United States
Wal-Mart, US Mayors Pressure Presidential Hopefuls on Gun Trafficking
New York Times
15 Apr 2008
A coalition of mayors in favor of gun control, led by Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Thomas M. Menino of Boston, said on Monday that it had reached a 10-point agreement with Wal-Mart, the country's largest seller of guns, to track the sale of firearms more closely. The agreement between Wal-Mart and the group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which Mr. Bloomberg helped to organize in 2006, calls for turning a more watchful eye on firearm sales, including videotaping sales of guns and conducting criminal background checks on store clerks who handle guns. It also calls for keeping a record each time the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Democratic Candidates Avoid Gun Debate 'To the Point of Pandering'
International Herald Tribune / AP
15 Apr 2008
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are gingerly threading their way between two of the most politically charged numbers in Pennsylvania: the state's almost 1 million licensed hunters and Philadelphia's nearly one-a-day rate of gun murders. Gun control arouses deep emotions here. Deadly shootings have earned the state's largest city the ominous nickname: "Killadelphia." One of the strongest anti-gun control groups, the National Rifle Association, has 250,000 members in Pennsylvania, more than in any other state. This month the Pennsylvania House soundly defeated a bill to require handgun owners to report the theft or loss of their... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada
Uncontrolled Handmade Rifle, Handgun Ammunition Worries Ontario Police
CBC News (Canada)
15 Apr 2008
Buying ammunition in Canada requires a firearms licence, but some people make their own ammunition, and gun and gang experts say that has led to a black market in the sale of bullets. "It would be nice if people had to have a licence to buy the components; currently they don't," said Deputy Chief Tony Cooper of the Ontario Firearms Office. If you're over 18, it's legal to buy all the components needed to make bullets -- primers, gunpowder, casings and bullet tips. For about $100, a person can buy enough supplies to make 1,000 "hand-load" homemade bullets. "It's very common ... for people to hand-load. I would say it's been something that's been... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Stray Bullet Kills Innocent Californian Man as Gang Drive-by Sprays Street
Modesto Bee (California)
15 Apr 2008
A father of four visiting Modesto from Long Beach for the Cambodian new year died after being hit by a stray bullet fired Sunday evening during what police believe was a gang-related fight. Chanthol Ouk was an innocent bystander, Modesto police spokesman Sgt. Craig Gundlach said. Ouk, pronounced "oak," used to live in Modesto but moved to Long Beach 11 years ago, said his friend, Dottie Vath, 37, of Modesto. Ouk often visited Modesto to see friends and do business selling Cambodian DVDs. "He knew everybody here," Vath said. Family members described Ouk as a humble man and a devoted father. He was the oldest of 10 siblings,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Report Slams 'Easy' Gun Stores, Careless Dealers as Key to US Gun Crime
ABC News (USA)
15 Apr 2008
"Easy" gun stores that turn a blind eye to arms purchasers, whose multiple gun buys and questionable behavior should indicate they are merely middlemen, are a large part of the problem that has led five million Americans to become victims of violent crimes involving guns over an eight-year period ending in 2005, according to a new report. In one case, the "straw purchaser," or middleman, purchased 55 guns in just five visits to a store. In another, a gun trafficker bought 27 weapons in 15 visits, according to the report, "Inside Straw Purchasing," commissioned by the Mayors Against Illegal Handguns, a group of more than 300 U.S. mayors. "Our interviews... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Pro-gun US Students Lobby to Carry Hidden Handguns on Campus, in Class
CNN
15 Apr 2008
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- "Would you rather just sit there and cower underneath a desk when someone executes you or would you rather have a chance to defend your life? That's what it really boils down to." Michael Flitcraft, a 23-year-old sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, has become a leading advocate for college students to carry weapons on campus. He's an organizer for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a grass-roots organization that was formed after last year's Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 college students and professors dead. The group boasts more than 25,000 members. Standing on the Cincinnati campus, Flitcraft calmly explained... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Philadelphia DA Says She Supports New Gun Laws, But Can't Enforce Them
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)
15 Apr 2008
Just four days after Mayor Nutter and City Council celebrated enactment of a package of five gun-control laws, reality arrived in the form of District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham. Speaking yesterday at a City Council meeting, Abraham told members that she believed the new laws were unconstitutional and that she would not enforce them. "They are, on their face, illegal acts," said Abraham, who predicted that the first arrest under the new laws would result in a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality. Abraham said that as a lawyer and elected official, she was bound to obey rulings of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1996, the state's high... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Organisers of Sensitive Virginia Tech Gun Control Lie-in Agree to 2hr Delay
Roanoke Times (Virginia)
15 Apr 2008
Last week's dispute between gun control advocates supporting a protest at Virginia Tech and university officials and students who thought it would detract from ceremonies to honor April 16 victims has been resolved. Protesters will hold a 32-person lie-in Wednesday on the Drillfield, two hours later than previously planned, on the one-year anniversary of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The protest will be at 2 p.m. on the far west side of the Drillfield, near West Campus Drive. The plan is a slight departure from an announcement earlier this month from the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence that the protest would take place at noon. But... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
One Year On, Virginia Tech Survivors Still Coming to Terms with Shooting
Washington Post
15 Apr 2008
BLACKSBURG, Virginia -- Spring comes fitfully to this Blue Ridge valley, the wind carrying snow flurries one day and kites the next. In the cold sunlight, the dogwoods bloom and then the lilacs, defiant. It is a season of struggle. Derek O'Dell digs out his favorite fleece jacket, studying the holes in one sleeve. April fills him with dread, sounding an internal alarm he can't silence: Something bad is going to happen ... He turned 21 this past Sunday, but his haunted blue eyes seem much older. O'Dell is tall and thin, bordering on gaunt. "But I'm deceptively strong," he says, flexing a rock-hard biceps as proof. Just beneath the muscle bulge are two... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama's 'Bittergate' Comment Triggers Candidates to Court Gun Owners
CNN
15 Apr 2008
WASHINGTON -- The battle over the word "bitter" between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has sparked a new look at the candidates and their stance on the Second Amendment. At a closed-door fundraiser just over a week ago, the Illinois senator referred to some small-town Pennsylvanians as "bitter" people who "cling to guns and religion." "I didn't say it as well as I should have," Obama admitted in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday, the day after he first defended his comments, "because the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation -- those are important." Clinton, speaking at the Compassion Forum on Sunday,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada, United States
London, Ontario Police Say Most Crime Guns Come from Canada, Not USA
London Free Press (Ontario)
15 Apr 2008
One of the world's largest arms merchants is funding a new program to get illegal guns off London's streets. Meanwhile, Londoners are again urged to take advantage of a federal amnesty for handing over unregistered guns. General Dynamics Land Systems, maker of military vehicles, helped launch a new "cash for guns" Crime Stoppers program with city police. "London is our home -- it's where we live, work and raise our families, and where our children go to school, and we want London to be the safest place it can be," said Ken Yamashita, spokesperson for GD Land Systems Canada. The new program includes a media blitz with six billboards... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Ignoring Virginia Tech: Hardened Pre-existing Opinions and No Gun Control
Time (USA)
15 Apr 2008
A year after the deadliest shooting in America, when a sad and angry English major killed 32 people and himself at the Blacksburg campus of Virginia Tech, only modest changes have been made to the country's gun control laws. These days it appears that the most lasting effect of mass-casualty shootings is to harden people's pre-existing opinions on emotionally loaded issues like gun control and privacy rights. While it's true that many states are now more likely to share important information about certain mentally unstable people with the National Instant Criminal Background Check system, a good number of states are also pushing new laws to allow students and/or... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Handgun Ammunition Microstamping Bill Stirs up New York Gun Debate
Albany Times-Union (New York)
15 Apr 2008
ALBANY -- If you're buying a handgun, there may soon be a bullet with your name on it, or at least a number on the shell casing. That's because lawmakers are poised to mandate that semiautomatic handguns sold in New York be equipped with microstamp technology that marks each cartridge casing. Proponents say it would allow police to better match weapons and cartridges. But opponents maintain the technology is unreliable, potentially costly and would not affect stolen and smuggled weapons. The requirement, if it becomes law, would go into effect in 2010. The Assembly passed a microstamping bill on Monday and at least one senator said the Senate... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Fearing Attack, Gun Owners Push Tennessee Library to Remove Gun Ban
Jackson Sun (Tennessee)
15 Apr 2008
Notices of a gun ban have been removed at the Jackson-Madison County Library's north branch, said Richard Salmons, library director. Salmons said the signs were taken down over the weekend, though he did not know specifically why. Firearms, however, are still banned under library policy, he said. Arlene Griffin, who manages the north branch, was not immediately available for comment this afternoon. There will still be a review of the gun policy at Wednesday's Library Board meeting, said Sharon Younger, the board's chairwoman. Griffin recently put up the signs after a regular visitor asked if he could bring a gun into the small branch... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada
Canadian Gun Lobby Martyr Out on Bail, Vows to Continue Years of Protest
Kenora Daily Miner and News (Ontario)
15 Apr 2008
After 25 days behind bars, Bruce Montague was granted bail and released from the Kenora District Jail Friday night. After the Crown required further affidavit material at his first bail hearing in Toronto in late March, the hearing was adjourned to April 11, leaving Montague in custody for an additional 15 days before his release last week. "Jail is not a nice place to be," Montague said. "The effect it had on me, I thought I was a little more prepared after being in jail the 11 days when I first got charged, but it hit me just as hard again. I just felt like a piece of trash that was crumpled up in society's hand and tossed into the waste bin. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
India
California Mother, Daughter Arrested Carrying Ammunition at Indian Airport
CNN-IBN (India)
15 Apr 2008
NEW DELHI -- Two American women were detained by the Siliguri police following the recovery of 11 cartridges and a magazine from their baggage at the Bagdogra Airport on Tuesday morning. A Siliguri court has rejected their bail pleas, remanding them in judicial custody till April 17. The women, identified as 57-year-old Monica Bond and her daughter 37-year-old Heather Bond, are residents of California. They were scheduled to board an Air Deccan flight to Delhi when they were intercepted by the state police. The police have registered a case under the Arms Act against them. ( gunpolicy.org )
Australia
Australian State Bans 'Military Style' H&K Rifles Convertible to Semi-auto Fire
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
15 Apr 2008
Guns that can be easily modified to become lethal semi-automatics will be banned under laws to go before State Parliament today. Ministers believe some military-style weapons are being "detuned" abroad to beat import laws -- then converted back on arrival here. Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon will get the power to declare such guns as category D and E, for use by the military and police only. The State Government fears guns are being tailored to be rated as category A, B and C -- able to be used by licensed civilians -- then turned into weapons that should be rated D or E. Police Minister Bob Cameron said such weaponry needed... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
At State Level, Americans Make More Attempts to Limit Guns, Gun Violence
New York Times
15 Apr 2008
State lawmakers across the country are ramping up efforts to pass new restrictions on guns, following nearly a decade in which state legislative efforts have been dominated by gun advocates. Much of the proposed legislation -- some 38 states are considering gun-related bills -- focuses on cutting off gun access to convicted criminals and the mentally ill and on improving methods to trace guns used in crimes. Underlying many of the proposals is an effort to redefine the gun debate as a law enforcement issue, rather than one that focuses on broad-based gun ownership, to sidestep prickly Second Amendment concerns. "The key thing is that we want... ( gunpolicy.org )
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