31.   Lawmakers amended the stringent controls on assault weapons by exempting the older firearms from required safety locks.

32.   Local hardware stores were running out of safety locks.

33.   NRA spokesman Bill Powers said the group supported the GOP compromise that would have required safety locks, instant gun-show checks and other provisions.

34.   On gun control, Bush has announced that he will make trigger safety locks for handguns available across Texas and, if elected president, throughout the nation.

35.   On Tuesday, Senate Republicans defeated an effort by Democrats to require all handguns sold in the United States to be equipped with child safety locks.

36.   One amendment would have required new guns to come with trigger mechanisms that would serve as child safety locks.

37.   Pressure mounted on gun-control opponents Wednesday as House Democrats succeeded in passing a symbolic resolution that would at least require child safety locks on all handguns.

38.   Police said that the victim and his cousin were playing with the revolver, a weapon without a safety lock.

39.   Republican Elizabeth Dole has gained publicity for supporting some gun-control measures, such as child safety locks.

40.   Requiring companies to include the safety locks with firearms is a good way to remind parents and others to store guns safely, those advocates say.