We former governors may have disagreed on many things over the years, but there is one strong belief we share: Minnesotans don't need more hidden guns in more hidden pockets! As early as Tuesday, the Minnesota Legislature will vote once again on whether to change Minnesota law governing permits to carry concealed, loaded handguns in public. We hope lawmakers will vote no. Under current state law, anyone wanting to carry a concealed, loaded weapon must prove a... (GunPolicy.org)

This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations The Transitional National Government (TNG) has issued a directive banning the carrying of weapons on the streets of the capital Mogadishu, a senior TNG official told IRIN on Monday. The directive, which was issued by the council of ministers on 23 January, was already being enforced by the police, with the help of the army, according to Mogadishu police chief, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid. He said... (GunPolicy.org)

Thursday's hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the confirmation of two federal court nominees from Iowa took a detour from the perfunctory niceties to a discussion of criminal sentencing and judicial independence. The subject was raised by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, there to introduce U.S. District Judge Michael Melloy of Cedar Rapids, President Bush's nominee to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and West Des Moines lawyer James Gritzner, appointed... (GunPolicy.org)

Here we go again. The legislative session opens Tuesday, which means we can all prepare for another round in the ongoing battle over guns. This session will likely pick up right where the last one left off considering a concealed weapons bill that would change the way law enforcement grants permits to carry loaded handguns in public. With even a quick glance at the proposal, introduced as S.F. 1395, and as such, one of the loosest concealed weapons laws in the country,... (GunPolicy.org)

Before Minnesota lawmakers can finish saying Welcome back on Tuesday, they may find themselves in the throes of debate over the bitter and divisive issue of carrying concealed firearms in public. In the opening days of the session, legislators are expected to pick up where they left off last year, resurrecting a proposal to guarantee concealed-carry permits to everyone who passes criminal background checks, has no severe mental problems and is properly trained in the... (GunPolicy.org)

David Tubbs, a former FBI supervisor and director for the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command, told The Associated Press recently that Utah has 41,800 concealed weapons permit holders and he doesn't know of any who have used a weapon unlawfully. He may want to check his facts. According to the Firearms Statistical Review prepared by the Utah State Bureau of Criminal Identification, 64 concealed weapons permit holders have had their permits revoked due to felony... (GunPolicy.org)

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo — For three years, Auguste Mbongo fought with the Cobras, one of the militias that would shell crowded neighbourhoods and shoot people just for being ethnically different during two devastating civil wars. Bodies rotted in the streets of the central African country, the living too frightened to come out and bury them. Rape and looting were routine. Today, however, Mbongo is in cosmetics. At 27, he is one of thousands of former fighters who have... (GunPolicy.org)

How did Robert Kleasen, a death row survivor and serial fantasist, manage to settle in a quiet English town and amass an arsenal of fearsome weapons? Giles Whittell investigates The most embarrassing Christmas card ever sent by Humberside Police must be the one dispatched to Robert Elmer Kleasen in 1998. "To Bob and family," it said. "Love and best wishes from the firearms department." It became embarrassing only with hindsight. At the time, as far as anyone in the... (GunPolicy.org)