United Kingdom
UK Gun Crime Falling, Gun Homicides Slowly Rising, New Database Coming
BBC News
10 Mar 2008
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is launching the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) to help the fight against gun crime. But what is it and how will it work? Official figures suggest gun crime has been falling, but firearm killings showed a slight rise in the most recent Home Office statistics and the government has pledged to tackle the problem. "We are determined not to let violent offenders get away with wrecking lives by stopping them committing crimes in the first place ... By 2011, we will have reduced serious violent crime, including gun and gang-related violence", Ms Smith has said. To help the battle against gun crime, the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Uganda, Africa
Ugandan Army Generals Linked to 'Merchant of Death' Gun Runner Bout
Monitor (Kampala)
10 Mar 2008
KAMPALA -- Mr Viktor Bout, the world's most notorious illegal arms baron who was arrested in Thailand at the weekend, sold arms to Uganda and illegally used Entebbe International Airport to ship arms to DR Congo and Liberia. Former Russian KGB officer Bout -- nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" -- is believed to have supplied weapons to dozens of rebel groups the world over, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked groups. A report by the Belgian International Peace Information Service (IPIS) reveals how Mr Bout, with the help of top Ugandan military officers, fueled conflict in DR Congo, Africa's vast and mineral-rich country. "Today, clients... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq
Serbian Arms Industry Expects to Thrive on Major Gun Making Deal with Iraq
SEESAC (Belgrade) / BBC Monitoring Service, Beta News Agency, Transcript
10 Mar 2008
The contract on exporting weapons and military equipment to Iraq, worth 236m dollars, which the Serbian arms trading company Jugoimport SDPR signed with the government of Iraq, is the most significant deal the Serbian military industry has made since the end of 1990, when a contract was signed with Kuwait about the exports of 175 domestically produced M-84 tanks. The first instalment, adding up to 20 per cent of what the deal is worth, was paid into the accounts of Serbian companies on the first day of February, which dispersed doubts about the liquidity of the young Iraqi state, burdened by war and serious economic problems. The deal, signed in December... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Remarkable Number of Amicus Briefs Inform US Supreme Court Gun Case
National Law Journal / Law.com (USA)
10 Mar 2008
Arrayed in their traditional green jackets, these amicus briefs -- remarkable for sheer number -- call out to U.S. Supreme Court justices and clerks for attention in the most hot-button, fundamental constitutional challenge of the term. The 67 amicus briefs in what is simply known as "the D.C. gun case" fail to topple the record number filed in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases in 2003 -- 107 -- but they easily fit within the top 10 filings at the high court. The justices on March 18 will hear arguments on whether the District of Columbia law banning handguns violates the Second Amendment right of individuals -- as held by the lower... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Mother, Paralysed by Gunfire, Publicly Begs Her Father to Store His Guns
Los Angeles Times
10 Mar 2008
Julie Alban still grimaces when she passes her old bedroom. "This is where I crawled down the hallway to call 911," she explains, pushing her wheelchair along the polished wooden floor. "I had to pull my whole body with my arms. My elbows were all bloody." What happened that morning 20 years ago altered the course of her life and set the stage for most of what would come. Though paralyzed from the waist down when shot by a boyfriend she had known since childhood, Alban went on to become a Long Beach prosecutor specializing in domestic abuse cases, a Republican candidate for Assembly, champion for the rights of disabled people and, most recently,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Michigan Firearm Owner Falls on Handgun, Dies at Gun Club Range
Associated Press
10 Mar 2008
LARKIN TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- An accidental shooting at an outdoor gun range in Midland County has left a 48-year-old man dead. The Saginaw News, WNEM-TV and WSGW-AM report Michael Laurson was alone Sunday at the Midland County Sportsman's Club in Larkin Township when he slipped and fell. The sheriff's department says a handgun he was carrying went off, fatally wounding him. Authorities say he had several guns. The shooting is under investigation, but foul play isn't suspected. ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, World
Jailed Global Gun Runner Bout Will Be Quickly Replaced: UN Treaty Needed
Center for Defense Information (USA), Web Page
10 Mar 2008
On March 6, 2008 Thai police arrested the notorious arms broker Viktor Bout on charges of supplying arms and explosives to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a Colombian rebel group cited by the United States as a terrorist organization. Bout is among the world's most well-known arms brokers, credited with supplying weapons that have fueled some of the bloodiest wars in the last two decades. He has been accused of violating UN arms embargoes in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia, selling weapons to the Taliban, Hezbollah and al Qaeda, and supporting despots and dictators around the world. Born in what is now Tajikistan in 1967, Bout got his... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, World
Gun Runner Viktor Bout's Offsider Smulian Arrested, Charged in New York
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul) / AP
10 Mar 2008
NEW YORK -- A man accused of helping a purported arms dealer try to sell millions of dollars of weapons to Colombian rebels was ordered held without bail Monday on conspiracy charges. Andrew Smulian did not enter a plea when he appeared in U.S. District Court in Manhattan after his morning arrest. He and Viktor Bout, a Russian arrested Thursday in Thailand, are charged with conspiring to deliver powerful weapons to Colombia's leftist rebel group, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. Smulian's lawyer, Mary Mulligan, declined to comment. Bout, whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, was arrested... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, World
Gun Runner Viktor Bout Likely to Reveal US Complicity if Brought to Trial
Newsweek (USA)
10 Mar 2008
U.S. officials are thrilled about the arrest in Bangkok of accused Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout following a lengthy undercover sting by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Dubbed the "Merchant of Death," Bout had been a top target for years. But if, as expected, he is extradited to New York, where he faces charges of conspiring to provide weapons to Colombian guerrillas, the case could also embarrass some U.S. government figures. As recently as four years ago, Bout's companies were employed by the Pentagon to fly troop supplies for the Iraq War into U.S. military bases -- an issue he will likely exploit at his trial. "This shows the incompetence of the way the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Nigeria, Germany
German Gun Makers Profited from Decades of Armed Violence in Nigeria
Guardian (Lagos), Opinion
10 Mar 2008
On New Year's Day 2008, 18 people died in a shooting scene in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, amongst them civilians who were caught up in the crossfire. Just like in Kenya -- where massacres were raging at the same time -- there was a German weapon at the centre of the violence: according to Nigerian press reports, the police confiscated one Heckler & Koch (H&K) G3 assault rifle from the attackers. However, German media only reported about this incident in the economy news, as the tragedy drove the price of one barrel of crude oil for the first time ever above the mark of $100 . German-Nigerian military co-operation already started shortly after Africa's... ( gunpolicy.org )
Netherlands, Liberia
Dutch Timber Magnate Acquitted of Gun Running, Stoking Liberian Conflict
Reuters
10 Mar 2008
AMSTERDAM -- An appeals court acquitted a Dutch businessman allied to former Liberian President Charles Taylor on Monday, overturning a guilty verdict for arms smuggling in Liberia. Guus Kouwenhoven was sentenced in 2006 to eight years in jail by a Dutch court for smuggling arms to Taylor's government between 2001 and 2003 in contravention of U.N. sanctions but acquitted of war crimes for lack of evidence. Kouwenhoven had denied the charges. The appeals court in The Hague said in a statement it was not convinced of the trustworthiness of the testimony of witnesses who linked Kouwenhoven to arms dealing and war crimes and said there was not enough other... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Despite All the Loss at Virginia Tech, Very Few Changes Made to Gun Laws
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia)
10 Mar 2008
RICHMOND -- As Andrew Goddard sat by his son's bedside at a hospital near Blacksburg on April 16, he prayed. If Colin survived after being shot four times by a fellow Virginia Tech student who had failed to receive mental health treatment, Goddard vowed to dedicate himself to making sure no other father would have to live his nightmare. Nearly a year later, as the first General Assembly session after the Virginia Tech shootings winds down, Goddard -- whose son survived his injuries -- has spent a lot of time at the Capitol. "I honestly thought they would be looking for things to do, based on the recommendations of the Virginia Tech panel," Goddard... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada
Canadian Police Seize 'AK-47', Handguns, Ammo in Crack Gang Bust
Prince George Citizen (British Columbia)
10 Mar 2008
Police are worried about their own safety and the safety of the public after seeing the kind of weapons local crooks are carrying, including an AK-47. In a recent crackshack bust, officers found a body armour vest similar to what police use for bullet protection. When they targeted a home and vehicle on the weekend they got an even bigger shock: three high-calibre handguns and an assault rifle, with plenty of ammunition. The weapons were a replica (but functional) AK-47 semiautomatic military assault rifle, a .357 magnum revolver, a .380 semiautomatic pistol, and a semiautomatic .45 pistol. "The vest would stop the .45, I doubt it would stop... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, Africa, Middle East, World
Arrest of Notorious Gun Runner Highlights Need for Global Arms Trade Treaty
Guardian (UK) / Comment is Free, Web Page
10 Mar 2008
Viktor Vassilyevich Bout began his career transporting flowers and frozen chickens across Africa. He quickly moved on to diamonds, mining equipment, Kalashnikov assault rifles, bullets and helicopter gunships. Having evaded an international arrest warrant for more than five years, the notorious Russian arms dealer was finally arrested this week in Thailand. Dubbed the "merchant of death", Bout is regarded as one of the most prolific arms traffickers in the world, supplying the weapons that have helped fuel wars in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Since the early 1990s, Bout has overseen the development... ( gunpolicy.org )
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