United States
Wisconsin Police Chiefs Oppose Concealed Weapons Proposal
WBAT-TV News (Wisconsin)
11 Aug 2005
The battle over whether Wisconsin should allow people to carry concealed weapons is taking on a new fight. Local police chiefs are speaking out against the proposal. Imagine if Wisconsin allowed you to carry a concealed weapon. Would you put it under your jacket? Maybe inside your purse? You don't know? Neither do police officers, which is exactly why they're opposed to the idea. "I think this is an additional danger to my officers and I believe it will be an additional danger to the City of Green Bay," says Chief Craig Van Schyndle with the Green Bay Police Department. Governor Doyle vetoed the proposal last year. The legislature will take... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Wisconsin Police Chiefs Association Blasts Concealed Carry
Capital Times (Wisconsin)
11 Aug 2005
A Wisconsin Police Chiefs Association official today blasted a plan to allow citizens to carry concealed guns as bad public policy. "We simply do not see a correlation between more guns on the street and a safer public," said Oregon Police Chief Doug Pettit, legislative chair of the association. Pettit, who just this week has been dealing with a drive-by shooting in Oregon that landed three men in a hospital, was speaking at a press conference organized by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort. He said a survey of association members showed that two-thirds of its more than 600 members oppose concealed carry in any form, and 89 percent oppose legislation... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Watching 'Dr Phil,' Man Shot & Killed Wife Over Dirty Dishes
Associated Press
11 Aug 2005
WAYNESBURG -- A man charged with shooting his 17-year-old wife after an argument over dirty dishes was ordered to stand trial on criminal homicide and other charges. At a preliminary hearing yesterday, state police said James Russell Petrie, 27, of Richhill Township, told them he was watching "Dr. Phil" on television when his wife came downstairs July 7 and also started watching the show. Petrie said he asked his wife, Jessica, why there were still dirty dishes in the sink. She told him she would "get to them," angering her husband who felt he was being ignored, police said. That's when Petrie took a .22-caliber gun and shot his wife in the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Canada
Shootings Surge Prompted By Canadians Smuggling Guns: US Ambassador
CBC News (Canada)
11 Aug 2005
A rash of shootings in Toronto this summer has been fuelled by Canadians smuggling guns over the border, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday at a provincial premiers conference in Alberta. "I've heard more than one Canadian official say it's mostly Canadians bringing the guns across," Ambassador David Wilkins said after meeting Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in Banff, Alta. Toronto Mayor David Miller moved Thursday to hire 150 more police officers to combat the gun crime that has rocked Canada's largest city this summer. At least 15 shootings over the past several weeks have claimed the lives of six people and wounded several bystanders, including... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations
Second Amendment Under Assault from United Nations, IANSA
Washington Times, Opinion
11 Aug 2005
So, up at the United Nations, Benon Sevan is out and John Bolton is in. That's one small step for rooting out corruption; one giant leap for American interests. Mr. Sevan, the former head of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program, resigned his post after the Independent Inquiry Committee, headed by Paul Volcker, confirmed that he was pocketing cash and taking bribes from Saddam Hussein. On his way out, Mr. Sevan picked a fight with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, accusing him of "sacrificing" Mr. Sevan for "political expediency." It was great theater -- like the heady days when Bill and Hillary were throwing White House china at each other. While some have said that the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
NRA, ConocoPhillips Buddy Up in Elite Gun Fundraiser
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
11 Aug 2005
WASILLA -- Loading 20-gauge shotgun shells from a pouch in her L.L. Bean vest, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski planted her feet and aimed skyward at the Grouse Ridge shooting range Friday. "Pull!" A clay pigeon streaked through a clearing in the trees. Murkowski fired, the blast shattering the disc into orange shards. After a bumpy morning of sporting-clays shooting at her third annual Valley fund-raiser, Murkowski appeared to be heating up. "Whoa!" said Conoco Phillips Alaska president Jim Bowles, who stood a few feet away, next to a Conoco vice president and the head of an Oregon public relations firm. "Annie Oakley here," someone added.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Man Shot Dead: No Gun Permit, No Crime, No Charge
Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
11 Aug 2005
A sanitation worker who unloaded six .357 Magnum slugs into an armed kidnapper won't be charged with a crime, officials said Wednesday. And Jacob Evans didn't have a permit to carry the pistol, but won't be charged for that, either, officials said. Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said the shooting was justifiable. Under state law, he said, a person can't be charged with not having a gun permit if the gun is used in a justifiable self-defense. And Evans -- an outspoken 59-year-old -- said he definitely feared for his life. "You have got to be nervous in that situation," Evans said. "Anyone who tells you different is a liar." ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Los Angeles Plans Crackdown on Illegal Gun Transfers
Copley News Service (California)
11 Aug 2005
LOS ANGELES -- Gun owners beware: law enforcement officials want Los Angeles gun users to know that they can be arrested for giving or selling a gun to someone without a legal background check, especially if the gun turns up at a crime scene. Officials announced Thursday that state and local law enforcement agencies are teaming up to launch a crackdown on illegal gun exchanges. The effort will begin as a pilot program in two high-crime areas of Los Angeles, around the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street station in South Los Angeles, and around the Devonshire station in Northridge. Anyone who purchases a gun in those areas will now receive... ( gunpolicy.org )
Russia
Investigation: North Ossetia's Arms Bazaar
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
11 Aug 2005
VLADIKAVKAZ -- In the North Caucasus, illegal weapons are cheap and readily available. Sergei, a former soldier now resident in North Ossetia, gave IWPR a price list. He said that in Chechnya one can buy an automatic weapon, often captured from rebel fighters, for 200 US dollars. Outside Chechnya, Kalashnikov rifles cost 500 dollars. A grenade launcher can be found inside Chechnya for as little as 100 dollars, while outside the republic the cost doubles. "Grenades are affordable even for pensioners," said Sergei. "They cost between five and seven dollars each." Former army officer Andrei Vasiliev added, "If you have money in North Ossetia, you... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Law Challenger Backs Out of Oklahoma Lawsuit
Associated Press
11 Aug 2005
TULSA, Oklahoma -- Williams Cos. Inc. has backed out of a federal lawsuit that challenges a new Oklahoma law that allows employees to keep firearms in their cars at work, leaving Houston-based ConocoPhillips as the primary plaintiff. Whirlpool Corp. and The State Chamber had earlier opted out of the litigation. The law has been blocked pending the lawsuit. In a written statement it released Tuesday, Williams Cos., said that continuing to pursue "this isolated issue through the courts would require a disproportionately large dedication of company time and resources. "We believe we can better serve our employees, shareholders and customers by... ( gunpolicy.org )
South Africa
Government Arms Sales Kept 'Secret'
Sunday Times (South Africa)
11 Aug 2005
In a breach of its own arms control law, government is trying to conceal the identity of countries that buy weapons from SA. For the first time, the Conventional Arms Control Directorate, a defence force agency that must by law report annually to parliament on SA's arms exports, has classified as "secret" its report for sales last year and 2003. The report is more than a year late in providing the 2003 statistics and more than five months late for those of last year. It was handed to members of parliament's defence portfolio committee on August 2, with instructions that they were not to make public the addenda that contain the names of client countries... ( gunpolicy.org )
Russia
Five Million Russians Now Own Guns for Self Defence
RIA Novosti (Russia), Opinion
11 Aug 2005
MOSCOW -- When burglars killed a guard at my neighbor's summer-house, I started thinking about self-defense. The Federal Law On Weapons adopted under Boris Yeltsin in 1996 has enabled five million Russians to buy guns for this purpose. In Moscow alone, some 400,000 people legally keep 470,000 weapons to protect themselves, their families, and property against potential assault in these troubled times. The law in Russia is extremely conservative compared with that in the United States. Russians can only buy smoothbore hunting rifles of minimum 80 centimeters, gas pistols, or revolvers shooting rubber bullets. Safe use of this arsenal for five years allows... ( gunpolicy.org )
Nigeria
Cop Kills Colleague Over Beer in Lagos
Angola Press (Luanda)
11 Aug 2005
LAGOS -- A Nigerian policeman attached to Elere police station in Agege, on the outskirts of the commercial city Lagos, has reportedly shot dead a colleague following disagreement over beer, the local press reported Wednesday. The incident happened Tuesday after Corporal Akinniyi Adeoye and Constable Adesola Sunday retired to a drinking joint behind their station for an after-work drink. But the two, who were described as close friends, soon resorted to an argument after Sunday allegedly snatched a mug of beer from Adeoye. Police spokesman Olabode Ojajuni was quoted as saying that in attempt to retrieve his drink from Sunday, Adeoye's gun went... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Convicted Tennessee Felon Amassed 206 Firearms, Machine Gun
Rogersville Review (Tennessee)
11 Aug 2005
GREENEVILLE -- A Church Hill man has been indicted on federal weapons charges by a District Court Grand Jury for being a convicted felon in possession of more than 200 firearms, including a machine gun found at his home. Dana Preston Gregory, 50, 455 Devault Street, Church Hill, was named in a two count indictment handed down Tuesday charging him with violating Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 922(g)(1). Under federal law convicted felons are prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition. According to court records Gregory had previously been convicted in Hawkins County Criminal Court of charges of possession of a prohibited weapon and possession... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
California Schools Weigh NRA Gun Recognition Program for Kindergartners
Bakersfield Californian
11 Aug 2005
The Kern County Superintendent of Schools office is considering bringing a gun safety program to county kindergartners. The National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program teaches children that if they see a gun to not touch it and tell an adult. It does not promote gun ownership and no firearms are displayed in the program, according to the NRA Web site. The National Rifle Association and Friends of the NRA will provide the program materials free through a grant. Some local parents are apprehensive about a gun safety program designed by the NRA. But most gave the program a green light after seeing information printed from the program's... ( gunpolicy.org )
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