United States
Big-city Mayors Defend Chicago's Handgun Ban in US Supreme Court
Chicago Sun-Times
22 January 2010
WASHINGTON -- Mayor Daley revved up a coalition of mayors Thursday to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Chicago's handgun ordinance in the wake of the Illinois State Rifle Association challenge to be argued March 2. Here for the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Daley also went to the White House with other mayors for a session with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. And in his role as the "mayor of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Don't Expect US Deal with Mexico on Assault Weapon Ban - CNN Analysis
CNN
16 April 2009
President Obama visits Mexico with many issues on the table, but reinstating the ban on assault weapons in the U.S. isn't likely to be one on which the two countries can reach agreement. Mexican officials say criminals use assault weapons from the U.S. in the violent border region. Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., say reinstating the ban would stop the deadly flow of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Democrats Join Gun Lobby to Ensure Gun Control Laws Go Nowhere
Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh)
9 April 2009
The fatal shootings in Binghamton, N.Y., and Stanton Heights prompted renewed calls for stricter gun control from traditional advocates such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But such calls haven't echoed in the halls of Congress or in statehouses across the country. "The silence has been deafening," Dennis Goldford, a Drake University political scientist, said of federal lawmakers' response... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
'Crocodile Tears, Platitudes' from US Leaders, But No Law to Curb Guns
Australian (Sydney)
6 April 2009
NEW YORK -- The anguish in Joe Biden's voice sounded genuine when the US Vice-President responded on behalf of the White House to the shocking gun massacre of 14 people at the New York town of Binghamton on the weekend. "We've got to find a way to deal with this senseless, senseless violence," Biden told the nation. Arriving at Binghamton that evening, New York Governor David Paterson framed similar sentiments in a question:... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Obama's 'Drug Czar' Aims to Choke Flood of US Guns to Mexican Cartels
Reuters
11 March 2009
PHOENIX -- U.S. border police have arrested four men and seized three shipments of guns, ammunition and weapons parts bound for Mexico, authorities said on Wednesday, weapons that would likely have been used by warring drug cartels. U.S. and Mexican authorities are working closely to curb the illegal trade in arms to Mexico, where more than 7,000 people have been murdered by the cartels since the start of last year. The... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Permits Up 79% in Georgia: NRA Campaign, Fear of Obama Cited
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)
31 January 2009
On the morning after the presidential inauguration, Sean Ely was in Cobb County Probate Court to apply for his first concealed weapons permit. The Acworth builder had read that it might become harder to get a permit during the Obama administration. "I figured I'd get it while I can," Ely said. Adrian Brown, an EMT student from Austell, was at the court office minutes later to do the same thing but for a different... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama Prompted 'Frightened Consumers' to Buy More Guns - 2008 Data
Fox News (USA)
16 January 2009
President-elect Barack Obama's election has spurred a surge in gun sales, firearms retailers and enthusiasts say, as gun owners brace for what they believe will be a new era of gun control in Washington. An electronic news service that covers outdoor news has even named Obama its "Gun Salesman of the Year." Firearms associations began to suspect that political considerations were driving gun sales late last year as the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama's Judges 'Could Easily Reverse' Supreme Court Gun Decision
Fox News (USA), Opinion
12 January 2009
Despite a huge Democratic Senate majority, Eric Holder's confirmation hearings are going to be difficult. He has a long record to defend. Whether it is his involvement and inconsistent statements about Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich's or his pushing Clinton's clemency of the FALN terrorists or his failure to disclose his work for troubled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich after Blagojevich's legal problems surfaced,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama 'Salesman of the Month' as US Gun Industry Whips Up Fear Sales
San Diego Union-Tribune (California)
16 November 2008
The economy may be in the tank, but business has never been better at the El Cajon Gun Exchange. Semiautomatic rifles, handguns and short-barreled shotguns are moving off the shelves and into the hands of customers who share widespread fears that President-elect Barack Obama will restrict their right to own a gun. "Obama is the salesman of the month," said store owner Louis Baldridge. Bryan Watters, a Lakeside... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
American Reporters 'Spook Readers' with Gun Sale Exaggerations
Slate (USA)
13 November 2008
Firearms scare almost everybody. But no demographic gets more wiggy about handguns, shotguns, and rifles than journalists. Ever since the Washington Post ("Gun Sales Thriving in Uncertain Times," Oct. 27) put the idea into circulation that the election and economic turmoil were spurring an increase in gun and ammo sales, a score of other news outlets have published their takes on the topic. The Salt Lake Tribune got there on Nov.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Sales Up 14% as 'Suspicious Gun Lovers' Show Fear of Obama
Irish Times
10 November 2008
CHANTILLY, Virginia -- Earl Curtis's staff in the Blue Ridge Arsenal gunshop hurried to and fro on a Saturday afternoon coping with the rush of customers that has emerged in recent weeks since people realised that Barack Obama was heading to the White House. "The rush started about three weeks ago, and it hasn't stopped," Curtis tells The Irish Times . "People are afraid that we are about to go back to the days of the Clintons,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Owners 'Afraid of Obama,' Rushing to Buy Assault Weapons
Reuters
8 November 2008
PHOENIX -- Sales of rifles, pistols and ammo are surging in parts of the United States, as many gun owners fear President-elect Barack Obama's administration may seek to tighten ownership of certain weapons. "The day after the election, I had many more calls than usual from people looking for semi-automatic rifles," said David Greenberg, the owner of the Second Amendment Family Gun Shop, in Bisbee, Arizona, who sold out of AR-15... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama 'Favoured Every Gun Restriction That Came Along in Illinois'
Gazette (Colorado Springs), Editorial
22 October 2008
Brilliantly, Democrats have kept the issue of guns out of the presidential campaign. Guns have barely been mentioned, with the exception of Barack Obama's gaffe about rubes clinging to Bibles and guns, his cautious support of the Supreme Court's Heller decision, and pop culture references to GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin killing moose. Democrats have long been on the losing end of the gun-rights debate, which has cost... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Biden, Obama on Gun Registration, Assault Weapons, Hidden Handguns
Nevada Appeal
18 October 2008
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware said Friday that Nevadans shouldn't listen to claims he and Barack Obama would take away the right to bear arms. "I get a kick out of, sometimes, the NRA saying we're going to take your shotguns away," he said in a telephone interview with the Nevada Appeal. "I've got three shotguns, although my son thinks one of them, the over-under, is his." "Both of us believe... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Gun Rights an Election Issue for Number of Alaskans
Daily News-Miner (Alaska)
15 October 2008
WASHINGTON -- With the Nov. 4 election fast approaching, Alaskans are taking a close look at where the major-party presidential contenders stand on gun control and Second Amendment rights. The right to bear arms has been front and center in the presidential race, thanks in no small part to the presence of Gov. Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket. Palin has played up her hunting credentials and been an outspoken supporter... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
McCain: 'No Gun Control.' Obama: 'I Will Not Take Your Guns Away'
Associated Press
15 October 2008
BOSTON -- John McCain supports background checks for buyers at gun shows and has his name on a law restricting special-interest group advertising, two positions strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association. So how'd he end up with the group's presidential endorsement? By running against Barack Obama, whom NRA leaders accuse of wanting to put the firearms industry out of business. "Hillary was right: You can't trust... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
American Opponents of Gun Violence Endorse Obama for President
Associated Press
13 October 2008
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama and Joe Biden won the endorsement Monday of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The group is named after Jim Brady, the press secretary to former President Reagan, who was gravely wounded by a gunman who tried to assassinate Reagan in 1981. Paul Helmke, the organization's president, said Obama and Biden would strengthen background checks on gun purchasers, get assault weapons off the streets... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Largest US Gun Control Group Endorses Barack Obama for President
Boston Globe / Political Intelligence
13 October 2008
John McCain has backing from the National Rifle Association. Today, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence threw its support to Barack Obama. "Senators Barack Obama and Joseph Biden know that we make it too easy for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons in this country," Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, said in a statement. "They know that our weak gun laws have too many loopholes, which lead to over 30,000... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Wyoming Governor Stumps for Obama Among Pennsylvania Hunters
Daily American (Pennsylvania)
7 October 2008
Wyoming Gov. David D. Freudenthal will be stopping in Somerset today to talk with sportsmen about Sen. Barack Obama's views on gun rights. The stop is one of four on a tour of small towns in western Pennsylvania sponsored by the Obama campaign. Freudenthal will also be speaking to voters in Grindstone, McDonald and Tarentum. Allison Price, Obama spokeswoman, said both Obama and Sen. Joe Biden believe the Second Amendment... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US NRA Launches $40 Million Campaign to Defeat Obama on Guns
CBS News (USA)
24 September 2008
The defining moment in the National Rifle Association's eight-figure advertising offensive against Barack Obama takes place about 15 seconds into a new spot featuring Karl Rusch, a white, middle aged Virginian clad in hunting gear. After claiming that Obama supports "a huge new tax on my guns and ammo," Rusch closes the door of his truck and turns directly to the camera. "Where is this guy from?" he asks. "He's probably... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
America's Gun Lobby Spending '8 Figures' on TV Ads Opposing Obama
Washington Post / The Trail, Web Page
23 September 2008
The National Rifle Association is likely to spend "in the eight figure range" on radio and television advertisements in the next 42 days as part of its efforts to deter undecided voters from voting for Barack Obama, according to an NRA spokesman. The group will air a series of ads starring group members that openly question Obama's commitment to protecting gun rights. Ads will air on radio stations and during local cable television ad breaks... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
American Gun Lobby Fires Away at Obama-Biden on Cable TV, Radio
ABC News (USA) / Political Punch, Blog
22 September 2008
"Defend freedom," urges the National Rifle Association's new TV and radio ad campaign. "Defeat Obama." The powerful gun owners' lobby today announced it is firing away at the Democratic presidential candidate with a cache of TV and radio ads in New Mexico, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. The ads will run on cable TV in all three battleground states: CMT, CNN, DISC, ESPN, ESPN, ESPN News, ESX, FXNC, GOLFm HIST, MIL, NFL, Outdoor... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Pistol Packing, Shooting Are 'The Way of Life' to Arizona Gun Club Women
BBC News / Talking America
15 September 2008
Carol Ruh cried the first time that she held a gun. Visiting a shooting range in Arizona while on holiday with her husband, her anti-firearms views made the trip an upsetting experience. But after she told the staff of her discomfort, she underwent an epiphany. "It was one of those life-defining moments," she recalled. "The gentleman behind the counter said: 'It's not the gun that kills, it's the person behind it.' And... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Palin 'Best Ammo' for US Gun Lobby; NRA Pledges $40m to Elect McCain
National Journal (USA)
4 September 2008
By now, millions of Americans have seen photos of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin testing weapons while visiting members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait. But it wouldn't be surprising if millions more in battleground states get to see similar pictures soon -- plus appearances by Palin herself -- in states where gun rights are a big issue, courtesy of the National Rifle Association's fat $40 million budget for this year's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Sarah Palin Brings God, Guns, Anti-abortion Views to McCain Campaign
Reuters
1 September 2008
Conservative Republican prayers for the November 4 presidential election may have been answered. John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate sends a clear message to the party's conservative religious base: God and guns are on the ticket. Conservative Christians and analysts say the 44-year-old devout born-again evangelical and mother of five has the "right stuff" to energize this... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Visiting Columbine High: Gun Control Now a Silenced Issue in America
National Post (Toronto)
29 August 2008
The long, low halls of Columbine High School are lined with blue lockers and crimson history, decked with hand-drawn posters for Bible Study and the Knitting Club, cruised by laughing teens in Hollister and Aeropostale, then eerily silent when the classroom doors swing closed. We are nine years removed from the mass murder-suicide that happened here, and 10 miles south of a national political gathering at which the quieting of America's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Obama's Running Mate Touts Gun Control, Can Be Blunt to Gun Owners
Politico (Washington, DC), Web Page
25 August 2008
DENVER -- It was on July 23 last year in Charleston, S.C., that Joe Biden really showed what he is made of. It was at a Democratic debate -- one of approximately 700 or 800, as I recall -- that was sponsored by CNN, Google and YouTube. Via a video clip, a man identifying himself as Jered Townsend from Clio, Mich., said: "To all the candidates, tell me your position on gun control, as myself and other Americans really want... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Experts Fear Growing Gun Death Rate Among Black Male Teens
Associated Press
9 June 2008
WASHINGTON -- Both violent and property crimes declined in 2007 from the previous year, the FBI reported Monday. But one expert warned the figures could mask rising murder rates among young black men. In preliminary figures for crimes reported to police, the bureau said the number of violent crimes declined by 1.4 percent from 2006, reversing two years of rising violent crime numbers. Violent crime had climbed 1.9 percent in 2006... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Caribbean, Central America, South America
US Senate Stalls Hemispheric Arms Control in the Americas - NACLA Report
NACLA Report on the Americas Vol. 41, No. 2
19 March 2008
In 1997, President Bill Clinton, standing beside Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo in the Organization of American States' flag-bedecked Hall of the Americas, declared: "Gun trafficking is an issue of national security for our governments, and a matter of neighborhood security for all of us in the Americas." The presidents had joined together to sign an OAS treaty known as the Firearms Convention, or by its Spanish initials as CIFTA, designed... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Why Are Military Guns OK'd for Public, Asks US Gun Control Advocate
Des Moines Register (Iowa)
7 December 2007
Iowans should press presidential candidates for their views on assault weapons in light of Wednesday's shopping-mall massacre in Omaha, a national gun-control advocate said Thursday. Most Democratic candidates support reinstating a federal assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004. Most Republican candidates oppose reinstating the ban, saying it was ineffective. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Election Candidates 'Dance on Eggshells' Over Gun Control
Des Moines Register (Iowa)
23 October 2007
Brian Halterman is keeping an eye on how presidential candidates answer gun control questions. Halterman, a 39-year-old rural Keokuk resident, has noticed the issue has not taken center stage as it had in previous elections, and that is a concern to him. "For me, it's a fairly large issue," Halterman said, just moments before an appearance of Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson this month in Fort Madison.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Lobby's YouTube Hero Shows Off His 'Baby' - An Assault Weapon
Detroit Free Press
25 July 2007
CLIO, Michigan -- Jered Townsend is a single, 30-year-old gun enthusiast who lives north of Flint on a rural road with his parents and his baby. Well, "baby" is his way of putting it. He doesn't have children. As America learned Monday in a nationally televised debate featuring Democratic presidential candidates, Townsend's baby is a Bushmaster AR15 semiautomatic rifle, all black and polished and pretty. He does... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Campus Killing Did Little If Anything to Change Positions on Gun Control
Miami Herald
14 May 2007
The second in an occasional series about the presidential candidates' views on issues important to Florida. In his first trip to Florida as a presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney went to a gun show. The former governor of Massachusetts chatted up corporate executives and mom-and-pop dealers in Orlando at the gun industry's annual trade exhibition, the largest showcase in the world for weapons ranging from black-powder... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Democrats, US Congress Fear 'Gun Lobby's Well-practiced Demagoguery'
New York Times, Editorial
10 May 2007
The tragedy of our runaway gun culture can only deepen now that it's clear the new Democratic Congress operates in fear of the gun lobby's well-practiced demagoguery and rich campaign treasury. A collective silence descended on the Capitol after the pro forma expressions of outrage over the Virginia Tech gun massacre. Truly responsible lawmakers would put political survival on hold and shut two of the most lethal loopholes in gun... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Guns in American Homes Create More Risk Than Safety
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin), Column
28 April 2007
It seemed like a curious question to pose to a presidential candidate. But given current events, it wasn't totally irrelevant. During last week's debate among Democratic candidates for president, NBC News anchor Brian Williams asked for a show of hands: How many had ever kept a gun in their home? After the massacre of 32 innocent people at Virginia Tech University by a deranged gunman, it seemed like a timely --... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Positions of the American Presidential Candidates on Gun Control - AP List
Associated Press
18 April 2007
Gun-control efforts in recent years have focused on renewing a federal ban on assault-type weapons that expired in 2004 and requiring background checks for buyers at gun shows. Those efforts have fallen short. Gun-rights advocates prevailed with a law shielding gun-makers and dealers from civil lawsuits brought by victims of gun violence. A look at positions and records of the presidential candidates on gun control: DEMOCRATS:... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Incoming US Democrats Include a Who's Who of the Gun Control Movement
Washington Times, Editorial
18 November 2006
The incoming Democratic powers-that-be in the congressional leadership and on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees are a who's who of the gun-control movement: Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Patrick Leahy, John Conyers, Dick Durbin, Joseph Biden, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Herb Kohl, to name a few. If and when gun control roars back to life in 2007-08 -- we expect that it will -- the data unearthed this week in these lawmakers' own... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
US Gun Control, Pro-gun Groups Both Put Best Possible Spin on Election
CNS News (USA)
9 November 2006
The midterm election may have been a referendum on the president, war, corruption, and scandal, but "it does not translate into greater support for gun control at the grass roots level," says a gun lobby group. "If anything, gun control was notable as a non-issue in this election," said Gun Owners of America in a news release. A leading gun control group, however, says quite the contrary: "In this election, the gun issue... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Terror Suspects Bought Guns in US, Says Govt Accountability Office
Associated Press
8 March 2005
WASHINGTON -- More than 40 terror suspects were able to buy firearms in the United States last year because background checks showed they had no felony convictions and weren't illegal immigrants, according to a government report released Tuesday. Gun control advocates cited the Government Accountability Office's study, "Gun Control and Terrorism," as evidence that stricter laws are needed to prevent terror suspects from buying firearms.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
End Dems Anti-Gun Jihad
Denver Post (Colorado), Opinion
5 April 2002
In recent months, Democratic Party leaders have struggled to overcome what they contend is a negative stereotype, created by the GOP, that paints all Democrats as gun-control extremists. Having worked with many Democrats over the years, we can say for the record that not all members of the party are extremists on the gun issue -- just their leaders. So long as the party elevates the likes of Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Ted... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Frequency of Domestic Homicide Falls
Los Angeles Times
29 October 2001
Back when Los Angeles Police Det. Pat Barron was a patrol officer, he had a standard tactic for separating abusive spouses. He would make a solemn face, mumble something about the power vested in him by the state, then declare a 48-hour divorce. It even worked sometimes. Today, Barron laughs at the memory, so at odds with modern practices. Changes in the social, political and legal environment concerning domestic violence... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Senate Bill Would Allow Pilots to Carry Guns
Reuters
11 October 2001
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill to strengthen aviation security-including a provision that would allow pilots to carry guns-as it tries to prevent a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks. The measure would also require government employees to take over baggage screening and authorize the government to put an armed air marshal on every flight to prevent hijackers from taking over aircraft and using... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Spirit of Bipartisanship Grinds to a Halt in Chavez Aftermath
Knight Ridder / Tribune (USA)
11 January 2001
WASHINGTON -- With one down and at least two bruising fights to go, the battle over President-elect George W. Bush's Cabinet appointments is threatening to renew partisan warfare even before the new president takes office. Tuesday's sudden exit of Linda Chavez as labor secretary-designate inflamed conservatives, consolidated liberals and set up John Ashcroft's nomination for attorney general as the next round of partisan trench... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States
Democratic Groups Form Anti-Ashcroft Coalition
ABC News (USA)
9 January 2001
A coalition of Democrat-leaning interest groups has launched a campaign to torpedo President-elect George W. Bush's nomination of former Sen. John Ashcroft as attorney general. Two hundred Democratic-leaning organizations have formed a coalition against John Ashcroft, promising to fight tooth and nail against the confirmation of President-elect Bush's nominee for attorney general. When Bush made Ashcroft, a former senator from Missouri... ( gunpolicy.org )
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