United States
US: Too Many Guns in the Hands of Potentially Deranged or Criminal People
Chicago Sun-Times, Column
17 Feb 2008
Evan Ramsey, like other school shooters who have stormed into our consciousness, wanted to "check out." He wanted to kill himself. And so when he came to school armed with a .12-gauge shotgun, it was with the intention of gunning down students and faculty. And then the plan was to turn the weapon on himself. But he hesitated. By the time I interviewed him in 1999, Evan had been in prison two years. At just 18, sitting in a neon orange jumpsuit, his legs and hands shackled, he would not be eligible for parole for another 67 years. Long before Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire at Northern Illinois University, long before Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris slaughtered... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Senator Touts Law to Prepare America's Campuses for More Shootings
Daily Herald (Chicago)
17 Feb 2008
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin stressed the need for stricter gun laws during a press conference held at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago Sunday. The legislation making its way through Capital Hill -- the Campus Law Enforcement Emergency Response Act -- requires every college and university to have written emergency response policies and procedures and a system to promptly alert the campus community in the event of an emergency. The bill also requires every college and university have tested those emergency procedures on an annual basis, and combines the resources of the Departments of Education, Justice and Homeland Security to provide colleges and universities... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Lawmaker Seizes Moment to Push for Tougher Gun Control Measures
Newsday (New York)
17 Feb 2008
Following a spate of campus attacks and threats, including the fatal shootings at Northern Illinois University and a chilling message scrawled in a boys' bathroom at a Levittown high school, federal lawmakers are renewing a push to beef up gun-control laws, fund safety procedures and study the link between college shootings and mental illness. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), at a news conference yesterday in Manhattan, said he and congressional colleagues plan to step up efforts to close loopholes in gun-control measures and create a federal task force to come up with national school safety guidelines. They also plan to push for congressional hearings on links... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Lobby Promotes Law to Solve 'Non-Problem' of Firearm Seizures
Los Angeles Times
17 Feb 2008
CHEYENNE, Wyoming -- The worst trouble Allen Jaggi has seen in his 40 years here was a 50-below-zero blizzard that shut down the interstate for days. Supplies ran low, but people took care of themselves and one another -- as they always do, the state representative said. In a state that prides itself on its self-sufficiency, Jaggi can't imagine a situation that would dissolve into the chaos that characterized Hurricane Katrina. Nor can he picture police in this gun-proud state going door to door, collecting weapons as they did in New Orleans. House Bill 57 is "just in case." Joining other lawmakers nationwide who say that,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
The Topic We Refuse to Tackle: Guns Make US Mass Killings Possible
Baltimore Sun (Maryland), Column
17 Feb 2008
"I know who killed Benazir Bhutto," the woman said, as she grabbed a shirt, then a sweater, then a jacket, then a coat, gathering them with two arms and pulling the bundle toward her frantically, as if to create a shield of clothing. She backed up on the porch of the house, almost losing her balance, and grabbed a water bottle and a purse off a table. "I would very much like to get a cab. Can you call me a cab? I have tickets for the Meyerhoff tonight, and I need to get there! The Pakistani guy was supposed to come back. I gave him $200!" The woman, in her 40s and dressed in black slacks and a gray sweat shirt, was barefoot on a February day, waiting on the porch... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
The Real Insanity of Campus Carnage: Availability of Guns in America
Scotsman (Edinburgh), Column
17 Feb 2008
It was the talk of the campus for a day or two, but I pretty much forgot about it as the weeks became months and the months became years. It only came back to me as news came through of yet another mass killing at a US university. Unlike the slaughter in Illinois on Thursday, the incident back when I was a student had no serious consequences. No one died. No one was hurt. A few people were frightened, but only for a while. There was only really one victim. He was the student who suddenly, in the middle of a lecture, jumped on to his desk, where he stood for a moment like a great-coated statue, then leapt across the room from desk to desk. I don't recall... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan
Pakistan's Elections Spur 1500% Increase in Karachi Gun Sales - Dealers
International News (Karachi)
17 Feb 2008
KARACHI -- Amidst the prevailing socio-political uncertainty that has characterized the period leading up to the general elections 2008, the regulated sale of weapons has registered an increase of almost 1,500 per cent. Citizens themselves are feeling insecure with regards to the potential -- both perceived and actual -- for trouble during the run up to the elections, in particular polling day itself and the fallout of the election results. As a consequence of this uncertainty, the sale of legal weapons in the city witnessed an enormous increase in January this year. In the backdrop of this trend, the city had seen severely deteriorated and... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
More Guns in Class 'Worst Possible Response' to Campus Mass Shootings
San Francisco Chronicle, Editorial
17 Feb 2008
Stockton 1989. Littleton 1999. Virginia Tech 2007. Add the awful scenes from Northern Illinois University 2008 (above) to the school-shooting horrors that lay further testament to the dangers of firearms in the hands of madmen. The worst possible response to last week's lecture-hall shooting that left five dead would be to rationalize legislation in 12 states (in response to the Virginia Tech massacre) that would allow people with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns on public universities. The problem is not a lack of guns in the right hands. It is the ease with which guns end up in the wrong hands. ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
More Cities Join Rebel US East Coast Mayors' Gun Trafficking Database
News Journal (Delaware)
17 Feb 2008
With all six homicides recorded in Wilmington this year committed by guns -- 10 out of 14 last year -- Mayor James M. Baker joined 11 East Coast mayors in Baltimore to announce plans for a new database that will allow police agencies in those cities to share information on known gun offenders. The effort is aimed at stopping the illegal flow of guns that are transported along the I-95 corridor. "Criminals don't recognize local boundaries when they are committing crimes, so neither should law enforcement when it comes to sharing intelligence," said Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szcerba, who also attended the summit. Dover Mayor Carleton Carey also attended.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Investigation of Illinois Mass Shooter's Life Touches on Guns, Girlfriend
San Francisco Chronicle / AP
17 Feb 2008
DeKalb, Illinois -- Steven Kazmierczak, at 27, looked like an average schoolboy -- except that his arms were covered with disturbing images, including a doll from the horror movie "Saw." Professors and students knew him as a bright, helpful scholar, but his past included a stint in a mental health center. Many saw him as happy and stable, but he had developed a recent interest in guns and was involved in a troubled -- possibly abusive -- on-again, off-again relationship. What people initially told police about the Northern Illinois University shooter didn't add up, and now investigators are searching for answers to what triggered Thursday's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun-Shy US Presidential Candidates Avoid Discussing Campus Shootings
ABC News (USA)
17 Feb 2008
The deadly shooting at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., is just the latest example of a growing problem on school campuses across the country. The issue of gun control is certain to be salient in the minds of voters in DeKalb and, for example, Blacksburg, Va., where shots killed 33 people at Virginia Tech University last April. But so far, the Democratic presidential hopefuls have offered no solutions or preventive measures to combat this problem. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., offered his sympathies, but specified no new ideas to enforce gun control in his home state of Illinois. "I've said before, and continue to believe, that we need to do a more... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Campaign for Loaded Guns in US National Parks 'A Real Looney-Tunes Idea'
Kansas City Star (Missouri), Column
17 Feb 2008
Every once in a while someone in Washington has a real Looney-Tunes idea that nevertheless gets traction. Often a powerful interest group is behind it, pushing to get it through. And compliant lawmakers go along. So it is with Sen. Tom Coburn's water-boy role for the National Rifle Association. This Oklahoma Republican wants to allow folks to carry loaded guns into the nation's parks. He's introduced legislation to do just that. And going along with the idea are 47 senators -- including Kansas' two senators, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts. These lawmakers sent a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asking for a change of parks... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Baltimore, New York Build Gun Database to Track Illegal Weapons, Dealers
Baltimore Sun (Maryland), Editorial
17 Feb 2008
When federal policy got in his way, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg found a way around it to combat illegal guns in his city. Mayor Sheila Dixon has learned a thing or two from Mr. Bloomberg. And now they're joining forces to better track the sources of illegal guns that drive much of the crime in their cities. It may seem like an odd pairing, but federal limitations on this critical data and the ease with which illegal guns move from state to state require a double-team approach. The cities would share gun trace information that is collected by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and that until last year had been closely held by... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
A Gun for a Gun? No! Carrying More Guns on Campus 'An Absurd Premise'
Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Editorial
17 Feb 2008
In one year, Americans have mourned the senseless slaughter of dozens of promising lives in two terrifying mass shootings on college campuses. In each, gunmen burst into classrooms, fired to kill, then took their own lives. The latest horrific violence took place at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, leaving six dead and 15 wounded. The 27-year-old shooter was described as "a very good student and a fairly unstressed person" by the campus director of public safety. It appears he began acting erratically after he stopped taking medication. The facts in the case are evolving. But already gun advocates are busily screaming that sensible gun... ( gunpolicy.org )
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