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Israel

Israeli Gunman Kills Four Then Self with Licensed Handgun

20 May 2013

Washington Post

JERUSALEM — A gunman stormed into a bank in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Monday, killing four people in a gunfight and taking a hostage before killing himself, police said. Police initially suspected a bungled bank robbery but later changed their assessment. They identified the gunman as a former military officer who fell on hard times financially. The 40-year-old man arrived at the bank to withdraw money and settle a debt, police said. He reportedly got... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Washington Post

37470

Israel

Israeli Police asks Public to Hand in Illegal Guns After Rise in Murder Rate

13 May 2013

Times of Israel

Following a recent surge in gun murders in Israel, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich has called on citizens to hand illegally held guns to police without facing criminal charges. The public will be able to turn the munitions at police stations throughout the country for a month, starting Wednesday. The law calls for a maximum penalty of seven years in jail for someone caught in possession of an unlicensed firearm. Police sources told Ma'ariv they expected... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Times of Israel

37438

Israel

Questions Over Gun Ownership Rates in Israel as Gun Crime, Theft Rises

26 April 2013

Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv)

A 36-year-old mother of four was killed Tuesday by a gunshot in the Galilee village of Rama. Preliminary evidence shows she was killed while her husband, a career soldier in the Israeli army, who possesses a registered weapon as part of his duties, was cleaning his weapon. The loaded firearm apparently discharged a bullet by accident, hitting the woman. This incident raises – yet again – the question of whether there is a need for all members of the Israeli armed... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv)

37395

Poland,Ukraine,Israel,Côte d'Ivoire,Bulgaria,Belarus,China,Angola,Russia

Guns Easily Available in Côte D'Ivoire Despite Embargo

16 April 2013

IRIN (UN News)

ABIDJAN - Côte d'Ivoire's recent turbulence - including the ouster of president Henri Konan Bédié in 1999, a long-running insurgency and deadly poll unrest in 2011 - has left the country awash in arms, which have contributed to human rights abuses, widespread crime and persistent insecurity. Two years after coming to power in 2000, Laurent Gbagbo's administration faced an army mutiny, which morphed into a full-scale rebellion. In response, the government underwent a... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: IRIN (UN News)

37347

Israel,Ireland

Irish Police Chief Rejects Reissue of Machine Guns After Cop Shooting

27 March 2013

BBC News

The Commissioner of the Irish police has rejected calls for detectives to be reissued with Uzi submachine guns. Martin Callinan said it "would not have made the slightest bit of difference" if a murdered detective had been armed with an Uzi. Detective Adrian Donohoe was shot during a robbery on 25 January 2013. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) passed a motion calling for the reissue of the Israeli-made weapons at its conference. The guns,... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: BBC News

37242

Africa,Americas,Asia,Europe,Oceania,United States,Russia,Italy,Germany,Brazil,Switzerland,Israel,Austria,South Korea,Belgium,Spain,Turkey,Norway,Canada,United Kingdom,Australia,France,Pakistan,Yemen,Honduras,El Salvador,Jamaica

Fact and Figures: Global Trade in Small Arms

18 March 2013

al Jazeera

Diplomats from around the world have gathered at the UN for talks on an international arms trade treaty, in an effort to stop the sale of illegal conventional arms. Similar talks held last July failed, mainly due to the objections of the US and Russia, the world's two largest arms exporters. Al Jazeera has compiled a list of facts related to the global production and trading of small arms. 1. Authorised international transfers of small arms, light weapons, their... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: al Jazeera

37196

United States,Israel

Reducing Gun Access Could Lower US Suicide Rate

13 February 2013

New York Times

DAYTON, Wyoming — Craig Reichert found his son's body on a winter morning, lying on the floor as if he were napping with his great-uncle's pistol under his knee. The 911 dispatcher told him to administer CPR, but Mr. Reichert, who has had emergency training, told her it was too late. His son, Kameron, 17, was already cold to the touch. Guns are like a grandmother's diamonds in the Reichert family, heirlooms that carry memory and tradition. They are used on the... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: New York Times

37066

United States,Israel

Israel Has Fewer Guns, Fewer Deaths Than US

11 February 2013

Forward, the Jewish Daily

WASHINGTON — Nine days after the Newtown, Conn. massacre in which 20 children died, Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, broke his group's long silence with a bristling attack against gun regulation that included a theme heard frequently among gun rights advocates. "Israel had a whole lot of school shootings until they did one thing," LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They said, 'We're going to stop it,' and they put... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Forward, the Jewish Daily

37050

Russia,Afghanistan,Israel,Belgium,United States

How Video Games Fund Arms Manufacturers and Sell Guns

31 January 2013

EuroGamer

The American confectionery company Victoria Sweets claims to have invented the candy cigarette. A thin stick of chocolate, wrapped in edible paper and designed to impersonate a roll-up, it debuted in 1915 and soon became the accessory of choice for children keen to play grown-up. Hollywood star, GI Joe, team captain: the sweet gave kids the chance try out one of the vogue props of adulthood. Within 20 years it was so popular that cigarette companies began to take... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: EuroGamer

37023

Russia,Ukraine,Kenya,East Africa,European Union,Israel,Libya,Yemen,Ethiopia,United States,Somalia

Special Investigation: Lack of Gun Treaty Fuels Kenyan Smuggling Trade

9 January 2013

Star (Kenya)

Whether looking after his herd of cattle or taking them to the watering point, Boru hardly leaves his AK47 behind. He lives in the outskirts of Gambella village, a few kilometres from Isiolo town. "It has become like a stick for me. I carry it around and my enemies fear me. It gives me more power than I had before I acquired it," Boru said. Taking cover from the scorching sun under the shade of an old acacia tree, Boru, a father of three, told the Star he bought his... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Star (Kenya)

36922

United States,Israel

Israeli Gun Laws Much Stricter Than US Pro-Gun Advocates Suggest

28 December 2012

Washington Post

The United States stands truly alone in the developed world for its lax gun laws, which have contributed to Americans owning guns at a far higher rate than anyone else. The National Rifle Association, in its pushback against calls for gun restrictions after the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, has portrayed things somewhat differently. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre has drawn comparisons to Israel, saying that the U.S. should follow Israel's example of loose gun laws and... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Washington Post

36871

Israel,United States,Palestine

Israel Evidence Shows Gun Restrictions Work, Disproves US Lobby Claims

25 December 2012

Washington Post / Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen, experts said Monday, rejecting claims by America's top gun lobby that Israel serves as proof for its philosophy that the U.S. needs more weapons, not fewer. Far from the image of a heavily armed population where ordinary people have their own arsenals to repel attackers, Israel allows its people to acquire... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Washington Post / Associated Press

36867

Switzerland,Israel,United States

Israel, Switzerland Have Stringent Gun Control, Fewer Guns Than US

19 December 2012

Foreign Policy (America)

Following the tragic shooting last week in Newtown, Conn., two stories leapt out at me. The first was the astonishing tale of a teacher, Victoria Soto, who hid her first-graders in closets and took a bullet rather than risking the children's lives by hiding with them. The second featured a photograph of an Israeli woman with a military-style long gun slung across her back, herding children protectively. The contrast between the powerful Israeli woman and the unarmed... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Foreign Policy (America)

36864

Israel

Security Guards Shoot Their Wives, so Israel Re-examines Gun Law

19 December 2012

YNet News (Tel Aviv)

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira is planning to conduct a special inquiry into Israel's gun control regulations following recent incidents involving security guards who murdered their wives – as well as the massacre of children in Newtown, Connecticut. The inquiry will focus on the Ministry of Public Security, which is responsible for the supervision of firearm licensing and security companies authorized to posses weapons and hand them over to their employees. The... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: YNet News (Tel Aviv)

36859

Israel

Israel Gun Control Regulations 'Opposite of US'

18 December 2012

Jerusalem Post (Israel)

There is no full-auto Friday or Ladies night at the "Lahav" gun store in TA, a store that bears little resemblance to its US counterparts. A gun lover's dream or a stringently controlled police state that would make a National Rifle Association supporter's blood boil? In recent days, following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 26 dead, including 20 children, Israel has been mentioned as a country awash in guns yet still free of such random massacres. Many... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Jerusalem Post (Israel)

36843

Israel,India,Czech Republic,Switzerland,United States,Italy

Indian Factory to Make 1 Million Rifles for Army Upgrade

16 December 2012

Sunday Standard / New Indian Express (Chennai)

NEW DELHI - The Indian Army has half a million rifles and carbines it doesn't want, and now plans to junk them all over the next five years. The dark lining is that these infantry weapons were developed and manufactured in India to equip four lakh soldiers at an expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore over two decades. So far, so bad. Now add another Rs 50,000 crore that will have to be spent over the next decade to re-equip our soldiers with the four kinds of weapons that are... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Sunday Standard / New Indian Express (Chennai)

36913

Egypt,Niger,Libya,Belgium,Mali,Palestine,Israel

Experts Suspect Belgian-Made Guns Trafficked from Libya to Gaza

19 November 2012

Foreign Policy

There's one big problem with small arms: They don't come with an expiration date. These reliable killing machines pass from dead soldiers to living insurgents, and from a country's armory to a militia's safe house thousands of miles away. As soon as weapons crates cross international borders, arms-producing countries lose control over where they head next - a fact on full display during recent conflicts across the Middle East, and now in the Gaza Strip. On Nov. 17,... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Foreign Policy

36756

United States,Israel

New York Man Shot and Killed By Israeli Chef Over Personal Dispute

5 October 2012

Guardian (UK)

A young American shot and killed a chef at a hotel in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat Friday, before forces from an anti-terror unit shot the gunman dead, police said. The incident appeared to be based on a personal dispute. The attacker was on a Jewish work and study program and was employed at the hotel until earlier this week. Eilat police official Eitan Gedassis told Israel Radio the attacker snatched a gun from a hotel security guard and fired a number of shots... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Guardian (UK)

36617

Israel,Taiwan,United States,Sweden,Germany,France,United Kingdom,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa

Talks Begin at UN on Global, Legally Binding Arms, Ammo Trade Treaty

4 July 2012

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — The world's nations began a final push Tuesday for the first legally binding global treaty that would regulate the international arms trade and try to prevent the transfer of weapons to armed groups and terrorists. The 193-member U.N. General Assembly is expected to approve the treaty, which has been in the works since 2006, when the U.S. voted against the resolution that launched the process. The Obama administration later reversed the George W.... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Associated Press

36301

Hong Kong,Italy,Germany,Israel,Austria,Bulgaria,Russia,India

Over 29,000 Russian AK-47s Imported by Indian Paramilitary Forces

20 May 2012

Times of India

NEW DELHI - AK-47s continue to be the preferred assault weapon for the country's paramilitary forces deployed to neutralise terrorists and Maoists at the frontiers and in the hinterland. Over 29,000 pieces of this Russian-origin rifle were imported by forces like CRPF, BSF and NSG over the last three years, leaving behind, by a large margin, other sophisticated assault weapons procured from the US and Israel. The inventory of the assault weapons procured for security... (GunPolicy.org)

Read More: Times of India

36147