United States
Albany, NY Cops Illegally Bought 48 Machine Guns, City Fights Exposure
Albany Times-Union (New York)
13 Apr 2008
ALBANY -- A state Supreme Court justice will privately review files regarding the illegal purchase of dozens of machine guns by Albany police officers before deciding whether they should be released to the Times Union under the Freedom of Information Law. Acting Supreme Court Justice Roger D. McDonough on Friday gave the city a week to turn over the records for his review. The judge said he will determine whether any of the documents, including the names of the officers implicated in the scandal, should be released. The newspaper sought court intervention two years ago in an effort to compel the city to turn over the records that were the subject of... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada
Another Licensed Canadian Gun Collector's Pistol Turns Up in Drug Crime
London Free Press (Ontario)
13 Apr 2008
From a German soldier's hands on a Second World War battlefield, to the hands of a Strathroy collector, to a criminal's grip and, finally, into a London police storage vault. The odyssey of one Polish-made Radom pistol, scooped up in a police raid in London, has spanned borders, decades -- and both sides of the law. It's one of dozens of guns London police have seized in a crackdown on illegal firearms, and its story is not unlike that of many handguns winding up on Canada's streets. Often, handguns are either smuggled into the country or stolen from legal gun owners. Drug dealers, especially, are drawn to such easily concealed guns,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Clinton Name 'Synonymous with Gun Control, Like Rosie O'Donnell' - NRA
ABC News (USA), Blog
13 Apr 2008
Given the new "Second Amendment" rhetoric of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, (see the New York Times' Julie Bosman's "Clinton Portrays Herself as a Pro-Gun Churchgoer" ) I thought it might behoove hunters to hear what the NRA thinks about all Clinton trying to "out-gun" Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois. "I'm not surprised by this," says Chris Cox, the chief lobbyist of the NRA. "They know that its bad politics to be on the wrong side of the gun issue. The political graveyard is full of gun control supporters and they are trying to avoid the same fate." Will Clinton be able to sell this new self to gun rights enthusiasts and hunters? "Her name is synonymous... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Coalition 'Error' Delivered Machine Guns, Assault Weapons to Taliban Leader
Associated Press
13 Apr 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A coalition helicopter trying to supply Afghan police with munitions dropped them in the wrong location and Taliban fighters later recovered the weaponry, an intelligence official said Sunday. A member of parliament, however, said he did not believe the arms drop was an accident. Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, told a parliament security committee "coalition forces" intended to place weapons, ammunition and food at a police checkpoint in a remote section of the southern province of Zabul in late March. "By mistake it was dropped somewhere far from the checkpoint. Later the Taliban came and... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Firearm Dealer Takes Issue with Philadelphia's New Gun Control Laws
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)
13 Apr 2008
When Mayor Nutter signed five new gun-control measures, he invoked the spirit of 1776 and announced that the city was declaring its independence from the gun violence that has wracked Philadelphia. Fred Delia, co-owner of Delia's Gun Shop in Wissinoming, had a different take. He said the gun crackdown "sounds like the British are coming back." With equal patriotic fervor, he declared that Nutter and City Council should be arrested for violating state law and a 1996 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that said only the state legislature can regulate firearms. On Thursday, Nutter signed into law bills that limit handgun purchases to one... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Control Protest Must Not Contribute to 'Unbearable Pain' at Virginia Tech
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia), Editorial
13 Apr 2008
Gun control groups wishing to protest on the Virginia Tech campus this week should abide by the physician's maxim to "First, do no harm." Wednesday is the first anniversary of the rampage that took the lives of 32 students and faculty, in addition to their killer. Tech officials have organized memorial events on the Drillfield that will be attended by families who lost children and spouses in the tragedy. The Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence and ProtestEasyGuns.com wanted to stage a lie-in on the university lawn that same day. Tech officials accommodated them by permitting a protest at a different location, separated from the ceremonies. If... ( gunpolicy.org )
Italy, Libya, Chad, Sudan, China
Libya Tried to Buy 1 Million Chinese Assault Rifles, Perhaps for Chad, Sudan
Associated Press
13 Apr 2008
PERUGIA, Italy -- The Libyan officer tried to cloak the purpose of his call to the Italian arms dealer. "A friend," he said, wanted to buy 1 million "pieces" and 50 million items of "food." But when that phone call was placed in 2006, Italian police were listening. They knew the meaning. Libya was shopping for guns -- lots of them. Authorities shadowed the negotiations between Libyan officials and a group of black-market dealers from across Italy for a year before they moved in and broke up what would have been a $64 million deal for hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made assault rifles. The case, detailed in documents obtained by the Associated... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
New York Wins Another Round Against Firearm Dealers Fuelling Gun Crime
Reuters
13 Apr 2008
NEW YORK -- New York City has struck a deal with a further five gun dealers among 27 targeted in its bid to thwart the flow of illegal weapons into the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday. Bloomberg said that 20 gun dealers named in lawsuits by the city had now reached out-of-court agreements that will allow outside monitoring of sales. In two separate lawsuits, New York sued 27 gun dealers in five states -- Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia -- on the grounds their sales practices allowed criminals to buy guns and then bring them into the city. One dealer from Pennsylvania, one from South Carolina, one from Ohio... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
One Year After Virginia Tech Killings, Search For a Solution Remains Elusive
International Herald Tribune / AP
13 Apr 2008
NARROWS, Virginia -- Allen Neely eases his Chrysler Pacifica onto the bridge named in honor of Jarrett Lane, who grew up in this tiny town near the West Virginia border. Jarrett, Neely says quietly, always wanted to build a bridge. Under the back seat are two pistols. Neely keeps them close these days. He and his construction crew were in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall on April 16 when a mentally ill student went on a rampage -- killing Jarrett Lane and 31 others. Since then, Neely feels safer if his guns are within reach. Over the past year, people here have questioned the mental health system, which allowed killer Seung-Hui Cho to fall through... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Push Begins to Microstamp New Handguns, Ammunition Sold in New York
New York Sun
13 Apr 2008
A state lawmaker is poised to introduce a bill that would require all new pistols sold in New York to be equipped with microstamping technology, a means of tracing pistols the firearms industry opposes. The bill will likely be introduced this week by state Senator Martin Golden, who has been working closely with city officials over the past several weeks to iron out the language of the legislation, an aide to the Brooklyn Republican said. Mayor Bloomberg, a proponent of microstamping, said in his State of the City address in January that he would push for mandating the technology. The bill, if passed, would provide stiff penalties to any gun retailer caught selling... ( gunpolicy.org )
|
|
