WASHINGTON — President Clinton assailed House Republicans' gun-control proposals Wednesday as flawed measures that had been "plainly ghostwritten" by the National Rifle Association, which he said was successfully whittling away at the modest new restrictions on firearms approved by the Senate last month. "It is wrong to let the N.R.A. call the shots on this issue," the President said this afternoon. "This is a classic, horrible example of how Washington is out of... (GunPolicy.org)

The father of a girl killed in Britain's Dunblane massacre yesterday warned that more tragedies like the Port Arthur killings could happen in Australia unless semi-automatic pistols were completely banned. Mr Mick North, whose five-year-old daughter Sophie was killed by Dunblane gunman Thomas Hamilton, urged Australian authorities to prevent sporting shooters from owning semi-automatic handguns. Mr North said Hamilton's status as a sporting shooter gave him access to... (GunPolicy.org)

NEWARK — This depressed city joined a move yesterday to sue gun makers, asserting that the violence caused by firearms has cost millions of dollars annually in police and medical costs, and that the losses stifle economic development. The Newark mayor, Sharpe James, said at a news conference that the city had filed suit against 29 gun makers, three gun industry associations and two gun distributors, seeking punitive damages "for the misery their products have caused... (GunPolicy.org)

Only a day after rallying Republicans behind a common agenda, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) found himself struggling to salvage his initiatives on gun control, an issue that has haunted his party since the mass shootings in Littleton, Colo., in April. Moderate Republicans, Democrats and President Clinton all voiced disappointment yesterday over a new package of House GOP gun control measures — drafted with the input of the National Rifle Association —... (GunPolicy.org)

Jimmy Allen Cubello, a fugitive wanted on marijuana smuggling charges since 1993, returned to the United States in March after years of lying low in the border town of Reynosa, Mexico. The 47-year-old U.S. citizen registered to vote, got a Texas ID and renewed his driver's license — all without trouble. Then, on March 12, he tried to buy a gun at a pawnshop in McAllen, Texas. Big mistake. The shop's owner called the FBI for an instant background check on the man who... (GunPolicy.org)

LANSING — The drive to revise Michigan's concealed weapons law — pushed off the front burner in recent weeks by a vigorous counteroffensive from anti-gun groups — has been quietly shut down altogether at the urging of the nation's most prominent gun rights advocate, the National Rifle Association. A representative of the NRA told backers of Michigan's legislation in a Tuesday meeting that the measure is ill-timed and would lead to an expensive and probably... (GunPolicy.org)

As the City of Boston pursues its lawsuit against the gun industry, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has agreed that the four law firms taking on the case would get 25 percent of any settlement — the same fee structure that fueled concerns about the state's tobacco settlement. With the city claiming damages of more than $100 million, it's entering the legal partnership with the expectation of waiving some $25 million. The arrangement offers an obvious cushion: If the lawsuit... (GunPolicy.org)

Can you improve gun safety through education and the creation of "smart guns"? Or would that be just be giving the public a false sense of security? Stephen Teret, professor of Health and Public Policy and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, joins us Thursday, June 10, at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions. Teret had worked as a poverty lawyer and trial lawyer in New York before becoming a full-time faculty member of the Johns Hopkins... (GunPolicy.org)

Can you make a safer gun? That's the question now being debated by the gun industry and gun-control groups. At issue is "smart gun" technology, design changes to make firearms less likely to be fired accidentally or used by someone other than its owner. The designs range from trigger and combination locks to radio bracelets or fingerprint sensors that allow the gun to recognize its authorized user. Advocates say the technologies would protect children from accidental... (GunPolicy.org)

Amendment II: A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. WASHINGTON — Twenty years ago, I asked Richard Nixon what he thought of gun control. His on-the-record reply: "Guns are an abomination." Free from fear of gun owners' retaliation at the polls, he favored making handguns illegal and requiring licenses for hunting rifles. Last week, when ABC's Charles Gibson... (GunPolicy.org)

LAWRENCE, New Jersey — Moving from the air-conditioned comfort of a country club fund-raiser to a stifling middle school auditorium in a neighboring town, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday took aim at opponents of gun control and said Americans should try to eradicate youth violence like the group of mothers that successfully cast a spotlight on drunken driving. Mrs. Clinton also talked a little politics, to be sure. The first lady spoke at length about a political... (GunPolicy.org)