A national firearms database is to be established for the first time, amid fears over record levels of gun crime. The setting up of the database, recommended by the official inquiry into the Dunblane massacre of 1996, comes as a report by senior criminal intelligence officers has uncovered "major weaknesses" in the way British police tackle gun crime. For the past 11 months, a team of officers from the National Criminal Intelligence Service has compiled details of... (GunPolicy.org)

When police arrived to investigate reports of a shooting at the Essentials nightclub in south London last November they noticed that a number of the patrons trying to leave the building were wearing bullet-proof vests. As a 21-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment to a bullet wound to his head, officers discovered seven abandoned handguns left in and around the club. The shocking incident is just one indication of the increasing criminal use of firearms,... (GunPolicy.org)

The only people who can now legally hold a handgun, other than police officers or members of the armed services, are those with written permission from the Home Secretary. Strict new gun laws, among the toughest in the world, were introduced in response to the Hungerford massacre in 1987 and the Dunblane massacre in 1996. When Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, it convinced politicians that urgent legislative... (GunPolicy.org)

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is defying the federal firearms law that requires all Canadians who own or use firearms to obtain a firearms license. The deadline for getting the license was Dec. 31, but the council has staunchly reaffirmed its stand that the firearms law does not apply to the reserve. For anyone wanting a coherent gun-control policy in Canada, this resistance is unfortunate. Kahnawake has had an ugly history as a gun-smuggling hub, and its... (GunPolicy.org)

NEW YORK — U.S. officials attending a U.N. meeting on the spread of illicit small arms have pledged to protect legitimate gun owners from international disarmament efforts. Specialists from scores of nations are meeting here to develop a non-binding agreement aimed at halting the flood of illicit small arms and light weapons into the world's conflict zones. Specialists hope that by choking off the supply of easily transported, easily hidden weapons, armed struggle... (GunPolicy.org)

Correction: Because of incorrect information supplied to the Review-Journal, an article in Monday's edition wrongly identified who is exempt from laws governing concealed weapons. Only Las Vegas police officers who have honorably retired within the past 10 years are exempt. Las Vegas city employees soon will be allowed to carry guns at work under a new policy, provided they have a state-issued concealed-weapons permit. The policy change comes nearly two months after... (GunPolicy.org)

David Trimble: In glorifying the gun, the BBC jeopardises peace NORTHERN Ireland's First Minister, David Trimble, accused the BBC's new drama, Rebel Heart, of glorifying gun culture in a scathing attack. He also said the drama could damage a pacific solution to the province's troubles because glamorous portrayals of political violence have a negative effect on the "positive public mood" necessary to sustain the "peace process". In an article for The Daily Telegraph,... (GunPolicy.org)

Rival demonstrations this weekend greeted the opening of a large hunting shop selling rifles in a tough Parisian suburb menaced by gang violence. Local groups protested outside a new branch of Eduard Kettner's, France's largest hunting accessory retailers, only two months after a 14-year-old boy was killed with a shotgun nearby as the result of a feud between rival gangs. But nearly 50 hunters, organised by the pro-hunting CPNT party (which stands for Chasse, Peche,... (GunPolicy.org)