AUSTIN, Texas — A 7-year-old boy jumping on a trampoline with friends was killed by a stray bullet, and a man living two houses away was arrested, authorities said. The boy was playing with four or five other children Tuesday night in a back yard near Uhland when they heard gunshots, Hays County sheriff's spokesman Leroy Opiela said. He said the boy, whose name was not released, was hit in the back and died shortly after reaching an Austin hospital. Deputies... (GunPolicy.org)

TALLAHASSEE — Coming your way: A television ad campaign with headlines on workplace shootings and an ominous recording of a 911 responder. The ads are part of a campaign attacking a bill that would keep businesses from telling employees they can't have firearms locked in their cars at work. The ads' creators — the newly formed Floridians Against Workplace Violence — hope to stop the momentum of a National Rifle Association-driven measure in the Legislature to... (GunPolicy.org)

Hundreds of thousands of long-gun owners were quietly given a one-year reprieve by the federal government this week, exempting them from having to get licences for another year, CTV News reported last night. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, who have long opposed the Liberal-era federal gun registry but until now have left it on the back burner, say that long-gun owners have until May of 2008 to register their weapons. "I think it says that the government... (GunPolicy.org)

More than half of all gun killings in Ireland involve men aged between 21 and 30, according to figures released this afternoon. New research from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons also shows that 63% of gun deaths between 2001 and 2005 happened in Dublin. Almost four out of ten killings in this period were drugs related and 65% of victims were already known to Gardaí. The research also shows that well over half of all attackers... (GunPolicy.org)

LANSING — Aiming to make handgun registration more efficient, some lawmakers hope to eliminate pistol safety inspections. The Michigan safety inspection law requires the buyer of a handgun to take it to a local law enforcement agency within 10 days of purchase for registration and inspection. One sponsor of the proposed change said that the law is useless and misleading because the officers who inspect the guns only look at them and don't actually test them. "This... (GunPolicy.org)

On an average day in the U.S. more than 250 people are shot, and in an average year 30,000 die from firearm violence, according to statistics. They are victims of domestic violence, bystanders in the crossfire of gang warfare and police officers killed in the line of duty. Law enforcement leaders from across the Midwest gathered Tuesday to tackle the problem. Nearly 200 chiefs of police, attorneys general, professors, business leaders and other law enforcement... (GunPolicy.org)

Doug Balliet describes himself as an outdoorsman, a lifelong hunter and fisherman who happens to own "a pile of guns." Balliet, 42, of Winfield Township, Butler County, insists he's not a "gun freak — just a good, old-fashioned, red-blooded American" who is tired of intrusions upon his personal freedoms. So, when he read the text of a bill introduced in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives last month, the timber worker "about flipped." "I can't believe they're... (GunPolicy.org)

A teen playing with a 9mm Ruger under a science lab table accidentally shot himself and a classmate seated next to him Tuesday, marking the third shooting in or near Chicago Vocational Career Academy this school year, authorities said. The single bullet went completely through the thigh of one teen and then through the thigh of the other before landing on the classroom floor, where police recovered it, authorities said. The gunshot sent biology students scattering... (GunPolicy.org)

The instant Deandre Reed fired a bullet through his buddy's heart, he rushed over and begged Carlos Morales to please forgive him. He pleaded with his friend not to die. Morales, 19, died the evening of March 6, 2006, from the gunshot wound. He had been dozing on his aunt's couch with his girlfriend. Witness all gave similar accounts: The shooting was an accident. Reed, 21, was just adjusting his gun. The toll of gun violence — malicious or accidental —... (GunPolicy.org)

DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets has announced the addition of "Small Arms Manufacturing Industry in the U.S. and its Foreign Trade (1996-2008)" to their offering. This industry report focuses upon the Small Arms Manufacturing industry. This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing small firearms that are carried and fired by the individual. This industry report includes 147 pages of the latest market research information on... (GunPolicy.org)

SINGAPORE — More people are bringing illegal toy guns into Singapore in 2007 than in previous years, police said on Tuesday. There have been 21 cases so far this year, compared to 38 cases of airsoft gun possession investigated in 2006, a statement said. Airsoft guns are used in a recreational activity in which players participate in simulation of military combat. Owning an unlicensed airsoft gun is punishable by up to three years in jail and a... (GunPolicy.org)

WORCESTER, Massachusetts — The 35-year-old woman handled her 9 mm Glock with ease. For three straight days, she honed her aim and hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye from the firing line at the Boston Gun Range. Then she put the gun to her head and killed herself. Like countless others who have rented guns at ranges across the country, she did not have a firearm license. And as a convicted felon with a restraining order against her, she wouldn't have been able to get... (GunPolicy.org)