United States
81yr-old Delaware Woman Denied Pistol Permit on Basis of Gender, Age
News Journal (Delaware)
28 Oct 2008
Delaware State Police stopped Alvina Vansickle from purchasing a .22-caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old and a woman, said Superintendent Col. Thomas MacLeish. The outrage that followed led to the revelation that Delaware State Police had been keeping lists of gun buyers for years; state law requires them to destroy these records after 60 days. Without so much as a traffic ticket, the 81-year-old Lewes resident should have sailed through the mandatory state police background check when she tried to buy a Taurus revolver from Charlie Steele's Lewes gun shop last August. Problems started after Steele made the required phone... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
8yr-old Boy Shot Dead with Uzi: Police Chief Ran US Machine Gun Shoot
Boston Herald
28 Oct 2008
A leading gun control advocate says tougher laws are needed in the wake of a "machine gun shoot" that allowed an 8-year-old boy to pull the trigger on an Uzi, accidentally killing himself with a bullet to the head. John Rosenthal, founder of the nonprofit Stop Handgun Violence, considers the ability of gun clubs to hold machine gun shoots a "loophole" in the federal assault weapons ban that former Gov. Mitt Romney made permanent in the Bay State. "There ought to be a law at least having an age limit and supervision," Rosenthal said. Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., shot himself in the head Sunday when the gun's powerful recoil forced it... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
8yr-old Firing Machine Gun 'Beyond Comprehension,' Says Police Chief
Xinhua
28 Oct 2008
BEIJING -- The death of an 8-year-old U.S. boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi at a gun fair has raised many questions again about the country's gun control system, according to media reports. On Sunday, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., lost control of the submachine gun while firing it with an instructor watching at the Machine Gun Shoot & Firearms Expo at a sportsman's club in Westfield, Massachusetts, police said. As the third-grader fired the Uzi, "the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head," police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The boy died at a hospital. Although... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Fun Days, Machine Gun Shoots Attract Kids, Adults Across America
Boston Herald
28 Oct 2008
Machine gun "shoots" such as the one that unfolded tragically in Westfield on Sunday are rare throughout the country -- and often controversial. A similar firearms fest is hosted by the Hanson Rod and Gun Club, which was criticized in 1999 for allowing children as young as 6 to shoot automatic weapons. Months later, a special town meeting voted to ban anyone younger than 21 from pulling the trigger at the event. The Knob Creek Gun Range Machine Gun Shoot in Kentucky claims to be the largest in the nation. Each year, thousands of shooters take aim at pyramids of tires, old cars, boats and other objects in a 600-acre "blasting zone."... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Letting an 8-year-old Play With a Loaded Machine Gun; Are You Crazy?
Boston Herald, Opinion
28 Oct 2008
Yesterday afternoon I watched my neighbor's 8-year-old, barely 4 feet tall, his backpack half as big as he is, walking home from school. Handing a fully loaded, 9 mm Micro Uzi machine gun to any child, particularly a child that age, letting him pull a trigger that sets off one automatic round after another after another? You've got to be out of your mind. Yet apparently that's what they've been doing for years now at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, where a Web site ad reads, proudly and excitedly, "No age limit or licenses required to shoot machine guns, handguns, rifles or shotguns!!!" So, Sunday, 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj of Ashford,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
New York Mayor Bankrolls Attack ads for Gun Control in 5 US Electorates
Politico (USA), Blog
28 Oct 2008
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is financing a new group that will be active in five congressional races this week, supporting gun control and other measures, a spokeswoman said. The billionaire mayor's new group, Americans United for Safe Streets, is sending out mailings attacking three Republican congressmen who oppose most gun control, Tom Feeney of Florida (above), Steve Chabot of Ohio, and Joe Knollenberg of Michigan, for their votes against gun control measures, including tightening restrictions on sales at gun shows and the restrictions on gun dealers who have lost their licenses. The group is also lobbying for funding for more police, a move... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Ohio Teens Damage McCain Yard Sign, So Sign Owner Shoots Them
CNN
28 Oct 2008
A Warren Township, Ohio, man faces charges of felonious assault after authorities say he fired his rifle at two teens who were attempting to deface his McCain presidential campaign yard sign. Police say the man's sign is the only McCain sign on a street full of Obama signs. Kenneth Rowles, 50, pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday, according to CNN affiliate WBNS. Bail was set at $10,000. Rowles told police he was sitting on his porch Saturday when a tan SUV pulled up and a black youth jumped out and ran toward his house, screaming, "This is for Obama." He said another male was hanging out of the passenger window screaming... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina
UN Study Shows More Than 700,000 Bosnians Possess Firearms
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Dnevni List (Mostar), Transcript
28 Oct 2008
After representatives of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces drew attention recently to an urgent need to dispose of surplus light and heavy weapons and ammunition, a question arose as to the amount of light weapons "hidden" in people's homes. Although it is difficult to establish the exact number of illegally held weapons, UNDP estimates, on the basis of a its major research into this issue, that this varies between 140,000 to as many as 500,000 weapons. About 19 Per Cent Civilians Hold Weapons The research revealed that 19 per cent of respondents lived in a household containing at least one piece of light weapon, which, considering... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Safety Experts, Enthusiasts Wonder Why 8yr-old Was Firing Uzi
Associated Press
28 Oct 2008
WESTFIELD, Massachusetts -- With an instructor watching, an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair aimed an Uzi at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger as his dad reached for a camera. It was his first time shooting a fully automatic machine gun, and the recoil of the weapon was too much for him. He lost control and fatally shot himself in the head. Now gun safety experts -- and some gun enthusiasts at the club where the shooting happened -- are wondering why such a young child was allowed to fire a weapon used in war. Local, state and federal authorities are also investigating whether everyone involved had proper licenses or if anyone committed a criminal act. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Uzi Recoils, Questions Echo: US Boy's Death Spurs Gun Law Scrutiny
Boston Globe
28 Oct 2008
WESTFIELD -- As his father raised his camera, an 8-year-old boy aimed an Uzi at a pumpkin set up at a shooting event. Before his father could focus, the third-grader from Connecticut squeezed the trigger, and the high-powered weapon recoiled and fatally shot the boy in the head. The death of Christopher Bizilj at the Westfield Sportsman's Club Sunday has raised questions about how someone so young could be allowed to shoot an automatic weapon, which can fire hundreds of rounds in a minute. The Hampden District Attorney's Office and officials from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating. They did not return calls... ( gunpolicy.org )
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