Top of PageGun Policy News, 28 July 2009
Supreme Court Nominee Faces 'Cheap Shot' Protest from US Gun Lobby
28 July 2009
Washington Post, Editorial
For the first time in its 138-year history, the National Rifle Association is counting the votes on a Supreme Court nominee in its ratings of senators. That means senators — including members of the Judiciary Committee who are due to vote on Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday — will have to choose between voting for the first Hispanic nominee and getting high marks from the premier gun rights organization, which opposes her confirmation. Explains NRA Executive Vice... (GunPolicy.org)
Woman, Partner Stole 54 Handguns from Alberta Licensed Gun Dealer
28 July 2009
SE Calgary News (Alberta)
Southeast Calgary MP Jason Kenney says the provincial chief firearms officer needs the resources to conduct more inspections of stores selling restricted weapons in Calgary and he intends to take up the matter with his cabinet colleague Peter Van Loan, the federal minister responsible for the RCMP.
Mr. Kenney, the federal minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, was responding to an exclusive story by SE Calgary News about the lack of inspections of... (GunPolicy.org)
Most Guns Used to Commit Crimes in Canada Are Smuggled from US
28 July 2009
Canadian Press
A new study suggests most of the guns used to commit crimes in Canada have been smuggled in from the United States.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, found that the best available data suggests that about two-thirds of crime guns seized in Canada have their origin south of the border. It's a situation the Americans would be unlikely to accept if it were reversed, said one of the report's authors.
"The U.S. never... (GunPolicy.org)
16,000 Guns Crushed, Turned Into Steel Reinforcing in Los Angeles
28 July 2009
Los Angeles Times, Blog
Officials today will destroy 16,000 guns confiscated from criminals and collected from numerous gun buy-back programs across L.A. County.
Law enforcement agencies have attempted to get guns off the street by allowing people to turn them in for gift cards.
Back in March, an LAPD gun-buyback program that traded gift cards for firearms netted nearly 1,700 weapons, including 40 assault-style weapons and a rifle with a grenade launcher.
The grenade launcher AR-15 rifle,... (GunPolicy.org)
To Aid Crime Gun Tracing, Uganda Re-brands Government Firearms
28 July 2009
New Vision (Kampala)
All guns in the hands of security agencies will be marked in a bid to check the proliferation of illegal arms. The marks will include the logos of the country, the manufacturer and the emblem of the security agency to which the weapon belongs, Nickson Olwa, the operations and research officer of the national focal point (NFP) on small arms and light weapons, said.
"This will ease monitoring of the movement of arms. Even if they are trafficked to another country, they... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Dealer Charged with Selling 73 Handguns to Oz Criminals
28 July 2009
Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne)
A hero who rescued a child from a fatal blaze is facing gun possession charges.
Simon Tanti, who saved a toddler in a house fire which claimed the lives of her two brothers, will go to trial next year.
It was alleged in a Melbourne Magistrates' Court hearing that Mr Tanti — a former prison guard and licensed gun dealer — had sold 73 handguns on the black market.
He could be the first licensed gun dealer to face such charges.
Mr Tanti pleaded not guilty to four... (GunPolicy.org)
