TAMPA, Florida — A gunman already facing attempted murder charges barricaded himself inside an indoor shooting range with a group of hostages and held them for 10 hours before killing himself early Friday, authorities said. None of the hostages was hurt. Jeffrey Lane Dudney, 43, of Tampa, went to the shooting range Thursday afternoon intending to steal a firearm and flee the area, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said. When someone confronted him, Dudney took... (GunPolicy.org)

A powerful player was dragged Friday into the ongoing fight at the Legislature over access to firearms in Georgia. Representatives of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association say a proposal to salvage a Senate bill allowing employees to keep firearms in their vehicles parked on company property could have disastrous consequences for anyone hoping to hold corporations accountable for their negligent acts. Chan Caudell, legislative chairman of the association, said a... (GunPolicy.org)

Guns are usually being considered as "boys' toys". Handling them entails risk, and selling them is doubly challenging but worthy to be enjoyed. "It's quite difficult to sell guns. It's dangerous, but the moment you adapt to it and get rid of the fears, things will go easy and you get to enjoy the perks of the business," says Shooters Guns and Ammo Corporation — Bacolod Branch Officer-in-Charge Lea Apuya. "I feel great and popular meeting prominent people from... (GunPolicy.org)

ST. LOUIS — The National Rifle Association, citing shifting political winds in Congress after the 2006 elections, urged its members Saturday to unite against "the storm that lies ahead" for gun owners. "Today there is not one firearm owner whose freedom is secure," the group's executive vice president, Wayne R. LaPierre, told thousands gathered for the annual national convention here. "You will rise and stand and we, together, we will fight them all." The NRA's... (GunPolicy.org)

ST. LOUIS — As Doris Hasler pushed her toddler's stroller through the convention hall, she eyed a glistening .50-caliber rifle on the counter and couldn't resist. It's just like the one her older son uses, mounted to his Army tank in Fort Hood, Texas. She hoisted the $8,000 weapon — all 30 pounds of it — while her husband snapped a photo. "Think I can take it home?" joked Hasler, of Highland, Ind. The picture is all she gets, because the weaponry inside... (GunPolicy.org)

TAMPA — A customer with a criminal history who wants to buy a firearm would likely be blocked by the background check and at least a three-day waiting period required before a gun purchase. The same customer who wants to rent a firearm at a shooting range faces no such scrutiny. In many cases, he could have a gun in his hand with nothing more than a driver's license and a signature on a liability waiver. The 10-hour standoff that started Thursday afternoon inside a... (GunPolicy.org)

TAMPA — After 10 hours of pointing a gun at his hostages and with scores of deputies swarming outside, desperation finally overtook Jeffrey Lane Dudney. Gone was the notion that he could walk away from this. He finally broke the silence by calmly asking his captives a question: What's the best way to commit suicide — a gunshot to the temple, the forehead or the mouth? One weary hostage, who worked at the gun shop, suggested the temple. It was advice Dudney soon... (GunPolicy.org)

Several legislative bills are scheduled to be dealt with during this month's sitting of the National Assembly which will impact on various sectors including security, finance and labour, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon. He yesterday told a news conference that two bills on the security sector will be tabled to increase penalties for those contravening the laws with respect to firearms and harbouring thieves. The Jurisdiction... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN FRANCISCO — A man in a wheelchair shot four people Saturday, killing one woman, police said. There was apparently at least one other shooter, and a total of five people were wounded, one seriously, said San Francisco police spokesman Neville Gittens. The shooting occurred just after midnight on Ellis Street in the city's Tenderloin district. The man in the wheelchair, Walter Simon, 32, of Richmond, was booked for investigation of homicide and assault with a... (GunPolicy.org)

AUSTIN — For thousands of Texans, the right to own and carry a gun is no less an essential ingredient of life than the right to own a house, a business or other piece of property. The Second Amendment and private property rights may even edge out football and give motherhood a run for its money among the values that define the Lone Star State. And in a Legislature dominated by conservative Republicans, guns and private-property rights have peacefully coexisted in a... (GunPolicy.org)