House Republicans yesterday adopted a new legislative strategy that could have the effect of diluting — or even killing — gun control initiatives in favor of broad restrictions on the entertainment industry and its dissemination of violent material to teenagers. In a surprise move, GOP leaders decided to divide the juvenile justice measure into two bills when it comes to the floor for votes later this week — one focusing on youth crime and culture, and the other... (GunPolicy.org)

BALTIMORE — Seven years ago, a group of engineering students at Johns Hopkins University was given $2,000 and an assignment: build a "smart" gun, a gun that could be fired only by its owner. Using off-the-shelf equipment, they developed a prototype that, with wires hanging out of it, was neither attractive nor practical. But it worked. "It wasn't pretty," recalled Stephen P. Teret, director of the Gun Policy and Research Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Public... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Declaring gun regulation is "too important to be decided by strong-arm lobbying tactics," President Clinton today renewed his call to the Republican Congress to toughen the Brady gun law, which he said has proved itself one of the nation's must effective anti-crime measures. Clinton said the law with its system of background checks has blocked more than 400,000 illegal gun sales, two-thirds of which involved either convicted felons or people with a... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — President Clinton is turning to women for help in the congressional showdown this week over new gun control restrictions as he struggles to keep Democrats from crossing party lines. Members of that key Democratic constituency are joining him at a White House rally today for an amendment by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., which Democrats say would tighten background checks at gun shows. The event is an effort to keep Democrats in line as the House later... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — A loaded, unlocked firearm can be found in more than one million US households with children, suggesting that many children are at risk for firearm-related injury in the home, report researchers. Overall, one out of three households in the US has a gun in the home or in a vehicle, and more than 40% of these gun-owning homes also contain children, according to Dr. Gail Stennies and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta,... (GunPolicy.org)