The brutal ethnic war in Darfur is being fuelled by weapons supplied by companies from countries that are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a report claimed yesterday. The Security Council is trying to find a way to end the violence. The Chinese and Russian governments have been allowing the sale of military equipment to the Sudanese government, according to an Amnesty International report, which also repeated claims that a British firm had been... (GunPolicy.org)

ULYSSES, Kentucky — A school bus driver is back on the job after letting a hunter ride shotgun. Kathy Laney was suspended indefinitely in September by the rural Lawrence County school district — and could have been fired — after she stopped along her route with 10 youngsters aboard and gave a lift to a squirrel hunter carrying a 20-gauge shotgun. Parents were outraged over her suspension and swamped the central office with calls and petitions demanding she be... (GunPolicy.org)

To the Editor: Re "Lock and Load," by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, Nov. 13): The Brady Campaign has long focused on public policies to slow the gun violence epidemic, and I agree with the public health approach that Mr. Kristof laid out. But I see no case to be made for his assumption that support for sensible gun laws cost John Kerry the election. The gun lobby suffered an erosion of support in states where it once had considerable clout, and President Bush moved... (GunPolicy.org)

Over 5,000 illegal guns and accessories have been recovered by police since the beginning of the year. Police spokesman Jasper Ombati says they will be destroyed by the end of the month at Nairobi's Uhuru park, the venue where another 7,000 were destroyed in 2002. But despite the crackdown, which has been stepped up in the recent past due to rising insecurity, police believe many more unlicensed firearms are still in use and accuse the public of failure to give them... (GunPolicy.org)

The owner of a downtown pawnshop has lost his business licence after police found a loaded handgun behind the counter. City inspectors revoked the licence of A Alberta Pawn Brokers on June 30 after being alerted by the Calgary Police Service nine days earlier. The business, at 119 7th Ave. S.W. and owned by Roma Shuman, was allowed to remain open until Tuesday's hearing of the licence appeal board. The board, made up of four aldermen, upheld the decision to revoke... (GunPolicy.org)

BRUSSELS — Two Flemish politicians are pushing to tighten Belgium's gun laws to stall the growing numbers of people killed by firearms. Geert Lambert, leader of the left leaning liberal party Spirt, and his fellow party member Stijn Bex say they want to reduce the number of people killed by guns every year in Belgium. At present the average death toll from shooting incidents in Belgium is 367 and it is thought that there are around two million weapons in circulation... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — In nominating Condoleezza Rice to head the State Department, President Bush said Tuesday that her early years in segregated Alabama helped shape her world view. "As a girl in the segregated South, Dr. Rice saw the promise of America violated by racial discrimination and by the violence that comes from hate," Bush said. Rice has "an abiding belief in the value and power of liberty because she has seen freedom denied and freedom reborn," Bush said.... (GunPolicy.org)

Republican gains in the Senate likely give gun makers a better shot at moving a bill that shields them from lawsuits, both opponents and supporters of the measure say. Senate Republicans last spring voted down their own bill protecting gun makers from lawsuits brought against them if their products are used in a crime, after pro-gun-control amendments were attached to the measure during floor debate. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) led the fight to add the... (GunPolicy.org)