United States
Common Thread in Bush Pardons: Americans Wanting Their Guns Back
Associated Press
1 Dec 2008
A decade ago, Leslie Collier, a 50-year-old corn and soybean farmer in Charleston, Mo., pleaded guilty to poisoning bald eagles. He says the worst thing about his criminal record was that it meant he was barred by law from owning a gun. So, after George W. Bush, a strong defender of the Second Amendment, took office, Mr. Collier wrote to the president seeking a pardon, saying he wanted to go hunting with his kids. He explained that he accidentally killed the eagles while trying to poison coyotes that were attacking wild turkeys and deer on property he farms. On the surface, the list of the 14 people pardoned by the president this week shows few common... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations
Critical Nations Stall as UN Global Gun Trade Treaty Creeps Forward
Arms Control Today (USA), December
1 Dec 2008
More than 140 countries voted at the UN First Committee to continue discussion next year on the creation of a global arms trade treaty, marking some progress on a resolution first passed in 2006. The United States voted against the measure and has not yet decided whether to continue its participation in the discussions. With or without the world's top arms trader, significant hurdles exist in reaching a legally binding instrument. Continued slow progress raises the possibility that countries may opt to fashion a treaty outside of traditional UN mechanisms, as was recently done in concluding a cluster munitions agreement. In 2006 the UN General Assembly voted... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Houston 'Top Source' of Illegal Guns for Mexican Drug Cartels, Say Police
Houston Chronicle (Texas) / AP
1 Dec 2008
HOUSTON -- Houston has become a firearms marketplace for Mexican drug cartels, according to federal law enforcement officials. Gangsters have spent millions in Texas on military-style weapons and ammunition that are being used in the cartels' ongoing clashes with Mexican police, government and citizens. Houston has emerged as a buyers' haven. "Our investigations show Houston is the top source for firearms going into Mexico, top source in the country," said J. Dewey Webb, special agent in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Houston division, in a story Sunday in the Houston Chronicle. Mexican gangsters have... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Time for US Sport Leagues to Do Something About Players With Guns
Washington Post
1 Dec 2008
The New York Giants won an important football game yesterday, throttling the Washington Redskins 23-7 on the Redskins' home field. The victory raised New York's record to 11-1, all but assured the Giants of a division title and put them in excellent position to wrap up home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs. Of course, the lead story in all the New York papers today had nothing to do with the Giants' victory. The New York Times, hardly known for sensationalism, led its sports page with the following headline: "Burress to Surrender to Authorities." That's because Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress walked into a New York nightclub on Friday night... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Experts Issue 'Sharp Critique' of Study Claiming Gun Show Nil Effect
New York Times / Business / Economix, Blog
1 Dec 2008
In October, I wrote about an interesting new working paper on the so-called "gun-show loophole." The study argued that a legal loophole -- one that allows people to purchase firearms at gun shows without a background check -- does not increase gun-related violence. Since then, a group of scholars has responded with a sharp critique of the study's methodology and conclusions. For example, the study looked at gun-related death rates in only the several weeks after a gun show, while the authors of the critique say the time between the purchase of a firearm and its recovery following use in a crime averages about a decade or more in the states covered in the original... ( gunpolicy.org )
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