United States
Alabama Senator Touts Bill to Arm Students, Profs with Hidden Handguns
Troy Messenger (Alabama) / AP
16 Feb 2008
With the shootings this week at Northern Illinois University, two bills in the Alabama Legislature seeking to arm some college students and professors are gaining some attention. Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, started work on the legislation after 32 students were killed by a gunman last April on the Virginia Tech campus. "Most university folks feel a no-gun policy is the best policy," Erwin said. "I understand their feelings, but reality says otherwise." One of the bills would prohibit any state-supported college or university from banning professors from carrying firearms on campus. The professors would be required to have a permit. The other... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Excellent Student, Ex-US Army Campus Gun Killer Had 'Boy Next Door' Face
Chicago Sun-Times
16 Feb 2008
DEKALB -- Those closest to Steve Kazmierczak saw 2 sides -- a gifted, dedicated student, but beset by behavioral problems Steve Kazmierczak had gone more than a dozen years without talking to his godfather, Richard Grafer. Until about a month ago. That's when Grafer got a call from his 27-year-old godson with the boy-next-door face. "It was like he was reaching out for someone to talk to, someone he could confide in," Grafer said during an interview at his Des Plaines home. "We talked for two hours. He told me he was in the Army and got out. He didn't say why. He knew I was an ex-Marine. He thought we could swap war stories." In the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
How a Top US Student Turned Into Mass Killer in Land of 270m Guns
Scotsman (Edinburgh)
16 Feb 2008
"At first everyone thought it was a joke," said one student. It wasn't. Within minutes, five people were dead and many more seriously injured. On Thursday, Stephen Kazmierczak, a 27-year-old former student at Northern Illinois University, went on suicidal gun rampage. It was just the latest in a series of such attacks on the premises of US educational institutions. Allyse Jerome, 19, a second-year student, said the gunman burst through a stage door in a lecture theatre and pulled out a gun. "Honestly, at first everyone thought it was a joke," Ms Jerome said. Everyone hit the floor, she added. Then she got up and ran, but tripped. She said she felt like... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Illinois Campus Gunman a 'Revered' Student, Showed Few Hints of Trouble
New York Times
16 Feb 2008
DeKALB, Illinois -- Steve Kazmierczak, the man who walked silently into a classroom here on Thursday and opened fire, was not seen as struggling in college. He was not an outcast. And until recently, at least, he was not brooding. In a stark, puzzling contrast to the usual image of a rampaging gunman, Mr. Kazmierczak, 27, was described Friday as a successful student -- "revered," the authorities said, by his professors -- who had served as a teaching assistant and received a dean's award as an undergraduate here at Northern Illinois University, where he returned Thursday, killing himself and five students and wounding 16 others. Here, he had campaigned... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Illinois Campus Killer Legally Bought 3 Pistols, Shotgun at Local Gun Shop
New York Times
16 Feb 2008
DeKALB, Illinois -- The day after five students were gunned down in an afternoon science class on the campus of Northern Illinois University here, survivors struggled to manage their grief as the authorities released more details about the shooting and the gunman. The few students who remained on campus began to formally memorialize the dead, and a silence fell over the university, broken only by the hum of news trucks and the activity of scattered police officers. A Roman Catholic chapel filled up at noon for a Mass and memorial for the victims, but the campus emptied out as the day wore on. "Just get things normal -- that would be nice," said Jenna... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Illinois Campus Killer Was a Licensed Gun Owner, Firing Legal Guns
Daily Herald (Chicago)
16 Feb 2008
After 60 minutes in agonizing limbo as she waited to hear if her son, a Northern Illinois University student, survived Thursday's massacre, Connie Catellani doesn't want to wait anymore. The Skokie physician joined other parents and gun-control advocates calling for tougher measures to prevent firearm violence during a Saturday news conference at Oakton Community College. "It was the longest hour of my life," said Catellani, whose vigil ended when her son, an NIU senior, text-messaged her that he was safe. Five students at the DeKalb campus died Thursday at the hands of a troubled 27-year-old, who killed himself after showering a lecture hall... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Illinois Campus Shooting Not Expected to Budge State's Gun Control Laws
Herald & Review (Illinois)
16 Feb 2008
SPRINGFIELD -- The deadly shootings at Northern Illinois University are unlikely to trigger major changes in the state's gun control laws, Illinois officials predicted Friday. Democratic and Republican members of the Illinois House said state-level reaction to the rampage would more likely focus on assessing whether emergency communications systems could be improved and whether funding could be made available to pay for any upgrades. "I don't think this is going to produce a knee-jerk reaction in terms of gun laws," said state Rep. David Miller, a Lynwood Democrat. State Rep. Rich Myers, R-Colchester, whose district includes Western Illinois... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Illinois, Virginia Campus Killers Both Supplied By Same Licensed Gun Dealer
Chicago Sun-Times
16 Feb 2008
The Green Bay, Wis., gun dealer who sold Northern Illinois University killer Stephen Kazmierczak empty magazines and a holster for a semi-automatic pistol also sold a gun to the killer in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. "I was just shocked," said Eric Thompson, 34, whose company TGSCOM Inc. sells weapons over the Internet. "There are over 90,000 licensed dealers in the U.S." Thompson's company sold a Walther .22-caliber handgun to Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people last April at Virginia Tech before killing himself. The gun was delivered through a Virginia dealer, who was required to do a background check on Cho, Thompson said. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
In Wake of Illinois Campus Killings, Angry US Parents Push for Gun Control
Chicago Tribune
16 Feb 2008
Like other parents, Vickie Dehner was watching television Thursday afternoon when reports of the Northern Illinois University shootings aired. She was in panic mode when the DeKalb Police Department called, telling her that her daughter, Samantha, had been injured. Police allowed Dehner to speak to her daughter. "Mom, when are you coming?" were some of the first words Samantha uttered. Samantha Dehner, 20, was shot twice Thursday and is recuperating at Kishwaukee Memorial Hospital. Police say the gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, killed five students and wounded 16 others before taking his own life in a shooting rampage inside a lecture hall. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Outstanding, Polite Illinois Student Gave No Indication He Was Troubled
San Francisco Chronicle / AP
16 Feb 2008
DEKALB, Illinois -- If there is such a thing as a profile of a mass murderer, Steven Kazmierczak didn't fit it: outstanding student, engaging, polite and industrious, with what looked like a bright future in the criminal justice field. And yet on Thursday, the 27-year-old Kazmierczak, armed with three handguns and a brand-new pump-action shotgun he had carried onto campus in a guitar case, stepped from behind a screen on the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire on a geology class. He killed five students before committing suicide. University Police Chief Donald Grady said, without giving details, that Kazmierczak had... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Students with Guns Best Placed to Defend Campus - US Youth Gun Lobby
ABC News (USA) / Good Morning America
16 Feb 2008
Thursday's massacre on the campus of Northern Illinois University was the seventh mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month. In the almost-10 months since the nation's worst school shooting killed 33 people at Virginia Tech, debate has grown over campus security and gun laws. Thought the majority of students and universities are pushing for tighter regulation, a vocal minority rejects the idea that tougher gun laws will make schools safer. Michael Guzeman, the leader of the Texas chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, joined "Good Morning America Weekend" Saturday to make the case for his organization. Students for Concealed Carry... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Attorney's New Job to Curb Gun Trafficking Stymied by Pro-firearm Lobby
Boston Globe, Editorial
16 Feb 2008
US Attorney Michael Sullivan has taken an even-handed approach toward reducing the use of illegal firearms while still respecting the constitutional right to bear arms. But that's not good enough for some Republican US senators who have fallen under the sway of the gun lobby and are blocking his confirmation as head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana is leading the charge against Sullivan. Vitter believes that the ATF holds gun dealers and owners to unreasonable licensing standards. And he lacks confidence that Sullivan will address his concerns. "... So I am going to hold this nominee," he said... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Kingdom
US Campus Killing: Stop Selling Bullets by the Bucketload, Ban Handguns
Mirror (UK), Opinion
16 Feb 2008
My friend Tom Vanden Berk's son Tommy was 15 when he was killed in a crossfire at a house party in Chicago. As you'd expect, another high-profile shooting brings back difficult memories. Speaking on the phone yesterday, Tom observed that when America reacts to a mass shooting, the focus is often on how "deranged" the perpetrator must have been. But the real problem is a refusal to acknowledge the astonishingly easy access to deadly weapons. To people in the UK, the availability of handguns in the US seems sheer madness. After the Dunblane massacre in 1996, the British Government banned handguns. That's because they are not... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gave Afghan Police 70,000 Assault Rifles, 51,000 Pistols in 2007
Miami Herald (Florida) / AP
16 Feb 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United States gave Afghan police 70,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 51,000 pistols and 3,500 vehicles last year, part of $2.5 billion in spending to upgrade the force. Despite that influx of firepower, Taliban militants targeted police in dozens of attacks, killing at least 925 in 2007. Afghan police often work in small groups in remote and dangerous territory, where they are outnumbered, outgunned and overwhelmed by insurgents. Failure of West The lack of an effective training program for the police -- a role first held by Germany -- is often cited as one of the West's biggest failings since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US 'Guns in Parks' Bill Ramps Up as Attempt to Embarrass Clinton, Obama
Mercury News (California) / AP
16 Feb 2008
WASHINGTON -- An election-year dispute over whether to allow loaded guns in national parks is holding up a vote on a massive bill affecting public lands from coast to coast. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to score political points by injecting a "wedge" issue like gun rights into a noncontroversial bill. Republicans counter that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to protect the two leading Democratic candidates for president by shielding them from a politically difficult vote on an issue that many rural voters consider crucial. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the leading Republican contender for president, is a co-sponsor of the amendment,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Killing Fields: 'A Nation Held Hostage by the Pandemic of Gun Violence'
Los Angeles Times, Column
16 Feb 2008
It's been a particularly grim and bloody month on one of the world's great killing fields -- the United States of America. On Friday, Los Angeles paused for the largest police funeral in its history when it buried Officer Randal Simmons, a 51-year-old father of two and the LAPD's first SWAT team member to die in the line of duty. Simmons was shot dead and Officer James Veenstra was badly wounded when they -- along with others in their unit -- rushed into a San Fernando Valley home where a disturbed young man had killed three members of his family and was believed to be holding others hostage. In Oxnard this week, an eighth-grader walked into a classroom... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Lawmakers Jump on Illinois Shooting to Urge More Guns on Campus
State Journal-Register (Illinois)
16 Feb 2008
A state lawmaker and congressional candidate says recent shooting sprees that killed people at Northern Illinois University and a Chicago-area shopping center might have had "different outcomes" if Illinois law allowed citizens to carry concealed firearms. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, has proposed the Family and Personal Protection Act, which would require individuals to complete a training course in handgun use, safety and marksmanship before they could get a concealed-carry permit. The legislation, House Bill 4544, hasn't yet been considered in the General Assembly. "I can't imagine a more helpless feeling than being in a classroom or in a shopping... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Mass Shootings Stir Sense of Helplessness, Resignation on Campus
San Francisco Chronicle /AP
16 Feb 2008
Bloody students fleeing in terror. Bodies carried out on stretchers. Candlelight vigils and makeshift shrines. Another campus, another deadly attack with a sickening senselessness that now borders on routine. Despite a national push to secure schools after the Virginia Tech shootings, the rampage at Northern Illinois University this week proves a gut-wrenching reality: Unless colleges are willing to turn themselves into armed camps, they're helpless against these kinds of attacks. As word of the shootings rippled throughout the country, students and authorities alike reacted with frustration and -- tellingly -- resignation. "I don't think there's... ( gunpolicy.org )
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