A bill to scrap the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's database of concealed-weapons permit-holders should be shot dead in its tracks. Last week, the House Information and Technology Committee approved House Bill 1205, sponsored by Rep. Bill Crane, R-Arvada, in a 7-3 vote. The Denver Post supported Sen. Ken Chlouber's successful concealed-carry bill, which became law last year and gave Colorado a uniform, statewide policy to replace a crazy quilt of local ordinances.... (GunPolicy.org)

Colorado exported fewer guns used to commit crimes after enacting a law requiring background checks on all gun- show sales, according to a group campaigning for a similar national law. In a report released today, Americans for Gun Safety also concluded that the top 15 "crime gun export" states permit people to acquire firearms without criminal background checks at gun shows. The group timed its report to coincide with upcoming votes in Congress on firearms laws. Its... (GunPolicy.org)

The Government was accused today of opening up a "dangerous loophole" allowing British arms manufacturers to sell to some of the most dangerous and repressive regimes in the world. A report by Oxfam warned that the defence industry was taking advantage of a relaxation in the controls on the export of weapons components, to get round arms embargoes. It said parts made in the UK were reaching countries such as Zimbabwe, Israel, Indonesia, Uganda, Colombia, Nepal and... (GunPolicy.org)

A national gun safety group is citing Colorado as an example of how closing the "gun show loophole" has cut down on the sale of guns to criminals. "Colorado is testament that closing the loophole works," said Deborah Barron, spokeswoman for Americans for Gun Safety, which conducted a study on the laws "It provides a national model. If you close the loophole, crime drops. By closing the loophole, Colorado sent a message to gun traffickers, criminals and terrorists... (GunPolicy.org)

A preliminary injunction to prevent the state attorney general's office from destroying concealed-gun permit records was denied Monday by a Sacramento Superior Court judge. "It is basically a policy decision by the Legislature," Judge Loren E. McMaster said of a new records-keeping law. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Second Amendment Foundation filed suit Dec. 30, to preserve the records because they said it helped make their case... (GunPolicy.org)

The American public should know that a small number of federally licensed gun dealers supplied one of every five guns traced to crimes nationwide yet remain in business. People should know that guns used in 52 fatal shootings and other crimes were traced to one gun shop in Washington state that already had multiple violations of the law. That was before the same shop sold the rifle used by convicted Washington, D.C., sniper John Muhammad and teenage sidekick Lee Malvo... (GunPolicy.org)

Few problems facing American cities are more serious than gun violence. Guns destroy thousands of lives every year and spread fear in our neighborhoods. It is much too easy for criminals to get firearms. And when a handgun is readily available, a minor argument or domestic dispute can quickly escalate into a homicide. We've worked hard to get illegal guns off the streets, through tough law enforcement, by supporting reasonable gun laws — and by suing gun... (GunPolicy.org)

America is awash in cheap, easily available guns. Nobody who wants a gun, it seems, has any trouble getting one, including criminals. One result — aside from the body counts racked up in endless cycles of gang violence — is that several cities across the nation have filed lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers. The list of pending cases includes those filed by Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis and San Francisco. Victims of gun violence... (GunPolicy.org)

An Australian woman had a gun held at her back while she and her husband were bashed and robbed by a gang in Papua New Guinea. The pair, from the Northern Territory, were bashed and held at gunpoint by eight bandits at a school in PNG's southern highlands this month, it was revealed yesterday. "It was a terrifying experience for us," David and Liz Murnane said. "They bashed me with the blunt edge of the machete and did the same to Liz's legs while they had a gun... (GunPolicy.org)