Top of PageGun Policy News, 5 April 2009
US Faces Gun Rights, Gun Smuggling Debate as Weapons Flood Mexico
5 April 2009
Chicago Tribune
NOGALES, Mexico — A steady flow of Americans used to come down Interstate 19 to this city on the Arizona border: those looking for cheap prescription drugs, kitschy souvenirs or less wholesome pursuits.
That flow of visitors has largely dried up, and city leaders blame another southward stream. Guns from the U.S. are fueling an outbreak of violence in Nogales and all over Mexico, according to officials from both countries.
As the U.S. and Mexico talk of a shared... (GunPolicy.org)
US Mass Shootings: 47 Dead In Past Month, But Put Aside the Gun Debate
5 April 2009
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Does the name Byran Uyesugi ring a bell? Odds are not. What about Robert A. Hawkins? Or Mark Barton? Terry Ratzmann? Robert Stewart?
Each entered the national consciousness when he picked up a gun and ended multiple lives. Uyesugi, 1999, Hawaii office building, seven dead. Hawkins, 2007, Nebraska shopping mall, nine dead. Barton, Ratzmann and Stewart — 24 dead among them in 1999 (Atlanta brokerage offices), 2005 (Wisconsin church service) and last week... (GunPolicy.org)
796 Guns Surrendered, 5,000 Registered in Australian Firearm Amnesty
5 April 2009
Australian Associated Press
Owners of more than 5,000 firearms previously unknown to NSW police have come forward during the first month of the state government's gun amnesty.
Police Minister Tony Kelly says 796 firearms have been surrendered in the first month of the amnesty, with applications also taken out to register 5,000 weapons.
The surrendered guns include 606 rifles, 49 handguns, 141 shotguns and 11 replica firearms.
"The police now know where those guns are," Mr Kelly told reporters... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Mass Killer Was Aggrieved Gun Enthusiast, 'Coward' Say Police
5 April 2009
New York Times
BINGHAMTON, New York — The night before the killings, Son Quach spotted a former co-worker playing racquetball alone at a gym here called the Court Jester. It was the third time he had seen the man, Jiverly Wong, at the gym that week.
Mr. Wong told Mr. Quach, speaking in their native Vietnamese, that he had been laid off and was living on $200 a week in unemployment benefits. He spent so much time at the gym, Mr. Quach said, because he could not find a job.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
6 Mass Shootings, 47 Killed in Only 4 Weeks: Are Americans Just Numb?
5 April 2009
CBS News (USA)
In upstate New York, the people of Binghamton are still trying to figure out the rampage on Friday in which a gunman killed 13 people before turning his weapon on himself. As CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor reports, so are we all …
Jiverly Wong, a 41-year-old immigrant from Vietnam, often complained to friends and family about being criticized for his poor English skills.
In frustration, he dropped out of language classes at the American Civic Association in... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Makers, Lobbyists Plot to Exempt Montana from Federal Firearm Law
5 April 2009
Associated Press
HELENA — Montana-made guns may form the basis for a court showdown over states' rights if the governor signs a bill to release some firearms in the state from federal regulation.
The proposed law aims to exempt firearms, weapons components and ammunition made in Montana and kept in Montana from federal gun laws. Since the state has few gun laws of its own, the legislation would allow some gunowners and sellers in the state to skirt registration, licensing... (GunPolicy.org)
In Fear of Obama, US Man Hoards Guns, AK-47, Ambushes, Kills 3 Police
5 April 2009
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — A 911 call that brought two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house.
The Saturday argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed... (GunPolicy.org)
In Only a Month, US Mass Shootings Cost 53 Lives - AP Updates the Toll
5 April 2009
Associated Press
A string of shootings in the U.S. in the last month alone has claimed the lives of 53 people:
- MARCH 10, SAMSON, Ala. — A gunman kills 10 people and commits suicide in a rampage that spanned two dozen miles across the southern Alabama countryside. Police say Michael McLendon had struggled to keep a job and left behind lists of employers and co-workers he believed had wronged him.
- MARCH 22, OAKLAND, Calif. — A man pulled over in a routine traffic stop fatally... (GunPolicy.org)
Mother Kills Her 20-year-old Son, Turns Gun on Herself at US Gun Range
5 April 2009
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
CASSELBERRY — Without warning, an Altamonte Springs woman at a gun range turned her weapon on her 20-year-old son Sunday, killing him, then fatally shot herself in the head, police reported.
Marie Moore, 44, and her son, Mitchell, were at the Shoot Straight range on U.S. Highway 17-92 doing target practice, according to Casselberry police Lt. Dennis Stewart.
There was no sign of a problem, no argument, he said. Marie Moore simply pointed the weapon at her son and... (GunPolicy.org)
His Wife Left, So Washington Father Shot, Killed His 5 Children, Self
5 April 2009
News Tribune (Washington) / AP
Investigators believe a Graham-area man who killed his five children and then himself had just learned that his wife was planning to leave him. He might have been trying to kill her, too.
On Thursday night, James Harrison learned that his wife was leaving him.
By 8 a.m. Saturday morning, Harrison was dead, having taken his own life after killing his five children in their Graham-area home.
According to Pierce County sheriff's investigators and reports from friends... (GunPolicy.org)
'Last, Biggest' US Gun Show Pulls 35,000: Many Buying in Fear of Obama
5 April 2009
Fox News (USA)
TULSA, Oklahoma — An estimated 35,000 people came out to Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show to visit more than 4,000 gun booths.
Gun owners and exhibitors say there's a good reason why.
"Our president Obama is not a pro-gun person and neither is his cabinet," said Joe Wanenmacher, owner of the show. "I think a lot of people are worried about possible new gun laws."
That includes people like Mike Dawson, who traveled all the way from Mobile, AL for the gun show.
Like... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Sale Boom is Real: Fear Drives Hordes of Americans to Gun Shops
5 April 2009
Journal Gazette )Indiana)
There used to be a time when buying ammunition at Beber's Shot and Sinker in Auburn was no problem — there were rounds aplenty in stock.
There also was a time when the gun racks in the store on Ensley Avenue were stocked full with 100, maybe 125, firearms for sale.
Not anymore.
Now, co-owner Donald Beber said, the shop has about 25 or 30 guns for sale. People who used to walk in and trade or sell their firearms no longer come around for fear the government is about... (GunPolicy.org)
Croatia,United States,Afghanistan
US Buys Another 19,000 Croatian AK-47s Said Destined for Afghanistan
5 April 2009
Javno.com / Vecerni List (Zagreb)
ZAGREB — Croatia is selling 19,000 AK-47 assault rifles to the United States. The deal has been made, only the price has not been set yet, the Vecernji list daily reported.
It is estimated that the price of the weapons could be at least two billion euros, depending on the state of the rifle and the probably lower price due to good partnership relations between Croatia and the United States.
The American reasons for making this deal are two: the lower price and the... (GunPolicy.org)
