LAWRENCE, Kansas — Nearly 3,000 Kansans have been cleared to carry concealed guns, with more applications being processed. The attorney general's office had expected to receive about 5,000 applications by the start of the new year. The law went into effect Monday, after the Legislature approved it last session. The state had mailed 2,981 license approval notices to concealed carry applicants as of Wednesday, said Chuck Sexson, the office's director of concealed... (GunPolicy.org)

On a morning when a school shooting grabbed headlines yet again, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels urged state lawmakers for the second year in a row to pass tougher gun laws. "We have some of the weakest gun laws in America," Nickels said Wednesday, flanked by police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and Special Agent Kelvin Crenshaw, who heads the Seattle office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Besides calling for stricter laws, the news conference allowed... (GunPolicy.org)

The new year has arrived amid the same sounds that we too often heard in the old year. Gunfire. In Philadelphia, which recorded 406 homicides last year, the sounds of "Auld Lang Syne" were still hanging in the mist when bullets cut through the night air. A 20-year-old man was killed in a confrontation with police just 10 minutes after the ball dropped to usher in the new year. Police had responded to the area for — what else? — a report of shots fired. When... (GunPolicy.org)

Firearm licence holders are failing to store their guns safely, according to local police. Region 5 police have been conducting the Statewide Firearms Storage Inspection Project since July. But regional firearms office Senior Constable Steve Foster said a number of licensed firearm holders were failing to store their weapons safely and correctly. All firearm licence holders who own firearms can expect a visit from their Regional Firearms Officer or local police in... (GunPolicy.org)

As Victoria's drought dries up lakes and riverbeds, it is exposing a cache of illegal firearms. Since last November, four guns have been uncovered in the now empty Lake Wendouree in Ballarat and in a creek at nearby Creswick. Ballarat Senior Sergeant Gary Pilmore said a sawn off .22 semi-automatic rifle, an old bolt action 12 gauge shotgun and a lever action .22 rifle were among the weapons found in the parched waterways. He said police already had linked one of the... (GunPolicy.org)

GENEVA — The major wars of the 20th century gave a boost to the legal arms trade. But the end of the Cold War and the move from international to local and regional conflicts pushed trade in small arms and light weapons into a gray zone where oversight is difficult. Today, brokers and their networks of intermediaries and sub-contractors are increasingly involved in trafficking weapons to rebel groups fighting in developing countries. Amnesty International arms expert... (GunPolicy.org)

Emboldened by Democratic gains in the Illinois Senate, Mayor Daley unveiled his annual package of gun-control legislation Wednesday — this time, to reverse an uptick in Chicago homicides. Once again, Daley wants to ban assault weapons statewide, license gun dealers and limit handgun purchases to one a month per person. He also wants to mandate trigger locks in homes whose residents include anyone under 18, instead of 14 as now required. Seeks to Close Loophole But... (GunPolicy.org)

In the last 15 years around eight million small firearms have been collected and destroyed across the globe. However, in the same time span, more than 100 million such weapons were manufactured and sold. The result: many hundreds of thousands of dead and injured each year. Up until now, there's never been an international treaty aimed at limiting the trade in small firearms, but last year the General Assembly of the United Nations did decide that it was time to... (GunPolicy.org)

The timing was coincidental, but hours after a student was shot dead at a Tacoma high school, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels called on Washington lawmakers to pass new laws to keep guns away from children and criminals. Aggravated assaults with a firearm in Seattle are up 48 percent since 2004, according to statistics Nickels cited at a news conference Wednesday morning. He wants Washington to become the eighth state in the nation to ban assault weapons and said recent... (GunPolicy.org)

You don't want to find yourself downrange of the Utah Legislature during a fight over concealed weapons. Nevertheless, that is exactly where the University of Utah finds itself. Last September, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the university could not continue its campus gun ban in defiance of state law. The ruling was good law. Unfortunately, it facilitates bad policy. The university has argued for years that its campus is a safer place if people can bring... (GunPolicy.org)