Almost two centuries have passed since Switzerland last fought in a war, yet the country's gun ownership rate remains the highest in Europe. After a series of gun-related killings at the end of last year, The Local's Meritxell Mir looks at what's being done to get fingers off triggers. Every year, more than 300 people die in Switzerland in gun-related incidents. In many ways, the figure is quite low, when one considers the country has about 2.5 million weapons in... (GunPolicy.org)

OTTAWA -- The federal government is cracking down on a small game rifle, saying it was inappropriately classified as a non-restricted weapon. But one firearms activist argues it's an end run by federal bureaucrats related to a long-running court battle. Owners of the Armi Jager AP80 .22-calibre rifle received a letter from the RCMP in December saying the registration certificates for the firearm would be revoked and they had a month to dispose of their weapons - with... (GunPolicy.org)

The Öresund bridge, connecting Sweden and Denmark, has long been known to be an important route for weapons smugglers to get their wares into Sweden. Despite this only seven illegal weapons were seized there over the course of 2011. "We have been mainly focusing on drugs," said Anders Trägårdh, head of operations at customs in Malmö, to daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN). The debate about the illegal smuggling of weapons has been given a new lease of life after a... (GunPolicy.org)

ANP soldiers intercepted a four-vehicle convoy of arms smugglers near the Niger border, the Algerian defence ministry announced Wednesday (January 4th). "Individuals from different African nations… were trying to bring through a big cargo of arms and ammunition," APS quoted the ministry as saying about the Tuesday operation. More than 100 assault rifles and submachine guns, two RPG-7 rocket launchers and other weapons were seized, the ministry said, without... (GunPolicy.org)