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Unguarded Weapons Caches Leading to Scourge of Illegal Guns
19 June 1999
Trud
The spread of unlicensed firearms is a growing problem, "Trud" reported on 19 June.
According to the daily, weapons are being stolen in large quantities from military or police storage facilities. In fact, every third illegally owned firearm was stolen from Defense Ministry stocks.
In addition, one out of every nine Russian men owns a weapon, and the number of crimes in which firearms were used in 1998 was double that recorded in 1996.
The newspaper calls on the... (GunPolicy.org)
Laser Stamp Will Reveal the Gun Behind a Bullet
17 June 1999
Telegraph (UK)
A system that will enable forensic scientists to look at a bullet and know which gun fired it has been developed by a laser company.
Neuman MicroTechnologies in New Hampshire has developed micromachining technologies to etch tiny identification marks inside hand weapons.
The mark could be the weapon's serial number or another unique pattern that would let police consult a central register and match the spent shell directly with the gun that fired it.
"As a bullet is... (GunPolicy.org)
Millions of US Homes Mix Guns and Children
15 June 1999
Reuters
NEW YORK — A loaded, unlocked firearm can be found in more than one million US households with children, suggesting that many children are at risk for firearm-related injury in the home, report researchers.
Overall, one out of three households in the US has a gun in the home or in a vehicle, and more than 40% of these gun-owning homes also contain children, according to Dr. Gail Stennies and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta,... (GunPolicy.org)
President Clinton Appeals to Women in Gun Debate
15 June 1999
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Clinton is turning to women for help in the congressional showdown this week over new gun control restrictions as he struggles to keep Democrats from crossing party lines.
Members of that key Democratic constituency are joining him at a White House rally today for an amendment by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., which Democrats say would tighten background checks at gun shows.
The event is an effort to keep Democrats in line as the House later... (GunPolicy.org)
Clinton Wants to Toughen Brady Gun Law
15 June 1999
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Declaring gun regulation is "too important to be decided by strong-arm lobbying tactics," President Clinton today renewed his call to the Republican Congress to toughen the Brady gun law, which he said has proved itself one of the nation's must effective anti-crime measures.
Clinton said the law with its system of background checks has blocked more than 400,000 illegal gun sales, two-thirds of which involved either convicted felons or people with a... (GunPolicy.org)
'Smart' Guns Prove to Be No Quick Fix in Firearm Violence
15 June 1999
New York Times
BALTIMORE — Seven years ago, a group of engineering students at Johns Hopkins University was given $2,000 and an assignment: build a "smart" gun, a gun that could be fired only by its owner. Using off-the-shelf equipment, they developed a prototype that, with wires hanging out of it, was neither attractive nor practical. But it worked.
"It wasn't pretty," recalled Stephen P. Teret, director of the Gun Policy and Research Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Public... (GunPolicy.org)
House GOP to Split Bill on Violence
15 June 1999
Washington Post
House Republicans yesterday adopted a new legislative strategy that could have the effect of diluting — or even killing — gun control initiatives in favor of broad restrictions on the entertainment industry and its dissemination of violent material to teenagers.
In a surprise move, GOP leaders decided to divide the juvenile justice measure into two bills when it comes to the floor for votes later this week — one focusing on youth crime and culture, and the other... (GunPolicy.org)
Taking Aim at Gun Proposals; House Republicans Split Youth Crime Bill
14 June 1999
Reuters
WASHINGTON — House Republicans today threw the gun debate planned for Wednesday into new disarray with a surprise proposal to split it into two bills — one focusing on youth crime and violent culture and a second on gun shows.
Republicans said they structured the debate that way to make it cleaner and simpler, but surprised House Democrats said it would create procedural and political obstacles to passing new gun-control measures.
Both sides agreed the vote could... (GunPolicy.org)
Study Finds Guns in a Third of US Households
14 June 1999
Reuters
CHICAGO — A third of all U.S. households keep a gun in the home or a vehicle, according to a survey published Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it got the finding from a 1994 telephone poll of 5,238 households, which also revealed that about 22 percent of those owning guns keep them loaded and unlocked.
The poll was published in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical... (GunPolicy.org)
There is No Explaining Evil, But Do We Have to Sell it an Assault Rifle?
14 June 1999
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) & Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas), Column
AUSTIN, Texas — A weird thing happened recently. I wrote a column in favor of gun control, and I didn't get any hate mail. None. Not a single death threat.
I've been writing in favor of gun control for years, and people always threaten to shoot me in response. Although this has not increased my esteem for gun lovers, I'm used to it and put it in the category of the-sun-rises-in-the-East.
There are certain subjects — the death penalty, abortion and (until just now)... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) & Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
With Guns, a Safer World for Women?
14 June 1999
New York Times, Column
With Congress primed to pass gun-control legislation, New Yorkers may be tempted to feel smug. The rest of the country is finally starting to share the prevailing distaste in the city for guns. Urbanites seem to be triumphing over the plaid-shirted guys driving the back roads in pickup trucks with N.R.A. decals.
But it's hard to remain smug if you talk to Dr. John R. Lott. He believes that thousands of New Yorkers, particularly women in poor neighborhoods, are victims... (GunPolicy.org)
Across the Nation, Guns Delineate America's New Political Geography
14 June 1999
Los Angeles Times, Column
Because so many House members break from their party to vote with their districts, relatively few House races feature sharp disagreements between the candidates on guns.
Like converging weather systems, the old and new politics of gun control collided over Michigan this spring. Predictably, turbulence followed.
Michigan has long been a stronghold of the National Rifle Assn., and few were surprised when the state Legislature approved bills that would make it easier for... (GunPolicy.org)
Quarter of Gun Deaths Committed by Youths 18 to 20
14 June 1999
Washington Post
NEW ORLEANS — Nearly a quarter of all gun-related murders are committed by people ages 18 to 20, and that age group also is more likely than any other to use firearms in crimes that don't result in deaths, according to a new Justice Department report.
Vice President Gore will release the report Monday and call for the House to pass tough new guns laws during a speech before the 67th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors national meeting here.
With the future of a major... (GunPolicy.org)
14 June 1999
Washington Post
Seeming to have learned nothing from the embarrassing performance of their GOP colleagues in the Senate on gun legislation, House Republicans have broken any last semblance of ranks in a wheels-off contest to produce an even weaker bill. House Speaker Dennis Hastert — trying in vain to reassert some leadership over an unruly party caucus — wound up abandoning efforts to rally the members behind any single "gun control" placebo.
Instead, Republicans — divided... (GunPolicy.org)
3 Democratic Women Lead on Gun Control
14 June 1999
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Almost every day, the three lawmakers hold a news conference, resurrecting the same pleas and plaints and seeming never to tire of their mantras.
Rep. Carolyn B. McCarthy, D-N.Y., begs Americans to think about all the children killed by gunfire. Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y., decries the influence in Congress of the National Rifle Association. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., urges common sense over abstract ideology.
Sometimes other Democrats join them,... (GunPolicy.org)
Brazil to Outlaw Gun Possession in Violent Era, NY Times Says
13 June 1999
New York Times
Brazil is expected to pass a bill within the next month outlawing the possession of guns, in response to school shootings in the U.S. and statistically high gun violence in Brazil, the New York Times reported.
Opponents of the government-backed bill, including a small gun lobby, say it's unconstitutional, but supporters say it is a step toward reducing violence in Brazil, where estimates of the number of unregistered guns range as high as 20 million in a nation of 165... (GunPolicy.org)
13 June 1999
Los Angeles Times, Editorial
An official of the National Rifle Assn. says the only effect of a proposal to limit gun sales to one per person each month would be to hurt gun collectors. What nonsense. California Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) had it right when he said that his proposed one-a-month limit would dry up the source of guns for illegal peddlers of weapons on the streets. Knox's bill has passed the state Assembly and its first committee test in the Senate. It is one of a number of... (GunPolicy.org)
House Approaches Youth Crime Bill, Firearms Debate With 150 Positions
12 June 1999
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — The contours of a freewheeling House debate on gun laws began to emerge Friday as Republicans and Democrats offered more than 150 proposals for new firearms restrictions and other measures aimed at curbing youth violence.
The flood of proposed amendments to a juvenile crime bill reflects the keen awareness of House members that the public is watching their response to the recent spate of school shootings.
It also speaks to uncertainty about the gun... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA, Thriving Under Attacks, Mobilizes to Fight New Gun Curbs
12 June 1999
New York Times
WASHINGTON — After years of drift and disarray, the National Rifle Association finds itself right where many of its leaders want it to be: under attack.
The organization has found new life, members and money through mass mailings that portray gun owners and sportsmen as being under siege. Two weeks after the last funeral for a victim in the high school shootings at Littleton, Colo., the N.R.A. sent letters to its 2.6 million members, warning that President Clinton... (GunPolicy.org)
Mayors Push for Tough Gun Safety Law
11 June 1999
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Conference of Mayors is urging House Speaker Dennis Hastert to press for swift passage of legislation requiring higher age restrictions for all firearms buyers and background checks for all customers at gun shows.
The mayors' proposal, contained in a letter to the Illinois Republican, is more stringent than pending House legislation. Their plan includes raising the legal age of gun buyers from 18 to 21 and limiting purchases to one gun a... (GunPolicy.org)
