The Russian government Wednesday called for the immediate release of the 15 sailors arrested by the Nigerian Navy for allegedly smuggling arms into the country. Nigerian authorities intercepted a ship and arrested its Russian crew on October 23 last year after they found 14 AK-47 rifles guns and 8,500 rounds of ammunition on board. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the sailors were facing a court case initiated "under false pretexts" and that Nigeria broke a promise... (GunPolicy.org)

Research restrictions pushed by the National Rifle Association have stopped the United States from finding solutions to firearms violence, more than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Vice President Joe Biden's task force on gun violence in a letter on Thursday. In the wake of the December school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and other mass homicides, the group of economists, health researchers, educators, doctors and... (GunPolicy.org)

Private security companies guarding ships against Somali pirates are increasingly storing their weapons on so-called "floating armouries" in international waters, to avoid arms smuggling laws when they dock in ports. About 20 ships stocked with assault rifles and other small arms as well as ammunition, body armour and night vision goggles are scattered around the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the EU naval force has confirmed. The legal status of... (GunPolicy.org)