RICHMOND — Standing with parents of Virginia Tech shooting victims and law enforcement officials, Gov. Tim Kaine on Tuesday urged state lawmakers to require criminal background checks for all firearms purchases made at gun shows. The governor's proposal would eliminate the so-called "gun show loophole" that allows unlicensed vendors to sell firearms without conducting computerized criminal records checks on buyers. A 1991 state law requiring instant background... (GunPolicy.org)

Dimapur, Nagaland's main commercial centre, the headquarters of the militant outfit NSCN (I-M) is also the crime hub of the Northeast. It's the underbelly of the region that supplies everything from stolen vehicles to arms and ammunition to the rest of the country. NDTV had earlier reported how arms and ammunition were being smuggled out of the Army's 3 Corp HQ based in Dimapur. Even dynamites and explosives meant for the Border Roads Organisation were sold to... (GunPolicy.org)

PODGORICA, Montenegro — A stray bullet struck a passenger jet while it was landing in Montenegro, slightly damaging the aircraft, the state airline said Wednesday. No one was hurt as the bullet, apparently fired into the air during a traditional Orthodox Christmas Eve celebration, hit the tail stabilizer on the Montenegro Airlines Fokker 100, company spokesman Nenad Markovic said. Police were investigating who fired the shot. The jet carrying 32 passengers and five... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN FRANCISCO — A city ordinance banning handgun possession in San Francisco will stay off the books, after a state appeals court sides with gun owners and upholds a lower court's decision overturning the law. The Court of Appeal on Wednesday backed the National Rifle Association's argument that the city can't ban weapons because state law allows them. The ordinance was approved by voters in 2005, but has never been enforced because of the NRA's legal challenge.... (GunPolicy.org)

MIAMI — A gang member in custody for allegedly firing his AK-47 as he ran through a North Miami Beach apartment complex is considered the main suspect in the shooting death of a police detective, officials said Wednesday. Ricardo Ajuste, 21, has not been charged with Miami police Detective James Walker's death yet, as authorities continued building their case. He was being held without bond. Neither jail nor court records listed an attorney. He was arrested early... (GunPolicy.org)

The involvement of high-ranking Paraguayan military officers in the clandestine supply of arms to criminal gangs in Brazil appears to have been confirmed with the arrest of a colonel and a major in a case involving the theft of army munitions and their sale on the black market in Ciudad del Este, in the notorious Triple Border area. On 24 December an audit of the arsenal of the 3rd infantry division just outside Ciudad del Este revealed that more than 50,000 rounds of... (GunPolicy.org)

Is America, land of shooting massacres in schools and public places, slowly falling out of love with guns? The answer is yes, and it runs counter to popular perceptions of the United States as a country where most citizens are armed to the teeth and believe it is every American's inalienable right to buy an AK 47-style assault rifle with the minimum of bureaucratic paperwork. But in fact, gun ownership in the United States has been declining steadily over more than... (GunPolicy.org)

Here we go again. The Georgia General Assembly session is about to begin, and self-styled "property rights" advocates once again are criticizing the National Rifle Association for daring to urge passage of legislation that would remind Georgia citizens that their right to lawfully possess a firearm, as guaranteed by Constitution and law, cannot be arbitrarily denied them simply because they might chose to exercise that right in or on a publicly-accessible parking lot.... (GunPolicy.org)