Belgium adopts new arms law: "The Lower House of the Federal Parliament has passed new legislation to tighten controls on the sale and ownership of firearms. Some 133 Belgian MPs voted for the new rules with only two MPs from the Francophone liberal party MR abstaining. New arms legislation has been on the cards for sometime, but the legislative process has been speeded up after a teenage gunman killed two people and seriously injured a third in a racially motivated attack... The new law will forbid the sale of firearms to anyone without a gun licence. A screening process will have to be carried out before the issuing of a licence, which would only be valid for five years. Weapons will also be stamped with a serial number. This will, in turn, be registered on a central database. Applicants for a licence to hold firearms will also be required to provide a valid reason for owning such a weapon".



Waking up in Missouri: "The National Rifle Association's just-concluded convention in Milwaukee has sparked outrage in some quarters of New York, but jealousy might be a more appropriate response. The outrage seems to be directed toward members of the NRA who live outside the New York City metropolitan area and dare to like guns. Consider a recent column by Michael Daly of the Daily News. He reports on a 'jarring' encounter with one Peggy Irving of Missouri, who brought her 16-month-old daughter Katie to the convention and says she 'loves' her Smith & Wesson 9-mm lady's. He seems astonished that a mother who comes across 'as decent and amiable a person as you could ever meet' would like guns, and might even joke about how her infant daughter will one day own a firearm."


Guns of New York: A modest proposal: "It appears that Michael Daly, a writer at the New York Daily News, has a problem with guns. He writes articles decrying the '500,000 illegal handguns' that apparently flood this city. He writes with approval of Mayor Bloomberg's recent lawsuit against out-of-state gun dealers, whose legally purchased products end up involved in violent crimes in New York. In his thinking, it's clearly the gun's fault these heinous crimes were committed, not the gun user's. ... So I will offer here a modest solution to the problem of a half-million illegal handguns in New York. ... We'll offer a 'path to legalization' for these weapons. (Please don't call it 'amnesty.') Those who own these guns will be asked to simply register them. After standing in line, filling out forms, paying some fines ... these gun-owners will be henceforth 'legalized,' with full conceal-carry permits."