Shot in the dark : "The most pre-eminent scientific group in America has produced a definitive analysis of our decades-long experience with gun control and shattered what has become an article of faith among proponents. The 328-page report by the National Academy of Sciences is based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, a survey of 80 gun-control laws and some of its own independent study. It could find no evidence to support the conclusion that government restrictions on firearms reduces gun crime, gun violence and gun accidents."



Brandishing does the trick: "A Horton party store owner played a hunch and, with a suspected burglar in custody this morning, his inkling turned into a sure bet. After being burglarized a week ago, Doug Harrington of Griff's Party Store, 389 Moscow Road, figured he'd be hit again. So, he laid in wait with a 12-gauge shotgun in his lap after the store closed Tuesday. About 12:30 a.m. today, Harrington was greeted by an intruder. He ordered him to the floor. "I wouldn't have shot him," said Harrington, 59, an Army veteran who said he barked at the suspect like a drill sergeant. "I didn't want him to know that. He didn't like looking down the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun." A 17-year-old Horton boy, whose name is being withheld pending arraignment, is in the Jackson County Jail. He was expected to be charged with burglary. State police said the teen admitted also being involved in a burglary Jan. 4 at the store, where an undisclosed amount of cash and a 9-millimeter handgun were stolen. The pistol was later recovered at the boy's home, the store owner said."



Belgium: Party calls for tougher gun laws : "Belgium's social-liberal Spirit party has called for a total ban on the private use of firearms after new figures shows that 2 million guns are in circulation in the country. The figure, published Wednesday, means that theoretically one in every five Belgian residents owns a gun, although only 669,273 guns are registered in the central registry."