Eight years ago, the Downing Street declaration said there was a place in politics for all parties, including the loyalist parties and Sinn Féin who, in the context of a "permanent end to use and support for paramilitary violence", established a commitment to exclusively peaceful means in advancing its cause. Eight years later the continued political support of Sinn Féin for the Provisional IRA has to be examined in that context. The end to Provisional violence that... (GunPolicy.org)

The Herald recently reported U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's view "that the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms." As a staunch advocate of weapon and ammunition controls, I am dismayed that I must, for the most part, agree with Ashcroft's assessment. However, I make the following points: - The Second Amendment doesn't address the right of individuals to keep and bear arms but the... (GunPolicy.org)

Some of the most dangerous firearms seized by police in London have been destroyed. Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, placed the guns into a special Euroshear machine, which crushes and chops them into tiny, unusable pieces. On average more than 600 firearms a year are seized in pre-planned and reactive policing operations in the capital. Mr Stevens said: "By removing and destroying weapons from the streets we can continue to target armed criminals... (GunPolicy.org)

Proponents of a limited right for Ohioans to carry concealed weapons are using a full-court press against heavy opposition to pass a bill by the end of the year. Backstage discussions on House Bill 274 yesterday brightened the prospects for the controversial conceal/carry legislation as a gun-rights group said it might be able to support a moderate version. The legislation that would allow individuals to carry concealed weapons if they take training and undergo... (GunPolicy.org)

Police are seizing 600 guns from violent criminals in London every year, it was revealed today. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, issuing a new alert on gun crime, said that guns are being seized at an average rate of almost two a day in the capital. Sir John, unveiling the latest police weapon in the fight against guns, warned of an 11per cent rise in firearms offences in London so far this year. As he demonstrated a specialist gun- crushing machine... (GunPolicy.org)

Montgomery County, Maryland's health department began its second annual gun-lock giveaway yesterday with a whimper more than a bang, handing out a couple dozen of the 600 locks at the county's agricultural fair. The free locks, which cost county taxpayers about $6 each, drew mostly women and parents who had to claim county residency gun ownership, complete a questionnaire and promise to use them. "You look like a gun owner to me," proclaimed Linda Warren, sounding and... (GunPolicy.org)

It is legal in Loudoun to shoot across another's property without permission unless you are recklessly endangering somebody. This exception has two problems. One, bullets travel farther than the eye can see, making it impossible to know whether you are about to shoot somebody. Two, as any law enforcement officer will tell you, reckless endangerment is so subjective that it is virtually unenforceable unless somebody is hurt, which is too late. You may have read about... (GunPolicy.org)

ALBANY, New York — The state's attorney general said he will appeal a decision by a judge dismissing a lawsuit that accused gun makers of knowingly contributing to the "flood of illegal guns" in New York that result in injuries or death. "We still believe in our case and we do plan to appeal," said Darren Dopp, a spokesman for state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Acting State Supreme Court Justice Louis York decided in a ruling dated Aug. 10 that there was... (GunPolicy.org)