Iraq's soccer team sparked widespread jubilation across the country on January 15 when Ahmad Khalil's last-gasp goal gave them victory over Bahrain in the semifinals of the Gulf Cup. Now only the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) stands between "The Lions of Mesopotamia" and their first major international trophy since they surprised the world by winning the Asian Cup in 2007. In a proud soccer country that has long been starved of success, it's no surprise that many... (GunPolicy.org)

Is it real this time? President Barack Obama's announcement today that he will support a range of legislative and executive actions on gun safety will be dismissed as just one more tilt at the gun lobby windmill, bound to end in political failure for Obama, and personal tragedy for countless Americans. But the White House agenda, and the presidential commitment behind it, is a genuine milestone on the long, twisted road toward sensible U.S. gun laws. This time the... (GunPolicy.org)

President Barack Obama signalled he is ready for a fight with House Republicans and the National Rifle Association over gun control when he announced the most far-reaching initiative on the issue in nearly 20 years. "I intend to use whatever weight this office holds," Mr Obama vowed. Referring to the December 14th massacre of 20 six and seven-year-olds and six adults at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, he said, "This is our first task as a society; keeping our... (GunPolicy.org)

President Obama's demand Wednesday for research into gun violence could usher in a flood of data on the nation's 32,000 annual gun deaths after decades of an information blackout. Scientists and policy makers say they have little scientific data about gun violence after Congress prohibited federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from offering research grants to study anything that could... (GunPolicy.org)

In the mid-1990s, Stephen Teret received an unnerving phone call from a friend at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the time, Teret was director of a CDC-funded injury-prevention centre at Johns Hopkins University. It studied all manner of injury risks: fire, poison, motor vehicles and guns. "That person told me they would appreciate it if I did not speak about gun policy anymore," recalled Teret, who left the centre shortly after to create Johns... (GunPolicy.org)

The tragic shooting deaths of 26 people, including 20 small children, at an elementary school in Connecticut last year has cast a harsh glare on U.S. gun laws and the political power and influence of the National Rifle Association. Even a political leader in Iceland, a tiny island country of only about 320,000 souls near the Arctic Ocean, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding America's obsession with guns. According to the Reykjavik Grapevine newspaper,... (GunPolicy.org)

Even before President Obama announced Wednesday his plans to take comprehensive action against gun violence in the wake of the December tragedy at Sandy Hook, Johns Hopkins University Press was moving quickly to inform the national debate on gun control by fast-tracking into publication a book that was acquired less than a week ago and is scheduled to be shipped January 28. Reducing Gun Violence: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, edited by Daniel W. Webster... (GunPolicy.org)