United States
Washington DC Scales Back Plan to Search Kids' Homes for Guns, Drugs
Washington Post
4 Apr 2008
D.C. police have scaled back plans to go door-to-door asking residents in high-crime neighborhoods whether officers can search their homes for guns as part of a new amnesty program aimed at getting weapons off the streets. The Safe Homes program instead will be offered by appointment only at residents' request, said Chief Cathy L. Lanier. The program was supposed to begin last month but was delayed after a backlash from residents, D.C. Council members and the American Civil Liberties Union. The critics said some residents could feel pressured or intimidated by officers asking to enter their homes. Lanier joined Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) last... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, Albania
US Congress Afghan Guns Inquiry Pins Albanian PM in Corruption Probe
Balkan Insight
4 Apr 2008
TIRANA -- The United States Congress has announced a probe into the arms deals between U.S.-based AEY and Albanian officials. The investigation was announced by U.S. Democratic Congressman, Henry Waxman (California) and will be conducted by the House Government Oversight Committee. The weapons involved were intended to supply the Afghan Army. AEY President, 22 year-old Efraim Diveroli, the company's 25 year-old vice-president David Packouz, who is also a professional masseur, and the company's general manager, will testify before Congress about how they managed to secure a US$300-million contract to supply ammunition to the Afghan Army. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
Lebanon
Stray Bullets Often Kill Passersby, Children in Lebanese Celebratory Gunfire
Agence France Presse
4 Apr 2008
The frequent celebratory gunfire in this heavily armed city is killing Beirut, literally, as one man's burst of joy turns into another's mourning. The parents of 14-year-old Ahmed Ali al-Sahili know this all too well -- they lost their son when a bullet pierced his skull as he played outside their home in the capital's suburbs. And Sonia Saade, 49, thought her ulcer was acting up when a pain so sudden and sharp knocked her off her feet as she walked to a pharmacy. She didn't learn it was a bullet until emergency room doctors spotted a small stain on her T-shirt and ordered an X-ray. The two are among a growing list of Lebanese falling victim... ( gunpolicy.org )
Japan
Stalkers, Spouse Abusers, Bankrupts, Suicidal to Lose Their Guns in Japan
Asahi Shimbun (Japan) / IHT
4 Apr 2008
The National Police Agency plans to overhaul the gun control law for the first time in 28 years to keep firearms from stalkers, spouse abusers, bankrupt people and those with suicidal tendencies, sources said Thursday. The changes will also include a clause requiring a psychiatric check of applicants for gun permits "if necessary." The agency plans to submit a bill to revise the Firearms and Sword Control Law in the next Diet session, according to the sources. The NPA's move stems from a shooting rampage at a gym in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec. 14 last year. Two people died and the 37-year-old gunman later committed suicide. The... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
School Shooting Threat, Illegal Gun Dealing 'Just Enough' to Arrest US Man
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
4 Apr 2008
Calin Chi Wong's biggest mistake wasn't owning rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, or even telling Homestead police about it. It was threatening to re-create the worst mass shooting in U.S. History in an e-mail conversation that was posted on a gun enthusiast website, police said. "I feel there is no choice out of this other than what Cho did," police say Wong wrote under the online moniker "thehumanabc." Police believe he was referring to last year's massacre at Virginia Tech University, when Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 students and then himself. On March 27, Homestead police arrested Wong, 20, and charged him with making threats over... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan
Punjab Issues Free Firearm Licences, Glock Handguns to Top Civil Servants
Daily Times (Lahore)
4 Apr 2008
LAHORE -- The Punjab Home Department has issued Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB) gratis licences (free of cost weapon licences) to 60 top bureaucrats from the administrative hierarchy of the province for their self-protection. The Punjab government will import Glock-17s, an Austrian-made handgun that costs between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000, to be given to the 60 officers. Of the 60, 15 are administrative and special secretaries at various departments, and the remainder hold offices of above BS-18 grade, including four armed forces officers. "The Punjab government will soon request the federal government to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Ohio Man Took Assault Rifle to Work, Fired Out Window, Shot 14yr-old Girl
Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio)
4 Apr 2008
A Morrow man who accidentally shot a 14 year-old girl Thursday will answer to a Hamilton County judge at 9 a.m. this morning. Cameron Barrett, 23, is held at the Hamilton County jail this morning on charges of assault, records show. He took an AR-15 assault rifle to work and fired one round into the street, Sharonville police said. The bullet hit a black Dodge Durango through the passenger side door while the vehicle was stopped for traffic in the 3700 block of Hauck Road, police wrote in court records. The bullet hit the thigh of a 14-year-old girl sitting in the passenger seat, police said. She was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
New York Rifle Maker Slips Up, Ships Guns Loaded with Live Ammunition
Associated Press
4 Apr 2008
NEW YORK -- A rifle manufacturer asked arms dealers nationwide to make extra safety inspections after discovering it had accidentally shipped four guns loaded with live ammunition. Henry Repeating Arms, a maker of lever-action rifles like ones used in the 1860s and 1870s, said a thorough round of inventory checks revealed no other loaded weapons. "We would never want anybody to get hurt," the company's president, Anthony Imperato, said this week. As a rule, firearms are distributed unloaded to prevent potentially deadly accidents. Imperato said the company's mistake was related to one of its quality control measures. Every gun made... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Murder, Gun Robbery, Gun Rape Up 11-25% in Firearm-Friendly Florida
Associated Press
4 Apr 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The rate of serious crimes in Florida edged up in 2007 after years of declines, with a particularly alarming increase in the number of crimes involving guns. The overall crime rate -- factoring in population growth -- was up 1.4 percent in 2007, over where it was in 2006, according to data released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. But for crimes in which guns were used, the numbers were much larger. Murders involving guns went up 11.5 percent last year and armed robberies with guns increased by 25 percent, from about 14,300 in 2006 to just under 18,000 last year. Aggravated assaults with firearms... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Georgia Allows Hidden Guns in Eateries, Trains: 'Major Victory' for Gun Lobby
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)
4 Apr 2008
Georgians with weapons permits will be able to carry guns in far more places under a bill that passed both chambers Friday night. An amended version of House Bill 89 allows holders of concealed weapons permits to carry guns into restaurants, state parks, and on MARTA trains and other public transportation. The legislation, which gun-rights proponents hailed as a major victory, also allows employees to leave weapons in parking lots as long as it's okay with the company. Andrew Arulanandam, the spokesman for the National Rifle Association, which has been pushing hard for less restrictive gun laws in Georgia for more than two years, called it a "good piece... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Florida on Verge of Passing 'Most Expansive Gun Laws in State's History'
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)
4 Apr 2008
After two years of bitter fighting and brutal behind-the-scene politicking, gun advocates say they are confident that 2008 is the year they broadly expand the state's right-to-carry-weapons laws. Provisions that would allow guns in restaurants, state parks, some employee parking lots and on public transportation -- including MARTA trains -- will be in the mix Friday, the last day of the legislative session, as the clock winds down to midnight, lawmakers say. Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), a former police officer and sponsor of one of the gun bills, said he "didn't see any roadblocks" to the House and Senate working out a compromise. "These... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
FBI Probes Florida Gun Owner's Threat to Re-enact Virginia Tech Massacre
Associated Press
4 Apr 2008
HOMESTEAD, Florida -- A 20-year-old with a weapons cache that included AK-47s was arrested Friday in South Florida on federal charges of threatening to re-enact the Virginia Tech massacre, the U.S. attorney's office said. Local authorities had arrested Calin Chi Wong at his home last week after finding 13 firearms and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, some that could pierce armor, and bullets that could take down aircraft or military machinery. But the suspect's brother told The Associated Press that Wong "doesn't even know how to use a gun." Wong bonded out of jail on those charges but was arrested again Friday after the FBI and the Bureau... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada
Canadian Judge Rules Accused Killer Must Have Anti-gun control Lawyer
Nunatsiaq News (Nunavut)
4 Apr 2008
In a judgement that harshly criticizes the practices of the Nunavut Legal Service Board, Justice Beverly Browne ruled this week that accused killer Chris Bishop must be represented by Calvin Martin, an anti-gun-control lawyer from Toronto who advocates the right to use firearms for self-defence. Bishop, a former Cambridge Bay resident, faces three counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with an incident alleged to have occurred Jan. 6, 2007, in and around Bishop's housing unit in Cambridge Bay. Bishop has made no secret of his wish to assert a case based on self-defence. Martin, Bishop's preferred lawyer,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
California Teacher Arrested After Students Find Handgun in Her Class
Los Angeles Times
4 Apr 2008
A Santa Ana elementary school teacher was arrested after students found a handgun and ammunition in the drawer of a supply cabinet of her classroom, officials said Thursday. Jayne DeArmond, 51, a third-grade teacher at Diamond Elementary School, was arrested on charges of felony possession of a firearm on a campus and misdemeanor child endangerment after students discovered the unloaded handgun and ammunition about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, said Angela Burrell, a Santa Ana Unified School District spokeswoman. Students were moved to another classroom after the gun and ammunition were found. Principal Deanna Pelasky told parents what had happened when they... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
$298m Pentagon Deal: 'Fraudulent' Licensed Gun Dealer's Exports Blocked
New York Times
4 Apr 2008
The State Department on Thursday suspended the international export activities of AEY Inc., a Miami Beach arms-dealing company led by a 22-year-old man whose munitions procurements for the Pentagon are under criminal investigation, according to American officials familiar with the decision. The Army last week accused the firm's president, Efraim E. Diveroli, of fraud, claiming he shipped Chinese cartridges to Afghanistan after certifying they were made in Hungary. The Army also suspended Mr. Diveroli and the company from future federal contracts. The latest decision blocks other elements of AEY's business. Under federal rules, arms transfers... ( gunpolicy.org )
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