SEATTLE — The company that made the Bushmaster rifle used in the 2002 Washington-area sniper killing spree and a gun shop agreed to pay $2.5 million in damages to the victims in what lawyers said on Thursday was an unprecedented move by a gunmaker. The settlement for eight victims of the October 2002 shootings was the first of its kind by a gun manufacturer accused of negligent distribution of firearms, said Daniel Vice, an attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent... (GunPolicy.org)

CAPE TOWN — Seven South African Police Service provincial commissioners were criticised sharply yesterday by members of Parliament's safety and security committee for not knowing what was happening on the ground in their areas. The seven had been called before the committee to report on the progress made in implementing the Firearms Control Act and its regulations. From next year about 2-million legal firearm owners will have to begin reapplying for their licences.... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — The Republicans who lead Congress plan to let the federal law that bans the manufacture and sale of 19 semiautomatic assault weapons die quietly Monday, without renewing the statute that is a symbol of the gun-control movement's success during the Clinton era. The law most certainly will die, but it won't go quietly. A frenzied version of the emotional debate that occurred before the ban became law in 1994 is playing out here. Supporters of the ban —... (GunPolicy.org)

US Representative Benjamin L. Cardin is calling on President Bush to support an extension of the assault weapons ban. The 1994 law prohibits the sale and possession of 118 models and variations of semiautomatic rifles and pistols. It also prohibits the manufacture of large capacity magazines that hold more than 10 bullets. The ban is set to expire at midnight on Monday unless Congress acts to extend it. Since it's enactment 10 years ago, the US Bureau of Alcohol,... (GunPolicy.org)