All that California gun control bears fruit: "Sacramento's violent crime rate is at its highest since 1994, new FBI numbers show. Between 2004 and 2005, the city's number of violent crimes grew about 11 percent -- the biggest increase among California's 10 largest cities. It's the fourth time in the last five years that Sacramento has posted an increase. The numbers also show that the suburbs were not immune. In Roseville, the number of violent crimes jumped 27 percent last year, though the Placer County city's overall crime rate remains low. Roseville's increase ranked fifth among roughly 60 California cities with police departments serving more than 100,000 people. These statistics were drawn from data released Monday by the FBI. The nation's violent crime rate rose 2.5 percent, a modest increase but still the largest gain since the early 1990s."


San Francisco ban shot down "An initiative that San Francisco voters approved last November banning residents from owning handguns violated state law, a Superior Court judge ruled today. Proposition H, which won a 58 percent majority, would have outlawed possession of handguns by all city residents except law enforcement officers and others who needed the guns for professional purposes. It also would have forbidden the manufacture, sale and distribution of all guns and ammunition in San Francisco. The National Rifle Association sued on behalf of gun owners, advocates and dealers the day after the measure passed. The NRA argued that Prop. H overstepped local government authority and intruded into an area regulated by the state. The city agreed to delay enforcement of the measure while the suit was pending. In today's ruling, Judge James Warren said California law, which authorizes police agencies to issue handgun permits, implicitly prohibits a city or county from banning handgun possession by law-abiding adults. That law "demonstrates the Legislature's intent to occupy, on a statewide basis, the field of residential and commercial handgun possession to the exclusion of local government entities," Warren wrote in a 30-page decision."


MA: Springfield mayor joins victim disarmers' effort: "Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan has joined mayors from across the country in a collaborative effort aimed at cracking down on illegal guns. Boston Mayor Tom Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently sent letters to mayors around the country, inviting them to participate in the coalition. The letters followed the first Mayors' Summit on Illegal Guns, held April 25th in New York City. Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette said he plans on joining the coalition -- which is called 'Mayors Against Illegal Guns.'"