TALLAHASSEE — Gun safety advocates are urging legislators to pass sensible gun laws this year and not scrap plans for a statewide pawnshop database. That was the message Monday from the Million Mom March, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, law enforcement officials and legislators who called a news conference to back proposed gun legislation. However, most of the legislation is sponsored by Democrats, some of whom concede their bills stand little chance of... (GunPolicy.org)

JERUSALEM — The Israel Airports Authority said Monday that it was investigating a breach in security at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv in which a passenger flew to New York with a pistol packed in his hand luggage. The Israeli man realized he had been carrying the gun in his carry-on luggage when he arrived in New York over the weekend. He immediately informed Israeli officials of the security breach, an Israel Airports Authority spokesman said. We... (GunPolicy.org)

KABUL — Afghan police Tuesday launched a wide security sweep of the capital, seizing illegal weapons and ordering drivers to remove tinted film from vehicle windows. Authorities set up road blocks throughout Kabul, searching vehicles for guns and other weapons and bringing traffic to a standstill in some parts. A statement broadcast by Afghan Radio said all firearm owners had to declare their weapons and get permission to carry them. Afghanistan is one of the most... (GunPolicy.org)

In an upcoming issue of a prestigious historical journal, three historians in a panel of four severely criticize a controversial prize-winning book about guns in early America. The essays — along with a response from Emory University historian Michael A. Bellesiles, the author — appear in the winter issue of the William & Mary Quarterly, an eminent journal of early American history and culture. They focus on Bellesiles's arguments and research in his 2000 book,... (GunPolicy.org)

In its continuing zeal to erase the civil rights of firearms owners, The Seattle Times published an editorial Jan. 17 ( High time to close gun-show loophole ) that showed not only poor research, but again demonstrated a penchant for taking a cheap swipe at the character of many gun buyers. In the process, The Times has failed to address the serious concerns of gun-rights activists and honest gun owners, instead offering what it would have readers believe is a panacea... (GunPolicy.org)

Gun advocates, like other politically passionate groups, sometimes don't know when to quit. Such is the case in Utah. Less than two weeks before the Olympic Games begin, gun advocates are trying to bring guns close to Olympic venues and trying to force guns onto college campuses against the will of colleges and universities. While officials at Utah universities try to maintain a reasonable ban on guns on campuses, state officials are ordering state offices, day cares,... (GunPolicy.org)

Donald G. Arnold is a Vietnam veteran and president of his neighborhood association. He was named a citizen of the year by Maryland in 2000 for his work with police in southeast Baltimore to stop drug dealers and make the city safer. None of that mattered, however, when Mr. Arnold tried to renew his permit to carry a gun that he needed in his work as a private detective and security guard. What mattered was that he was convicted in 1969 of a misdemeanor in a barroom... (GunPolicy.org)