bickering. But there they were last week: Some of Maryland's leading gun control advocates and some of the General Assembly's most vehement gun rights defenders gathered to praise the incoming president of Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse and to tout gun safety education. Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) hosted the State House reception for Carole Price, the... (GunPolicy.org)

HARRISBURG, PA — A Commonwealth Court judge has refused to bar the Pennsylvania State Police from keeping records of handgun purchases in the state. Gun owners and sportsmen from southwestern and eastern Pennsylvania sued over the issue, maintaining that the computer database constitutes an illegal registry of firearms ownership. They asked Judge James R. Kelley at a hearing in Harrisburg last week to issue an order requiring the destruction of the database. In... (GunPolicy.org)

BARBARA SMITH: The largest gun lobby group in the country has rejected the findings of a poll on gun ownership. The National Firearms Association says there are many more gun owners than the polls suggest. The survey was commissioned by the Canadian Firearms Centre. The results show that nearly ninety percent of gun owners are in compliance with Ottawa's new gun law. A revised firearms act came into effect at the start of this year. It requires all gun owners to get a... (GunPolicy.org)

Gun control opponents like to say that rather than passing new gun laws, we need to enforce the ones we have. In that case, they should embrace a measure before the Los Angeles City Council. The ordinance, which won committee approval Monday, would provide muscle for enforcing background check laws already on the books. Federal and state laws already bar gun sales to convicted felons, individuals subject to a restraining order, those declared mentally incompetent and... (GunPolicy.org)