Yemen, Somalia, Australia, Denmark
Australians, Dane Among Gang Smuggling Guns from Yemen to Somalia
Yemen Times
2 Mar 2008
SANA'A -- Two men, Abdi Othman Soli, 28, a Danish citizen of Somali origin, and Abdullah Awadh Al-Masri, 37, a Yemeni national, were found not guilty this week of smuggling weapons to Somalia in 2006. However, the court gave Al-Masri a three-year prison sentence for other charges such as working with and providing shelter for Al-Qaeda operatives and illegal weapons trading. Among other accusations, the two suspects were tried for smuggling anti-aircraft weapons and sniper rifles into Somalia for the Islamic Court, which was waging a coup at the time. Although Soli confessed to the charges, the court ignored his confession, according to the office of the Attorney... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Can US Cities Ban Guns, Curb Trafficking? Supreme Court Set to Weigh In
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
The Second Amendment question could be settled this spring -- right in our backyard. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that stems from Washington, D.C.'s long-running ban on handguns -- the strictest gun policy in the nation. Oral arguments are scheduled for March 18, with a ruling expected by the end of June. As much as the Second Amendment has been debated, it has rarely been litigated. When lower courts have ruled on it, they've often arrived at different conclusions. A few cases have reached the Supreme Court, but none analyzed the amendment's full meaning. Most court experts agree that the Washington case will be the first time... ( gunpolicy.org )
Honduras
Firing Assault Rifles, Gunmen in Police Uniform Kill 8 at Pool Hall in Honduras
Associated Press
2 Mar 2008
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Eight people were shot dead at a billiards hall in northern Honduras on Sunday by gunmen disguised as policemen, Honduran police said. Wearing police uniforms, six assailants fired Kalashnikov rifles and handguns from a truck parked outside a pool hall in San Pedro Sula, a city plagued by violent gangs and drug traffickers, deputy police chief Edgardo Villeda said. Seven people were killed on the spot and an eighth died on the way to the hospital, Villeda said. "It was cold blooded murder, the victims had no way out," he said. "We don't believe this was perpetrated by police, but by men who had taken our uniform." ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Groups on Each Side of US Gun Debate Find Little Middle Ground
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
A gun's power to protect life and deal death makes the firearms debate volatile. The loudest voices usually come from the far edges, where a host of groups have squared off -- each passionately dedicated to its cause. Although their positions are polar opposites, their methods are similar. They lobby, boycott and raise money. Each side accuses the other of trading on fear and emotion while manipulating statistics. Some key national and state players: Gun Control Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence Sarah and James Brady founded this group after James Brady was wounded during an assassination attempt on President Reagan. The... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Milestones in US Federal Gun Control Legislation - Background and Timeline
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
Up until the gangster era, gun control -- where it existed -- was a hodgepodge of mostly local laws, haphazardly enforced. That changed in the 1930s, when flamboyant criminals such as Al Capone, John Dillinger and "Machine Gun" Kelly spurred the federal government to action. Even then, gun control didn't sit well with much of the American public. The end result was often watered-down legislation. Some of the more noteworthy laws: 1934: National Firearms Act Passed after the repeal of Prohibition, the law focused on the most lethal of the mobsters' weapons. It didn't outlaw machine guns, silencers and such, but it required that they be registered... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Nothing's Over the Line for Virginia's Tooled-up Suburban Gun Lobby
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia), Opinion
2 Mar 2008
I recently attended a town hall meeting in Fairfax County where about half of the audience was armed, including a woman directly behind me with a big shiny pistol strapped to her thigh. I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, and I don't flinch at the sight of a shotgun on the back of a pick-up cab. But I was startled by the two dozen pistol-packing suburbanites filing into a government center for a chat about school funding. The incident served as a reminder that the gun debate in Virginia is no longer driven by rural sport-shooters. Instead, activist groups with an urban pedigree and increasingly extreme goals are controlling the agenda. Most... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
The Littlest Victims: Child Survivors of Gun Violence in New Jersey
Star-Ledger (New Jersey)
2 Mar 2008
Last year, nearly 400 people were shot in Newark. Of them, about 300 survived. Five of the survivors were under the age of 10. Two were younger than 5. One was Quadir Hutchins. This is the story of his remarkable recovery. The Sept. 7, 2007 shooting drew headlines and stoked anxiety in a city already accustomed to violence. Quadir, then 3, was the most innocent of victims -- a toddler riding in the back seat of his sister's car on a trip to McDonald's when a gunman opened fire on a muggy Friday afternoon. Police arrested a suspect within a week. Then the attention waned. The boy, like hundreds of shooting victims before him, was left to embark... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Scotland
UK Rejects Scottish Government's Call for Gun Law Review, Tighter Control
BBC News
2 Mar 2008
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has rejected Scottish Government calls for a review of firearms laws. She has also declined an invitation to co-host a firearms summit with Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, saying it would not be "timely". Firearms control is reserved to Westminster, but a series of high-profile shootings have given the issue growing prominence in Scotland. Mr MacAskill pledged to press ahead with plans for a national summit. He accused Mrs Smith of "complacency" on the issue. "I'm disappointed our invitation has been rejected and concerned that the home secretary says a review isn't needed now," he said.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US 2nd Amendment's Meaning Depends on Your View of the Gun Issue
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." It's only 27 words long, but the Second Amendment has fueled volumes of fiery debate. The gun-control camp interprets the Second Amendment as specifically referring to militias -- the early version of the National Guard. Even if it doesn't, they say, when its authors included [sic.] they gave the OK for stiff gun control. Gun-rights supporters say all other amendments focus on individual rights, and so does "2A," as it's sometimes called. They say the Second Amendment helps protect what's promised... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Feds Seize 500 Guns, Charge 23 with Illegal Firearm Sales in Tennessee
Jackson Sun (Tennessee) / AP
2 Mar 2008
MEMPHIS -- Federal authorities in Memphis have charged 23 people with illegal firearm sales. The charges come from investigations involving various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. attorney's office said Friday. Authorities say the investigations led to the seizure of more than 500 firearms, including rifles, pistols and shotguns. The charges cover a variety of alleged violations of federal firearm laws including possession of firearms by felons, gun sales to felons, unlicensed gun sales and the sale of restricted firearms such as short-barreled shotguns. ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Virginia Relaxes More Gun Laws, Takes Center Stage in US Gun Debate
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
It's a simple device, really. By modern standards, downright basic. A metal tube. A tiny explosion. A bit of lead that zips through the air at up to 4,000 feet per second and rips a hole in nearly anything in its path. After that, nothing about guns is simple. The stakes are just too high. When the squeeze of a finger can end a life -- or save one -- people tend to line up at the extremes. They hate guns, or they love them. Americans clash over guns now more than ever. And nowhere is that conflict at a higher pitch than in Virginia -- where the specter of the worst shooting in modern U.S. history hangs over Virginia Tech's campus. The killings... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Virginia's Constitution Also Includes Right to Bear Arms
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
2 Mar 2008
Virginia is one of 44 states that have the right to "bear arms" embedded in their own constitutions. The beginning of Virginia's reads much like the Second Amendment: "That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; ... " It didn't always read that way. That last clause -- "therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" -- was not part of the original version, enacted in 1776. It was added in 1971. And, as with the Second Amendment, its meaning... ( gunpolicy.org )
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