Speaking to a conference of federal, state and local law enforcement officials in Philadelphia, Mr. Ashcroft said 10,600 suspected offenders were charged with federal gun violations in 2002, compared to 8,054 who faced federal gun charges in 2000, the year before the program started. The program, which diverts cases from state court to federal court where penalties are stiffer, accounted for 7,747 gun-violation convictions, which Mr. Ashcroft called the largest ever... (GunPolicy.org)

A variety of projects designed to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun criminals have received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department announced on Jan. 30 that it was making a total of $117 million in gun-violence related grants. The grants included $16 million for media-outreach projects in 94 federal judicial districts that seek to raise community support and inform residents about the penalties for gun-related violence. Also, $15... (GunPolicy.org)

Attorney General John Ashcroft visited Philadelphia yesterday to applaud a Justice Department program that began here and has dramatically increased federal prosecutions for gun-law violations. Addressing a luncheon crowd of 1,300 federal, state, and local law-enforcement officials at the Philadelphia Marriott, Ashcroft praised Project Safe Neighborhoods for reducing violence. The program began locally in 1999 as Operation Cease Fire. Under the initiative, the local... (GunPolicy.org)

DENVER — A bill that some say would gut the voter-approved law requiring background checks at gun shows is headed to the negotiating table. Rep. Bill Sinclair, R-Colorado Springs, ordered bill sponsor Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose; Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield; and opponents of House Bill 1119 to try to work out a compromise. Sinclair, chairman of the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, surprised those in the audience and probably those on his... (GunPolicy.org)

In a surprise move Thursday, a House leader abruptly shelved a bill that would change Amendment 22, the voter-approved measure requiring background checks on buyers at gun shows. Rep. Bill Sinclair, R-Colorado Springs, pulled House Bill 1119 after more than two hours of testimony. Sinclair, who chairs the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, told bill sponsor Rep. Ray Rose to work with the bill's opponents, SAFE Colorado, on a compromise. At issue is... (GunPolicy.org)

It's frightening enough that Virginia law allows customers to pack heat in public places where alcohol is served if their holstered weapons are in full view. But every year some lawmaker with a posse of National Rifle Association lobbyists presses hard for the repeal of a ban on bringing hidden weapons to such establishments. For the third year in a row it's Del. R. Lee Ware Jr. of Powhatan at the ready, stressing his belief in the importance to public safety of the... (GunPolicy.org)

MANILA — The Philippine authorities yesterday banned Filipinos from carrying guns on the streets in the most drastic step in three decades to curb the country's entrenched gun culture. President Gloria Arroyo said even licensed civilian gun owners would not be allowed to take their weapons outside their homes, where some families keep small armouries to protect themselves against burglaries, kidnappings and communist or Muslim separatist guerillas. In a speech at... (GunPolicy.org)

OTTAWA — A Saskatoon man who is expected to appear in an Ottawa court on Friday was arrested Thursday night as he arrived. Ed Hudson is a member of the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owner's Association. He carried part of a gun to a protest on Parliament Hill on Jan. 1 to protest Ottawa's gun registry deadline of Dec. 31. Hudson was arrested for carrying a weapon to a public meeting as a result of the January protest and ordered to appear court to receive a trial... (GunPolicy.org)

OTTAWA — Only one million of the 5.9 million firearms registered by the federal justice department have been verified to prove they are the guns their owners claim, according to RCMP documents. The disclosure proves one of the government's main goals of a universal registry — reliable data on all registered firearms — has failed, says Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz. Information the Saskatchewan MP obtained from the RCMP under the Access to Information Act... (GunPolicy.org)

TACOMA — A small but prayerful group of people concerned about gun violence gathered yesterday outside a gun shop linked to the rifle used in the East Coast sniper-killing spree. The group, most from anti-violence groups that included the Million Mom March, Washington Ceasefire and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, braved leaden, dreary skies to stand a vigil outside the Bull's Eye Shooter Supply gun shop in memory of the 13 people slain during the spree... (GunPolicy.org)

The Metropolitan police yesterday flatly denied having a "gung-ho" attitude to using firearms after the publication of a report which suggested its officers behave too aggressively and shoot more frequently than other forces. Ian Blair, the Met's deputy commissioner, said the study by the police complaints authority was "odd, inappropriate, ill-advised, statistically dubious" and did not stand up to scrutiny. The Met reacted when the PCA published a review of police... (GunPolicy.org)