Top of PageGun Policy News, 7 June 2003
Authorities Link Gun Store to D.C., California Shootings
7 June 2003
Associated Press
SEATTLE — The Tacoma gun shop where the Washington, D.C.-area sniper defendants obtained their Bushmaster rifle was also the source of a weapon found on Buford Furrow, a white supremacist who shot five people at a Jewish community center in California in 1999, federal records show.
Furrow was arrested in Las Vegas on Aug. 11, 1999, the day after the shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. One of the weapons in his possession — though... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Warn Gun Registry Will Be Enforced
7 June 2003
CTV News (Toronto)
Canadian police plan to enforce federal gun registry laws — even if provincial governments carry through with plans to ignore the regulations.
The head of the Canadian Police Association, David Griffin, said for officers countrywide "from a police perspective" it's business as usual.
The refusal of six provinces to prosecute the law amounts to "a philosophical debate between the provinces and the federal government," Griffin said in The Globe and Mail... (GunPolicy.org)
Californian Town's Gun Tax to Fund Anti-Violence Programs
7 June 2003
Tri Valley Herald (California)
SAN LEANDRO, California — After years of collecting money from gun taxes, the City Council has decided where to put the funds and how to use them.
The council Monday night established a reserve and separate expense account for anti-violence programs. In addition, the council earmarked$74,000 for anti-violence projects for the next fiscal year. The money had been collected and placed in the city's general fund.
The reserve was established through Measure H, which... (GunPolicy.org)
Shooting Lessons for Kids as Young as 13
7 June 2003
Scotland on Sunday
Some of the youngsters are not much bigger than the shotguns they will learn to handle and fire like experts.
But supporters of the countryside way of life have organised a series of shooting lessons this summer for children as young as 13.
The events have been set up, seven years after the tragedy at Dunblane, as a direct result of renewed interest in shooting as a sport.
Organisers say it is only right that rural traditions should be preserved and that... (GunPolicy.org)
Police to Enforce Gun-Registry Law Despite Controversy
7 June 2003
Globe & Mail (Toronto)
OTTAWA — Police will lay charges against owners of unregistered firearms despite the refusal of six provinces to prosecute the federal government's controversial gun control laws, the head of the Canadian Police Association said yesterday.
"A police officer is required to enforce the law," said David Griffin, executive officer of the CPA.
"From a police perspective, it's still business as usual. What we seem to be seeing here is a philosophical debate between the... (GunPolicy.org)
Suspect Grabs Alabama Officer's Gun and Kills 3
7 June 2003
Associated Press
LAYETTE, Alabama — A suspect being booked at the police station here grabbed an officer's gun and opened fire early today, killing two officers and a dispatcher before fleeing in a police car, the authorities said.
The police cruiser was spotted about three hours later, just across the state line in Mississippi, and the driver was arrested, said Sheriff's Deputy Tony Mulligan of Lowndes County, Miss.
Deputy Mulligan identified the driver as Devan Darnel Moore, 18,... (GunPolicy.org)
ATF Outgunned By NRA
7 June 2003
New York Daily News, Opinion
In this age of terror and mad bombers and criminals armed to the fangs, the mission of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has become even more critical. Yet the agency is far less effective than it could and should be. One might even call it gun-shy. And that's being kind.
Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of the GOP, because Republicans in the Bush administration and Congress delight in doing the dirty work of the National Rifle Association.... (GunPolicy.org)
Churches Win Some Points on Gun Law
7 June 2003
Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
More than a dozen Twin Cities places of worship received a reprieve Friday from some state rules regulating how they could ban guns from their buildings.
A temporary order issued by a Hennepin County judge exempts the organizations from design and language requirements for signs stating that guns are banned inside. And the order lets the religious groups ignore a rule that would have forced them to personally inform parishioners of their ban as they walked in the... (GunPolicy.org)
