BLACKSBURG — As students returned to classes at Virginia Tech where last week a classmate shot down 32 people, a new poll showed Americans only slightly more in favor of gun control than before. In a poll published Monday, the Pew Research Center found that six out of 10 respondents considered the control of gun ownership to be a priority, while 32 percent said it was more important to protect people's right to own a gun. The results showed little change from a... (GunPolicy.org)

In the aftermath of the massacre at Virginia Tech university on April 16th, as the nation mourned a fresh springtime crop of young lives cut short by a psychopath's bullets, President George Bush and those vying for his job offered their prayers and condolences. They spoke eloquently of their shock and sadness and horror at the tragedy (see article). The Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives called for a "moment of silence". Only two candidates said... (GunPolicy.org)

UNITED NATIONS — Against the backdrop of a new national poll calling for stricter gun control in the wake of the mass killings of 32 people on a U.S. university campus last week, the United Nations is getting ready to formulate a new international treaty regulating the proliferation of small arms worldwide. "There is not yet a draft," said Jennifer Abrahamson of Oxfam International, one of the lead organizations campaigning for the treaty, along with the... (GunPolicy.org)

TOKYO — Japan adopted stricter gun control guidelines today following a spate of gangster shootings that rattled a nation renowned for its crime-free streets, a government official said. The measures are intended to reduce the smuggling of guns into Japan by organized crime groups and focus on getting rid of guns already in circulation, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hakubun Shimomura said. "Most of the guns that are confiscated in Japan are foreign guns," Shimomura... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education has called on the United States to consider reforming its gun laws in the wake of last week's shooting rampage at a university campus where a man killed 32 others and then himself. Voicing his "profound sadness" following the massacre on 16 April at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Vernor Muñoz Villalobos issued a statement yesterday saying he was confident that US... (GunPolicy.org)

OTTAWA — The arrest of an RCMP ballistics technician on charges of possessing illegal assault rifles is forcing the Mounties to check their firearms labs across the country to make sure no guns are missing. The technician, Stacey D. Cherwonak, 40, has been suspended pending the outcome of his trial on 15 weapons charges, including possessing a version of the U.S. Army's M-16 and a Chinese model of an AK-47. He is also charged with building a Sten submachine gun from... (GunPolicy.org)

Following last week's tragic Virginia Tech shootings, how many times were we told that guns — and not people — kill people? When the media allocates blame, everyone except the actual perpetrator makes a good candidate. Pictures of actor Charlton Heston flashed across our screens, as if the former president of the National Rifle Association was responsible. The pundits never explain why massacres don't occur at sporting shooters' clubs. Or why, just four days before... (GunPolicy.org)