A 16-year-old boy armed with a shotgun opened fire in a California high school classroom on Thursday, critically wounding a fellow student before two staff members talked him into surrendering the weapon, authorities said. The accused gunman was arrested at Taft Union High School in inland Kern County following the shooting and investigators later said he felt he was being bullied by one or two students in the class, including the boy who was shot and seriously... (GunPolicy.org)

MEXICO CITY - A lot of attention goes to the U.S.-made weapons in the hands of criminal groups in this Latin American country. But there is little talk of another problem: the large number of light weapons in the hands of civilians. The Mexican Constitution establishes the people's right to "own guns in their homes for their safety and self-defence", with the exception of high caliber weapons, while the 1972 Federal Law on Firearms and Explosives stipulates the... (GunPolicy.org)

British forces are to be equipped with a new standard issue pistol for the first time in more than 40 years. The MoD has signed a £9m contract to provide the Armed Forces with more than 25,000 new Glock 17 sidearms, replacing the Browning pistol which has been in service since 1967. Warrant Officer 1 Mark Anderson of the Royal Marines showed the BBC's defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt the features of the new... (GunPolicy.org)

The first clues appeared in Kenya, Uganda and what is now South Sudan. A British arms researcher surveying ammunition used by government forces and civilian militias in 2006 found Kalashnikov rifle cartridges he had not seen before. The ammunition bore no factory code, suggesting that its manufacturer hoped to avoid detection. Within two years other researchers were finding identical cartridges circulating through the ethnic violence in Darfur. Similar ammunition then... (GunPolicy.org)

Following a mass school shooting in Connecticut in December 2012, policymakers in the United States began engaging in a renewed debate about gun control. AS/COA Online looks at gun-related legislation in Latin America's six largest economies, identifying regulations for arms licensing. In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela, gun possession is legal for civilians, though restrictions tend to be stringent. … Argentina: Gun ownership in Argentina... (GunPolicy.org)

A 60-year-old American has been arrested for failing to declare the firearms on his boat to Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers. Acting on a tip, Harbour Patrol searched the man's vessel, which was moored in Nassau Harbour on Wednesday at around 11:30pm. Once aboard, authorities found two handguns, two shot guns, one rifle and a large quantity of ammunition for the weapons. The RBDF officers arrested the man and turned him over to police shortly after. Police said... (GunPolicy.org)