Angola
Angola Presses Ahead with Campaign to Disarm Civilians, Seize Illegal Guns
Angola Press
4 Mar 2008
LUANDA -- An international workshop on the disarmament of citizens illegally owning firearms will be held from March 04 to 05, at the Palace of Congresses, in a promotion of the Angolan Home Affairs Ministry. The workshop will gather experts of Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Nicaragua, USA and England, who will share experiences about the implementation of disarmament programmes in various countries. The meeting will happen under the theme "Disarmed Citizen: Stability and Security for All" and will cover three panels dedicated to the international and regional dynamic on disarming the civil population. At the workshop, Angola will... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
As Street Values Rise, US Gun Thieves, Interstate Gun Runners Get Bolder
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
4 Mar 2008
Most of us know the gun debate as a war of words -- a battle of sound bites between this side and that. The real front lines are on the streets, where good guns try to hold back the bad ones, and no one takes the time to hold rallies, give speeches or argue about the Second Amendment. There, the struggle is as intense as ever. "In so many murders and robberies, the weapon of choice is a gun," said Norfolk Police Chief Bruce P. Marquis. "Millions are being manufactured every year, and we know a lot of them end up in criminals' hands. We put a higher priority on taking guns off the streets than we do drugs." But clamping down on firearms... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Focus on Illegal Guns by 292 Big City Mayors 'No Threat to US Constitution'
Florida Times-Union, Column
4 Mar 2008
The first gun I shot was my grandmother's .410 single-shot shotgun when I was about 10. I later became a decent shot with a .22 rifle. Today, I hunt deer with a .257 Roberts bolt-action rifle, the same gun my grandmother used when pursuing white-tail deer. When I'm in the woods, I often carry a 1909 U.S. Army Colt .45 revolver that was my grandfather's. The first gun my oldest son shot was the same .410 I started with. All of my children have guns and hunt. I am not anti-gun. I write all of that because some gun owners will raise holy heck about a conference held Monday in Jacksonville hosted by Mayor John Peyton called... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
New Jersey Approves One-handgun-a-month Sales Limit (13 Pistols a Year)
Asbury Park Press (New Jersey)
4 Mar 2008
TRENTON -- New Jerseyans -- be they sport shooters, casual collectors, hunters or someone with criminal intent -- would be restricted to purchasing one handgun every 30 days, or 13 in a year, under legislation approved Monday, though not without dissent. "I feel good, but it is only the first step in the process," said Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Hudson, sponsor of the measure. Quigley was joined by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the lobbying group Ceasefire New Jersey and others supporting the measure before the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. "Anybody who is buying more than one handgun a month is a straw buyer. He's selling... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Project Exile Flexes US Federal Muscle, Targets Gun Crime, Black Criminals
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
4 Mar 2008
Last month, when Suffolk gang leader Willie "Bang 'Em Up" Waters was convicted of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl, he was already on the hook for 21 years of federal time -- courtesy of Project Exile. Virginia became the nation's testing ground for the first Project Exile in 1997 -- a program that zeroes in on gun crimes. Originally launched in Richmond, Exile brings federal muscle to bear on criminals who once had only the state to fear. Federal firearms laws are usually tougher, with stiffer sentences and no parole. Under Project Exile, local investigators and prosecutors work alongside their federal counterparts, reviewing gun cases to see whether... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Rolling Out Handgun, Ammunition Microstamping Laws Across America
Advocate (Connecticut)
4 Mar 2008
WEST HARTFORD -- The co-chairmen of the legislature's Judiciary Committee yesterday chose the West Hartford Police Department's firing range to announce legislation they say would help investigators link spent cartridges to the gun that fired the round. "This is the equivalent of a fingerprint to a gun," state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, told reporters during the morning news conference. McDonald and state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, have introduced a bill requiring that any new semi-automatic pistols sold in Connecticut after Jan. 1, 2010, employ "micro stamping." Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
'Secret' US Legislators' Lapel Pin Signals a Politician is Packing Heat
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
4 Mar 2008
The ubiquitous lapel pins that legislators wear can express a lot of things -- support for a college, for teachers, for cancer research, or for the troops. One pin -- an innocuous looking red oval with a gold, six-pointed star in the center -- has its own special message: I'm packing a gun. A handful of lawmakers and several of the sergeants-at-arms that guard the doors at the Capitol have sported the pin this session, a unique code among the concealed weapons crowd, and one that they are squeamish or evasive about discussing or even acknowledging. "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you," joked Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, when asked... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Seizing Guns Daily from 'Armed and Prohibited' List, California Can't Keep Up
Contra Costa Times (California)
4 Mar 2008
PINOLE -- A heavy afternoon rain blurs the sky as three black SUVs pull up across from a one-story stucco house on Pinole Valley Road. The man inside just turned 60 and recently was placed under a psychiatric hold as a suicide risk, one of the five state agents says. Records show that he owns 15 guns, including two assault weapons. Under state law, he must give them up for five years. He has not. "This guy could have a pure disdain for police," says Special Agent Supervisor John Marsh. "It's almost like the boy with the Cracker Jack box. When we get to the door, we never know what surprise is going to be inside." What they find, after... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom
UK Bans Realistic Imitation Guns: More Than 1,000 Handed Over by Dealers
BBC News
4 Mar 2008
More than 1,000 fake guns have been handed over to police by shop keepers as part of a month-long initiative to help make Manchester's streets safer. According to police, people who carry an imitation gun are more likely to be shot by a real weapon as it is almost impossible to tell the difference. As a result, Greater Manchester Police is urging all owners to give them up. The plea comes five months after it became illegal to sell, make or import realistic imitation firearms. Detective Chief Inspector John Lyons said: "We are determined to get all guns off our streets. End of March "Preventing the illegal trading... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Dealer Sold to Campus Killers, Wants More Guns in Classrooms
Los Angeles Times
4 Mar 2008
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin -- Online gun dealer Eric Thompson can't recall exactly what he was doing when he learned that one of his customers had just killed five students in a college geology class. He knows what flashed through his mind, though: Not again. Ten months earlier, another customer had murdered 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. The coincidence stuns Thompson. He calls it upsetting. Beyond that, though, he doesn't know what he's supposed to feel. Remorse? Regret? He has none. He had no reason not to sell a pistol to Seung-Hui Cho, who walked from classroom to classroom at Virginia Tech last April, methodically... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US State Legislators Join New York Mayor's Campaign Against Gun Running
New York Post
4 Mar 2008
JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Mayor Bloomberg opened a new front yesterday in his battle against illegal guns by enlisting six state legislators from around the country to form a coalition to supplement his group of 292 mayors. "There is no issue I think more important than fighting crime," Bloomberg said at a press conference with Mayor John Peyton of Jacksonville, which is plagued by more murders than any other Florida city. Manhattan Democrat Eric Schneiderman, the state Senate's deputy minority leader, echoed Bloomberg's refrain that the federal government has "essentially abandoned the field on the issue of illegal guns." When asked about Bloomberg's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Supreme Court Will Release DC Handgun Ban Audio on Day of Hearing
Washington Post
4 Mar 2008
The Supreme Court announced today that it will immediately release audio tapes of oral arguments later this month on whether the District's gun control laws are unconstitutional. Every argument before the justices is recorded, but the tapes normally are not available until well after the court's term has ended. But beginning in 2000, with the arguments in Bush v. Gore, the court has released same day audio tapes in high-profile cases when there is substantial media interest. Since the court is not open to cameras, the audio tapes are the only recordings of the proceedings. The case of District of Columbia v. Heller will be the court's first... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Virginia Bites Back at New York Mayor Bloomberg's Gun Dealer Stings
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
4 Mar 2008
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got fed up last year. Traces on crime guns kept leading to other states. Over and over, the trail led to some of the same gun shops in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Convinced that illegal sales were taking place, Bloomberg hired private investigators, armed them with hidden cameras and sent them in teams of two to check out the gun shops. Their mission: to see if the shops would knowingly go along with illegal "straw purchases" -- where one person fills out the forms for the background check but another person gets the gun. The stings led to the city's filing of federal lawsuits against 27... ( gunpolicy.org )
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