TO OUR READERS 4
CHRONICLES 11
MILESTONES 16
COVER: The New Arms Race 18
After the latest slaughter -- this time on a New York commuter train < -- America faces the paradox of its battle over guns. Each crime creates a fresh wave of terror, a louder demand for gun control -- and a larger demand for guns
What Kind of Gun Control? Even as Washington debates new laws, communities around the country test their own tactics to fight crime
A City Under Fire: In Milwaukee a rash of murders provokes revulsion, vigils and a drive to ban handguns
The Political Interest: Drug treatment fights crime
THE BUDGET: Clinton Faces the Meanest Test 36
The White House takes a look at sacrosanct benefit programs
EDUCATION: Without a Prayer 41
An old debate is born again in Mississippi
MIDDLE EAST: An Eye for an Eye 42
Israel's settlers are doing their best to derail the peace process
SYRIA: Breaking the Deadlock 43
Granted a summit with Clinton, Assad returns to peace talks
RUSSIA: Democratic Czar 44
A new constitution will make the President mighty powerful
TRADE: Time to Shut Up 46
After seven years, the world prepares to vote on GATT
BUSINESS: Diller Closes In on Paramount 47
The bloodiest takeover battle in years enters its final act
TRIALS: Waiting for the Verdicts 48
The Menendez case wraps up and heads for its juries
SPACE: After Hubble, NASA Can Crow Again 50
But to fulfill its goals, the agency itself needs an overhaul
SCIENCE: A Power Source Hotter Than the Sun 54
Records fall as researchers try to harness nuclear fusion
FOOD: Gastronomy Without Guilt 56
A diet doctor insists you can eat, drink and be thin
THE ARTS & MEDIA
Art: Michelangelo's epic Last Judgment, in the Sistine Chapel, emerges vividly from a four-year face-lift 58
Cinema: Brief? This movie is The Pelican Interminable 62
Mike Leigh's Naked finds highlights in London lowlife
Wayne and Garth redeem a batch of sappy sequels
Books: Wild things to delight kids this Christmas 64
Theater: The musical Sunset Boulevard has found its way 66
A daring Christmas Carol, transposed to the ghetto
Sport: Western glitz comes to Russian hockey 71
Obituary: Frank Zappa, rock iconoclast, dies at 52 73
PEOPLE 75
ESSAY 76
COVER: Gun photograph for TIME by Dennis Chalkin; background from Nassau County Police-Gamma Liaison