Gun Policy News
Firearm smuggling, arms trafficking in North America
Russia,China,United States,United Kingdom,Congo (DRC),Myanmar,Iran
UK Minister Calls for International Support on Arms Trade Treaty
17 May 2012
Guardian (UK)
The international arms trade has become the greatest threat to development and has to be controlled by a tough treaty to regulate weapons and munitions sales, a government minister warns.
In a speech to the Institute for Strategic Studies thinktank, Alan Duncan, the minister for international development, will urge allies such as the US to set aside their concerns and sign up to the comprehensive arms trade treaty (ATT), which will be hammered out during a month-long... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
36143
Egypt,United States
Man Who Began Smuggling 1,000 Guns to Egypt Arrested in Florida
16 May 2012
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
Federal authorities arrested a man in Orlando this week who allegedly told an undercover agent that he wanted to smuggle up to 1,000 firearms to Egypt.
Gamel Saad was arrested following a sting Monday. According to a criminal complaint, Saad bought three handguns from an undercover agent, wrapped them in towels, and put them inside a shipment of car parts he was sending to Egypt.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
36130
Mexico,United States
Mexican Couple Admit to 27,000-round Ammo Cache in Texas
15 May 2012
Reuters
Two illegal immigrants pleaded guilty in Texas on Monday to possessing 27,000 rounds of assault rifle ammunition along the U.S.-Mexico border, where cross-border weapons smuggling has increased in recent years, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Police in Laredo, Texas, discovered the ammunition after they stopped a Dodge Ram pickup truck that failed to stop at a stop sign in March, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said in a statement.
Weapons traffickers along the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
36135
Colombia,United States,Mexico
Five-seven Semi-Automatic Pistol Arrives on Colombian Black Market
9 May 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
The Five-seven semi-automatic pistol, capable of piercing body armor, is already a favored weapon of the Mexican cartels. Now there are signs that this "cop killer" gun has found its way into the Colombian black market.
A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has described the Five-seven as "the weapon of choice" for Mexico's criminal organizations. The weapon first gained the attention of Mexico law enforcement after it was used... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
36114
United States
Gun Dealers Bypass US Feds, Sell Guns to Foreign Buyers at Airport
8 May 2012
Gun Reports (USA)
According to a recent open letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to Federal firearms licensees (FFLs), "It has recently come to the attention of [the agency] that some Federal firearms licensees (FFL) are arranging for the exportation of firearms and ammunition through an in-person disposition to foreign purchasers at the airline ticket counter of local international airports. Industry members are advised that this manner of disposing... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Gun Reports (USA)
36119
South America,Asia,Turkey,United Kingdom,Mexico,United States
Proposal to Relax Export Restrictions on Firearms in U.S. Unpopular
2 May 2012
Wall Street Journal
U.S. homeland-security and law-enforcement agencies have objected to
Obama administration proposals to relax export restrictions on
high-powered firearms, threatening a centerpiece of the president's
trade and national-security agenda.
The agencies, in internal memos viewed by The Wall Street Journal,
warn the changes could help arm drug cartels and terrorists and make
it harder for the U.S. to crack down on gun-trafficking.
The arms proposal is part of a broader... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
36097
United States,France,China,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Sweden
Pakistan a 'Very Gun-friendly Society,' 9 in 10 Owners Unlicensed
30 April 2012
Dawn (Karachi)
On January 25 this year, 32-year-old Waqas, a garment factory employee was hit by a bullet in New Karachi and he died. The bullet was not fired from the gun of a target killer, but by friends of a bridegroom amidst late-night wedding celebrations.
Two children aged 10 and 12, died in Sialkot in a similar incident on February 20, when the jubilant brother of a bridegroom unleashed a burst of bullets.
Such accidents, almost an every-day affair in Pakistan, never make it... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Dawn (Karachi)
36091
Mexico,United States
Feds Say 68,000 Guns Seized in Mexico Were Traced Back to US [Espanol]
26 April 2012
El Correo (Spain)
[Translated Summary: Washington says 68,000 guns recovered by Mexican authorities in the past five years have been traced back to the United States. An official report by the The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says that during this period, the Mexican authorities submitted more than 99,000 arms for tracing.]
WASHINGTON - El Gobierno de México ha recuperado más de 99.000 armas de fuego entre 2007 y 2011, de las cuales más de 68.000 procedían de... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: El Correo (Spain)
36081
Mexico,United States
Washington Says 68,000 Guns Seized in Mexico Were Traced Back to US
26 April 2012
Seattle Times / AP
WASHINGTON — The government said Thursday that 68,000 guns recovered by Mexican authorities in the past five years have been traced back to the United States.
The flood of tens of thousands of weapons underscores complaints from Mexico that the U.S. is responsible for arming the drug cartels plaguing its southern neighbor. Six years of violence between warring cartels have killed more than 47,000 people in Mexico.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Seattle Times / AP
36080
Mexico,United States
New Obama Gun Rule Sparks 123 Gun Trafficking Probes in Texas Alone
25 April 2012
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
Federal agents in South Texas have opened 123 criminal investigations as a result of a new requirement that border-state gun stores report customers who buy two or more large caliber rifles in the same week, especially those preferred by Mexican drug cartels.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Wednesday that it is not looking at everyone who makes multiple purchases, but those who draw suspicion for other reasons, such as repeatedly... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Houston Chronicle (Texas)
36074
United States,Australia
Fourfold Rise in Guns, Parts Smuggled to Australia, Most from USA
25 April 2012
Gympie Times (Queensland)
Firearm seizures at Australian borders have exploded four-fold over the past five years with most failed import attempts coming from the United States.
Australian Customs and Border Protection figures provided to APN Newsdesk show firearm, firearm parts, magazine or accessory detections in Australia increased from 225 in the 2006-07 financial year to 977 in the last financial year.
The biggest year for detections was in 2009-10 when Australian Customs discovered... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Gympie Times (Queensland)
36071
Canada
Temporary Injunction Preserves Canada Long-Gun Registry
20 April 2012
Montreal Gazette (Québec)
MONTREAL - The province's gun-control advocates were buoyed Friday by a strongly worded Quebec Superior Court judgment that recognized the recently abolished long-gun registry as an effective and economical crime prevention tool, laying the groundwork for a long legal battle with Ottawa.
The federal government reacted quickly and decisively, in what will no doubt lead to a Supreme Court show-down over the future of the divisive national registry. It said the ruling... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Montreal Gazette (Québec)
36060
United States,Mexico
Proposal to Allow the Right to Carry Hidden Handguns in Mexico [Espanol]
19 April 2012
Milenio (Mexico)
[Translated Summary: University Professor and lawyer Ernesto Villanueva suggests allowing the free carrying of firearms in Mexico, under administrative regulations and ensuring prior technical qualification of the carriers.]
El catedrático y jurista Ernesto Villanueva aseguró que con ello se erradicará el tráfico ilegal y los delitos; además mencionó "pareciera que hay dos cárteles, uno operado por el presidente Calderón y otro operado por las bandas... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Milenio (Mexico)
36064
United States,Mexico
Mexico Seizes 268,000 Rounds of Ammunition from US Truck at Border
18 April 2012
Washington Post / AP
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Mexican customs inspectors seized 268,000 rounds of assault rifle ammunition found in a U.S. truck at a border crossing in Ciudad Juarez, authorities reported Wednesday.
Angel Torres, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in northern Chihuahua state, said a 37-year-old man from Dallas, Texas, was detained for trying to drive the truck across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Torres said the driver, who is being held pending investigation on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
36044
United States,Mexico
90% of Guns Seized in Mexico Traced Back to US - ATF 2009 Report
16 April 2012
Latin American Herald Tribune (Venezuela)
MEXICO CITY – An exhibit of photographs and art at a Mexico City museum seeks to draw attention to the impact of arms smuggled into Mexico from the United States and gather signatures for a campaign demanding that Washington put an end to arms trafficking.
"Adios a las armas. Contrabando en las fronteras" (Goodbye Firearms. Contraband at the Borders), which opened on Nov. 30 at Mexico City's Museum of Memory and Tolerance, has been seen by about 30,000 visitors,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Latin American Herald Tribune (Venezuela)
36031
United States,Australia
Gun Owner Smuggled Assault Weapon Parts from US to Australia - Cops
14 April 2012
Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
Gun parts which could be assembled to make a military assault rifle similar to that used in the Port Arthur massacre have been removed from the streets of Sydney in the latest police raid and crackdown on illegal weapons.
The illegally imported parts, which slipped into the country through Australia Post, were uncovered on Thursday when detectives raided a property near Port Macquarie and another owned by the same man in Sydney's south.
Among the large cache of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
36026
United States,Canada
Canada Police Say Scrapping of Long-gun Registry 'Challenges' Tracing
12 April 2012
Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba) / Canadian Press
OTTAWA - As it prepares to destroy millions of long-gun records, the RCMP says the Conservative government's decision to scrap the registry will make it tougher to trace firearms used to commit crimes.
The process that will lead to deletion of rifle and shotgun records in the registry is under way — with the exception of Quebec files at the centre of a court action, said Cpl. Laurence Trottier, an RCMP spokeswoman.
"It is a complex IT project involving the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba) / Canadian Press
36016
Ethiopia,South Africa,Burkina Faso,Sierra Leone,West Africa,Ukraine,Côte d'Ivoire,Eastern Europe,Russia,Central African Republic,Iraq,Afghanistan,United States,Colombia,Angola,Liberia,North Africa,West Asia,Africa
Shadowy 'Merchants of Death' Behind Africa's Illegal Gun-Running
11 April 2012
Think Africa Press (London)
Arms dealer Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years by a US federal court last week.
Widely known as the 'merchant of death', the 45-year-old Russian has delivered weapons and arms to a wide range of presidents, insurgents and rebels in Africa and the Middle East including the likes of Charles Taylor in Liberia and Jonas Savimbi in Angola. He was caught in a US sting in which his services were solicited for the supply of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels.
His companies... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Think Africa Press (London)
36019
Mexico,United States
What a Nerve: Mexican President Suggests a US Role in Gun Running
10 April 2012
The Hill (Washington DC)
The nerve of President Calderon of Mexico. How dare he come to the United States and utter two words Americans are no longer allowed to speak? I heard them myself in the Rose Garden last week: gun control.
Calderon's comments came in response to a reporter's question about the ongoing drug wars in Mexico, in which 11,000 people were killed in 2010 alone. What are you doing about the guns?
He began by noting that the level of gun violence in Mexico began to escalate in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: The Hill (Washington DC)
36009
West Asia,North Africa,South America,Africa,United States,Russia
Russian Arms Dealer Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison by US Judge
5 April 2012
New York Times / Reuters
NEW YORK - Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer caught in an undercover sting by U.S. agents posing as Colombian guerrillas seeking weapons, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday by a U.S. judge in New York.
Bout, who was the subject of a book titled "Merchant of Death," asserted his innocence during the sentencing, telling the judge through a Russian interpreter, "I never intended to kill anyone. I never intended to sell arms to anyone. God knows this... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times / Reuters
36000
United States,Mexico
Art and Photo Show Focuses on Trade in Firearms, Deadly Effects in Mexico
5 April 2012
Huffington Post (USA) / AP
MEXICO CITY — An art and photo show focusing on the trade in firearms and their deadly effects in Mexico may soon be going to the United States, the same place where many of the weapons come from.
The show, "A Farewell to Arms. Contraband on the Border," uses photos and artwork to illustrate how the illegal weapons trade has affected Mexico, where more than 47,000 people have died in drug-related violence since late 2006.
The non-governmental groups Global Exchange... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Huffington Post (USA) / AP
35991
Mexico,United States
Man Pleads Guilty in Botched 'Fast and Furious' US Gun-running Sting
5 April 2012
Reuters
PHOENIX - A man pleaded guilty on Thursday to two felony counts of purchasing and running high-powered rifles to Mexico from Arizona under the botched "Fast and Furious" federal sting operation tied to the murder of a U.S. federal agent.
Jaime Avila Jr. was among a ring of 20 defendants charged with buying high-powered firearms including Kalashnikov type assault rifles and Barrett sniper rifles to run to the Mexican cartels.
The purchases were made in the Phoenix area... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35988
Europe,Asia,South East Asia,China,United States
Gun Runners 'Using Internet and Express Delivery' in China – Police
5 April 2012
China Daily
Police success at border checkpoints forces arms traffickers to change
Gun smugglers are using the Internet and express delivery networks for trafficking arms into China, a police officer said.
Police broke up 69 gun-smuggling rings nationally last year, and smashed 20 gangs, Yan Zhengbin, deputy director at the public security management bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, told China Daily.
Nineteen cases involved fully assembled guns, while the remainder... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: China Daily
35982
United States,Mexico,Central America,Honduras,Guatemala,El Salvador
El Salvador Soldiers Accused of Selling Guns to Guatemala, Honduras Gangs
2 April 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Prosecutors in El Salvador ordered the arrest of eight soldiers and one civilian linked to an arms trafficking network that may have supplied thousands of weapons to drug gangs in Guatemala and Honduras.
On March 30, the office of El Salvador's Attorney General (FGR) ordered the arrest of the nine suspects, alleging that they had participated in a scheme which involved siphoning off weapons that were slated to be destroyed, and selling them to drug trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35984
United States,Canada
Year's Jail, Life Ban for Vet Caught Smuggling Gun Parts US-Canada
29 March 2012
880 CKLQ AM (Manitoba)
A 47 year old former member of the military has been sentenced to one year in jail for smuggling a submachine gun part into Canada from the United States.
He did so by hiding it in a bag of empty beer cans when crossing the border on November 5th, 2011.
Cameron Eugene Bell says he was going to just display the parts of the gun as art.
Along with one year in jail he was sentenced to a 15 year firearms ban and lifetime restricted weapons... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: 880 CKLQ AM (Manitoba)
35967
Mexico,United States
Feds Caught Top Man in US-Mexico Drug Cartel Gun Running, Let Him Go
19 March 2012
Los Angeles Times
Federal agents stopped the main target of the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious in May 2010. After they questioned him, he disappeared back into Mexico, and the program went on to spiral out of control.
WASHINGTON — Seven months after federal agents began the ill-fated Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation, they stumbled upon their main suspect in a remote Arizona outpost on the Mexican border, driving an old BMW with 74 rounds of ammunition and nine cellphones... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
35927
United States,Mexico
Mexico, Awash in Illegal Firearms, Has Just One Legal Gun Store
19 March 2012
Kansas City Star (Missouri)
MEXICO CITY — Mexico has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. If any of the nation's 112 million citizens want to buy firearms, there's only one store where they can do it legally. It's on a sprawling military base and run by the army.
That, however, hasn't stopped Mexicans from acquiring firearms. The country is awash in illegal guns, many of them assault weapons in the hands of merciless criminal gangs. President Felipe Calderon says authorities have... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Kansas City Star (Missouri)
35926
Mexico,United States
Legal US Gun Sales Arm Drug Cartels - Mexican Soldiers Take Weapons
15 March 2012
Reuters
Recent focus on the relationship between U.S. guns and Mexican cartels has been limited to the ATF's "Fast and the Furious." That plan had agents selling assault rifles to Mexican gun runners so that they could track high-ranking cartel members.
Though the ATF's actions are a bit questionable, there's actually a completely legal -- and perhaps more harmful -- way the U.S. is arming Mexican cartels. It's called "direct commercial sales" and it's operated by the State... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35922
United States,Germany,Europe,Australia
In Wake of Glock Seizure, Australian Minister Defends Gun Control Efforts
15 March 2012
ABC News (Australia), Transcript
TONY EASTLEY: According to Tony Abbott Sydneysiders this morning not only face peak hour traffic but a reign of terror on the streets because of the illegal importation of hundreds of handguns from Europe and he puts it down to the Federal Government's lack of border control. The Opposition Leader says it can all be sheeted home to the Government.
On Tuesday police and other Federal and state authorities arrested alleged members of a gun smuggling syndicate who'd... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: ABC News (Australia)
35910
Pakistan,Iran,Egypt,Russia,United States,Somalia,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
A 'Bulletproof' Arms Trade Treaty Could Slow the Global Flow of Guns
8 March 2012
MediaGlobal News (New York)
Every day, according to Amnesty International, thousands of people are killed, injured, raped, and forced to flee from their homes as a result of armed conflict, armed violence, and human rights violations and abuses perpetrated using conventional arms.
As violence continues unchecked around the world, a coalition of humanitarian and health organizations is rallying support for a "bulletproof" global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), to be discussed in July, that would stymie... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: MediaGlobal News (New York)
35894
Timor-Leste,Thailand,Sri Lanka,Myanmar,Indonesia,South Asia,South East Asia,Israel,Iran,Cuba,United States,Japan,China,Brunei,Philippines,Pakistan,India,Asia
UN Urges Asian Nations to Help Curb Global Trade in Illegal Guns
6 March 2012
Jakarta Post
The United Nations is urging all nations in the Asia region to implement concrete solutions to stop illegal trading in small arms and light weapons.
"Over the past decades, trade has made this region grow so phenomenally. If you are a region where international trade is what makes you tick, you better also make sure that you are seen as doing trade in the right way," UN disarmament affairs official Daniel Prins told reporters on the sidelines of opening the Asian... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Jakarta Post
35886
Ecuador,Paraguay,United States
Ecuadoran Smuggled 46 Boxes of Gun Parts, Minneapolis to Paraguay
5 March 2012
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
An Ecuadoran man who helped smuggle 46 boxes of gun parts from Minneapolis to Paraguay was sentenced Monday in St. Paul to two years in federal prison and faces almost certain deportation upon his release.
Fabian Lojano-Lojano, speaking through an interpreter, apologized for his actions and told U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle that he didn't know what he was doing when he shipped AK-47 gun parts to Paraguay without obtaining a proper license.
"I made the mistake and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
35884
Eastern Europe,Russia,United States,Belgium
Important Arms Cache Revealed by Belgium Police [Francais]
29 February 2012
RTL (Belgium)
[Translated summary: Explosives and weapons of war, including kalashnikovs, were seized by Belgium Police. This arms cache was Brussels' organised crime private supermarket.]
Kalachnikovs, grenades et dynamite, c'est l'étonnante découverte qu'a faite, mardi, la police d'Anderlecht dans un hangar, révèle une information de Sudpresse.
Selon le parquet de Bruxelles, ces explosifs et armes de guerre pourraient être revendus et destinés à des attaques à main... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: RTL (Belgium)
35873
Philippines,Trinidad & Tobago,Zimbabwe,Zambia,Uganda,Tanzania,Senegal,Congo (DRC),Pakistan,Nigeria,Niger,Namibia,Morocco,Mauritania,Malawi,Madagascar,Côte d'Ivoire,Burkina Faso,Botswana,Egypt,Angola,Algeria,South Africa,Ghana,China,United States,Austria,Russia,Israel,Bahrain,Asia,Africa,Brazil
Brazil Arms Exports: Country Preaches Peace, Sells Tons of Arms
28 February 2012
Huffington Post (USA)
A small, scratched metal can thrown on the ground created Brazil's first diplomatic embarrassment of 2012. The canister of tear gas had been collected by pro-democracy activists in Bahrain. Stamped across the can in blue was a Brazilian flag and the words 'MADE IN BRAZIL.'
One year had passed since Bahrain became the stage for pro-democracy protests by the majority Shiites against the Sunni monarchy commanded by king Hamad bin-Isa Khalifa. The protesters had been... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Huffington Post (USA)
35870
United States
3 Former New York City Police Officers Plead Guilty in Gun-smuggling Case
27 February 2012
New York Times
Three former New York City police officers pleaded guilty on Monday to taking part in a scheme to illegally transport firearms across state lines, the authorities said.
"As they admitted today, these police officers moonlighted as criminals, and even planned to use their badges to cover their illegal activity," the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, said in a statement.
Gary Ortiz, 28, who was an active-duty officer in the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35867
United States,Canada
Canada Border Guards Seize 75 Guns Hidden in Truck, Charge American
22 February 2012
Globe & Mail (Toronto) / CP
COUTTS, Alta. — Border officials in Alberta have seized a cache of guns hidden inside a vehicle trying to get into Canada.
Officers found 75 firearms, including 48 handguns, stowed inside a pickup truck at the Coutts crossing on Tuesday.
Officials say it is the largest handgun seizure in the port's history.
The driver of the truck told officers he was travelling to Alaska and was not carrying any firearms.
RCMP arrested 54-year-old George Foster of Florida.
He... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Globe & Mail (Toronto) / CP
35861
Italy,Philippines,United States,Russia,Germany,Czech Republic,China,Botswana,Oceania,Americas,Africa,Asia,Europe,Central Africa,Caribbean,South America,Central America,Zimbabwe,Namibia,Mozambique,Congo (DRC),Angola,Swaziland,South Africa,Southern Africa
High Gun Death Risk for Young African Men, Women at Home - UN Study
19 February 2012
Southern Times (Southern Africa)
WINDHOEK - Young men in Southern Africa are at the greatest risk of cold-blooded murder, while women in the region are more likely than others from around the world to be killed in domestic violence, a UN agency says.
The statistics from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) come as the region battles to contain the proliferation of gun-related crimes.
Experts have said gun-related crime is a major problem in South Africa and Swaziland, and is on the rise in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Southern Times (Southern Africa)
35844
Egypt,Mexico,Iran,United States,Syria,Russia,China,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
Collapse of UN Arms Trade Treaty Talks Narrowly Averted - Reuters
17 February 2012
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS - Negotiators on Friday narrowly averted the collapse of talks on a world arms trade treaty to regulate the $55 billion global weapons market, agreeing on ground rules for negotiations after days of procedural wrangling.
Delegates and advocates for tougher oversight of global arms sales said the agreement set the stage for a monthlong conference in July to draft the treaty.
Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies as a result of armed... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35841
Mexico,United States
Mexican President Unveils 'No More Weapons!' Billboard on US Border
17 February 2012
Washington Post / AP
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — President Felipe Calderon on Thursday unveiled a "No More Weapons!" billboard made with crushed firearms and placed near the U.S. border. He urged the United States to stop the flow of weapons into Mexico.
The billboard, which is in English and weighs 3 tons, was placed near an international bridge in Ciudad Juarez and can be seen from the United States.
Calderon said the billboard's letters were made with weapons seized by local, state and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
35835
United States,Pakistan
US Consular Employee Arrested with 17 Pistols at Pakistan Airport
14 February 2012
AAJ News (Pakistan)
US national William Charles was arrested at the Peshawar airport on Tuesday morning. The police found 17 9mm pistols and numerous 9mm bullets in his possession, AajNews reported.
Sources revealed, that the US national was traveling on flight PK218 which was heading to Islamabad from Peshawar when he was detained by the ASF personnel.
William Charles is employed by the American consulate in Peshawar.
According to a local news channel, the Airport Security Force... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: AAJ News (Pakistan)
35829
Mexico,United States
Texas: Desperate Housewives Buy Assault Rifles for Mexico's Drug Cartels
8 February 2012
Reuters
SAN ANTONIO - Nine Texas men and women have been sentenced to prison for purchasing firearms for Mexico's Los Zetas drug cartel, and a dozen others face charges linked to a Department of Justice probe into weapons trafficking, officials said on Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman said that in many cases, the purchasers were paid a couple of hundred dollars to buy a weapon and hand it to a smuggler.
"Firearms smugglers employ individuals in the United States with no... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35811
Haiti,Caribbean,United States,Jamaica
Jamaica Destroys Thousands of Guns to Combat Trafficking and Crime
7 February 2012
Chicago Tribune / AP
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Roughly 2,000 firearms were melted down in a blazing furnace Tuesday as part of an effort designed to combat gun trafficking and corruption in Jamaica while reducing violent crime.
Police, government and U.N. officials destroyed pistols and revolvers by pitching them into a kiln glowing bright orange at a cement factory in the capital of Kingston. Most of the guns were decommissioned or seized in police operations over the years.
National... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Chicago Tribune / AP
35806
Mexico,United States
How America's Lax Gun Laws Enable Drug Cartel Killings in Mexico
5 February 2012
Washington Post, Editorial
Do America's failed gun policies contribute to the terrible violence in Mexico? Alejandro A. Poire Romero makes a compelling case that the answer is yes.
Law enforcement officials in both countries acknowledge that 70 to 80 percent of the traceable guns seized in Mexico can be tracked to the United States. Mr. Poire Romero, a top Mexican national security and criminal justice official, offers additional evidence that the United States has been an enabler of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
35803
United States
Super Bowl TV Ad Makes New York Mayor Bloomberg US Gun Control King
4 February 2012
Christian Science Monitor
The gun control movement has faltered in recent years. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to spend his own fortune to buck that trend, most notably with a Super Bowl ad.
ATLANTA - With little political capital to lose and millions of his own cash to spend, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is determined to check the role of guns in American society.
A 30-second Super Bowl ad featuring Mr. Bloomberg on a couch with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will go a long way... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
35804
Jamaica,United States,Caribbean
Jamaica Calls on US for Concrete Support in Fight Against Illegal Gun Trafficking
4 February 2012
South Florida Caribbean News
WASHINGTON, DC - Jamaica's Ambassador to the United States Her Excellency Audrey Marks has called on the United States government to work with the Caribbean to fulfil the 2007 pledge made by the USA and CARICOM Member States to enhance co-operation in eradicating the illegal gun trade in the Region.
Ambassador Marks told a hearing on US-Caribbean Security Cooperation that was held by the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control on Wednesday, that... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: South Florida Caribbean News
35800
Mexico,United States
New York, Boston Mayors Lead Influential American Gun Control Group
4 February 2012
Reuters
NEW YORK - Among the slick, million-dollar ads for the likes of Pepsi and Honda during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in Washington will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control.
The two mayors, whose local teams face off in the big game, are making the pitch for Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), the organization they... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35799
United States,Mexico
Mexico Gangs Prefer Guns from the 80s-90s as They Are Harder to Trace
31 January 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
According to Mexico's Defense Department, criminal organizations are equipping themselves with firearms that are between 20 and 30 years old. The government says this casts doubt on the claim that the gangs are better armed than the security forces.
The Mexican Army seized over 130,000 firearms since 2006, the majority of which were fabricated in the 1980s and 1990s, Excelsior reports. These include makeshift weapons that were modified or repaired using old parts from... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35789
China,United States,Ghana,Nigeria
Nigerian Civilians Hold 2 Million Guns, Security Forces 600,000
30 January 2012
Nation (Nigeria)
Members of the dreaded insurgent group, Boko Haram, armed robbers and hired assassins have done great havoc with guns acquired illegally. Where are they coming from? OLUKAYODE THOMAS and JOKE KUJENYA examine the sources of illegal arms into the country.
The ruins are still visible on the police zonal headquatres in Kano. The offices of the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) testify to the Boko Haram bombing and armed assaults of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Nation (Nigeria)
35782
United States,Australia
Assembling Illegal Guns with Imported Pieces, Growing Trend within Sydney's Underworld
29 January 2012
Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
Criminals are assembling illegal weapons in backyard firearm factories after importing them piece-by-piece over the internet.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the parts are being sourced from legitimate gun dealers in the US and pieced together in NSW after arriving in the mail undetected.
Detective Superintendent Ken Finch, commander of the Firearms and Organised Crime Squad (FAOCS), said a number of unrelated individuals had already been arrested and charged over the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
35785
United States,Mexico
US Suggested Mexico Allow Illegal Guns to Cross Border to Cartels
28 January 2012
Washington Post / AP
WASHINGTON — Newly released Justice Department emails sent to Capitol Hill for a congressional inquiry into a gun-smuggling operation indicate that the head of the department's criminal division suggested letting some illicit "straw" weapons buyers in the U.S. transport their guns across the border into Mexico where they could be arrested.
According to the emails turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday night, the Justice official,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
35780
United States,Mexico
Normally Law-Abiding Mexicans Take Up Illegal Guns for Protection
28 January 2012
National Public Radio (USA)
In Mexico, where criminals are armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States, it may come as a surprise that the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.
Law-abiding Mexicans who want a gun to defend themselves have no good options. Either they fight government red tape to get a legal permit, or they buy one on the black market.
After an outbreak of violence, one embattled community in northern Mexico called... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Public Radio (USA)
35773
Madagascar,Guinea,Ghana,Botswana,Angola,Algeria,South Africa,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,Russia,Austria,Israel,Germany,Italy,United States,Yemen,Philippines,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Tunisia,Brazil,Burkina Faso,Egypt,Côte d'Ivoire,Malawi,Mauritania,Morocco,Namibia,Niger,Nigeria,Congo (ROC),Senegal,Tanzania,Uganda,Zambia,Zimbabwe,Argentina,Ecuador,Chile,Honduras,Guatemala,United Arab Emirates,Trinidad & Tobago,Jordan,Dominican Republic,Singapore,Kazakhstan,Liberia,Saudi Arabia,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Congo (DRC),Guyana,Mauritius,Latvia,Oman,Nepal,Somalia,Bolivia,Colombia,Venezuela,Peru,Mexico,Qatar,Kuwait,Indonesia,Malaysia,Thailand
Brazilian Gun Industry Seeks New Markets: Africa and Asia [Portugues]
27 January 2012
Publica (Brazil)
[Translated summary: With the support of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Brazilian gun manufacturers seek new markets in countries with a history of human rights violations: Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen. Brazil is among the six countries in the world with annual exports exceeding $ 100 million, according to recent research from Small Arms Survey. According to the Army, responsible for supervising and controlling exports from 2005 to... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Publica (Brazil)
35794
Mexico,United States
In Wake of Botched Gun Trafficking Probe, US Reveals New Sting Rules
27 January 2012
Chicago Tribune / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Friday revealed new reforms undertaken to improve how it conducts undercover gun trafficking investigations in the wake of a botched operation in which scores of weapons disappeared.
The reforms require additional oversight of undercover operations, including those that involve more than 50 firearms, and, in most cases, ends the practice of paying gun dealers to serve as confidential informants.
Additionally, a new review... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Chicago Tribune / Reuters
35775
Mexico,United States
US Gun Dealers on Mexico Border Must Report Multiple Sales
18 January 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
A ruling by a US judge on tracking the sale of high-powered firearms in states on the southern border is a step forward for authorities trying to legislate against the flow of guns into Mexico.
Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer upheld an order made last year by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF asked more than 8,000 gun dealers in Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico to report sales of multiple semi-automatic rifles to one... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35743
United Kingdom,United States
Former Marine Gets 10yrs for Smuggling US Guns to English Crime Gangs
10 January 2012
News & Observer (North Carolina)
GREENVILLE -- A former U.S. Marine has been sentenced to 10 years in prison today for illegally trafficking dozens of handguns to the United Kingdom.
Steven Neal Greenoe, 37, a former Raleigh resident, pleaded guilty in federal court to the charges, which allege that the joint U.S. and U.K. citizen took nine trips from North Carolina – where he grew up – purchased handguns, and concealed a total of 63 pistols in his luggage before returning to England, where he... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: News & Observer (North Carolina)
35722
United States
Ending the Flood of Illegal Guns in America - Wall Street Journal Opinion
23 December 2011
Wall Street Journal, Opinion
Historians have long debated who was the first person to call the U.S. Senate the "world's greatest deliberative body." Soon we may ask who was the last person to believe it. Our dysfunctional Congress has repeatedly failed to perform its duties under the Constitution to pass a budget, to advise and consent on presidential nominations, and, perhaps most tragically, to curb illegal handgun violence.
In New York, we've recently seen only too dramatically the consequences... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
35688
United States
Illegal Gun Sales Run Rampant on US Internet, Arm 'Craigslist Killers'
14 December 2011
Huffington Post (USA)
A New York City undercover investigation heralded as the first of its kind has found a "vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns" on the Internet, and the worst offender is a website that has gotten mixed up with the law before: Craigslist.
In the report released Wednesday, entitled, "Point, Click, Fire: An Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales," investigators found that sellers on Craigslist agreed 82 percent of the time to sell guns to a purchaser who... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Huffington Post (USA)
35672
Cayman Islands,United States
US Federal Police Investigate Florida-Cayman Islands Gun Smuggling Ring
12 December 2011
CayCompass.com (Cayman Islands)
United States federal law enforcement authorities are investigating a firearms smuggling operation between south Florida and Grand Cayman that's been ongoing since at least 2008, according to US District Court records obtained by the Caymanian Compass.
The investigation, a branch of which led to the 2009 arrest, conviction and incarceration of four local men in US federal prison, caught up with a fifth suspect, Mikkyle Brandon Leslie – known in Cayman as Brandon... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CayCompass.com (Cayman Islands)
35651
Jamaica,Honduras,Israel,Canada,Norway,Australia,Colombia,El Salvador,United States,Venezuela,Pakistan,Mexico
Armed Societies, Another Tragedy for Women: Mexico, Pakistan, Venezuela
9 December 2011
Inter Press Service News Agency
CARACAS - Kairobis Arcia, 25, died from a bullet to her head shot by her husband, Oswaldo Mendoza, 32, who said he was blinded by jealousy in an argument fuelled by alcohol and drugs.
Her murder was just one of the more than 468,000 homicides a year that occur worldwide, 42 percent of which are committed with firearms. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global murder rate is 6.9 per 100,000 people – 11.9 per 100,000 among men and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Inter Press Service News Agency
35654
Guatemala,Mexico,United States
Texas Gun Shop Sold 'Infantry Squad' Weapons to Mexican Cartel Smugglers
8 December 2011
Guardian (UK)
It was nothing more than a routine inspection for federal agents. But as they browsed the records of Carter's Country gun shop in Houston, investigators picked up on a series of big sales. For cash.
Federal agents were alerted not only by the number of guns involved – sometimes a dozen at a time – but the type. Time and again buyers walked out of Carter's Country clutching assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols with armour-piercing bullets and powerful sniper... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35645
United States
Gun Control Off the Table as US Congress Feels Heat from Influential NRA
8 December 2011
Guardian (UK)
Mexico's drug cartels have for years armed themselves courtesy of America's love for guns.
Many Americans, wedded to their right to own guns under the second amendment of the US constitution, are viscerally opposed to stronger laws to curb weapons trafficking, out of fear that it may prove to be the thin end of a wedge that they say will result in the government confiscating all firearms.
Some are wedded to their guns out of fear of crime. Others see them as a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35644
Mexico,United States
US Quietly Approves Massive Escalation in Number of Guns Sold to Mexico
6 December 2011
CBS News (USA)
Selling weapons to Mexico - where cartel violence is out of control - is controversial because so many guns fall into the wrong hands due to incompetence and corruption. The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."
Yet the U.S. has approved the sale of more guns to Mexico in recent years than ever before through a program called "direct commercial sales." It's a program that some say is worse than the highly-criticized "Fast and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CBS News (USA)
35637
Thailand,Colombia,Russia,United States,Uganda,Rwanda,South Africa,United Arab Emirates,Belgium,Sudan,Somalia,Côte d'Ivoire,Liberia,Angola,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,Congo (DRC)
Stopping the Trade in Death, Gun Trafficking, Smuggling - Opinion
6 December 2011
New York Times, Opinion
On a dark November morning in 2004, I woke up in my bungalow overlooking Lake Kivu, tense with anticipation. Our small United Nations team was about to undertake a surprise inspection of three airfields in eastern Congo, notorious for smuggling operations.
With the backing of U.N. peacekeeping forces and a U.N. Security Council mandate, we searched almost every incoming and outgoing aircraft that day. By evening, we had the evidence to link several aviation front... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35632
United States
Gun Nuts Need Fear, Conspiracies, Obama to Hate, Flourish, Raise Money
1 December 2011
New York Times, Opinion
PHOENIX — When it became clear in the early fall of 2008 that Barack Obama, son of a Kansan and a Kenyan, would be the 44th President of the United States, many citizens rushed to their gun shops, stocked up on ammo and camo, and tried to fortify their nests with all manner of lethal weapons.
Though he had said nothing about gun control in the campaign, Obama, to a certain kind of person, appeared to be a grave threat to the Second Amendment. He was urban —... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35609
Venezuela,Peru,Ecuador,Chile,Bolivia,Paraguay,Brazil,Argentina,Mexico,Colombia,Uruguay,United States,North America,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Latin American Governments Target Gun Runners, Countries Making Guns
28 November 2011
United Press International
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Latin America's increasingly ambitious Mercosur regional bloc is aiming to focus on small arms suppliers who are seen as being behind the region's endemic and seemingly insurmountable problem of violent crime.
The area's disparate armed groups, guerrillas with political agenda and drug-related gangs have drawn attention from Mercosur's watchdog committees as senior officials explore ways of containing organized crime, rooting out myriad networks... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: United Press International
35594
Central America,United States,Mexico,Guatemala
Guatemala and the Black Market for US Weapons
25 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
The trafficking of weapons over the U.S.-Mexico border is well-documented -- lesser known but also significant is the sale of U.S. weapons to Guatemalan government contractors, which are then siphoned off to criminal groups.
The Mexican government has focused much of its efforts to stop arms trafficking on the smuggling of weapons over the U.S. border. This strategy ignores other sources of weapons, and other entry points. Central America, for example, represents a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35588
Guatemala,United States,Mexico,Costa Rica,South America,Caribbean,Central America
Gun Trade Drives Soaring Latin American Homicide Rates, say Experts
24 November 2011
AFP
SAN JOSE — Illegal weapons trafficking has turned Latin America into a region of bloodletting in which over 40 percent of the world's homicides take place, experts warned Wednesday.
"Forty-two percent of homicides with a firearm that happen worldwide take place in Latin America, though only 10 percent of the world's population lives here," said Nobel laureate and former president Oscar Arias, citing UN data, at a conference of experts.
Although weapons such as... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: AFP
35583
Mexico,United States
Texas Border Town a Hotspot for US-Mexico Ammunition Smugglers
22 November 2011
KVUE.com (Texas)
EAGLE PASS, Texas – The small border town Eagle Pass has become a big corridor for ammunition smugglers who supply violent drug cartels.
In November, there was a large spike in smuggling activity.
"Just this month alone there have been three separate seizures totaling 700 magazines for AK-47 rifles," said Randy Clark, Patrol Agent in Charge for the U.S. Border Patrol station in Eagle Pass.
On Nov. 3, Border Patrol agents seized three black duffle bags near the Rio... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: KVUE.com (Texas)
35573
South America,Guatemala,El Salvador,Central America,United States,Mexico
Black Market Gun Runners Develop New Central American Routes - Report
21 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Because the recent spike in drug-related violence in Mexico has coincided with the 2004 expiration of the U.S. assault weapons ban, and because a significant portion of the weapons used in Mexican crimes have been traced to U.S. vendors, Mexican officials often accuse liberal U.S. gun laws of being a major obstacle to a safer Mexico. Indeed, President Felipe Calderon made precisely this point during a speech to U.S. Congress in 2010.
U.S. officials have not denied that... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35568
United States,South America,Central America,Caribbean,Trinidad & Tobago
US Gives Marking Machine to Trinidad Police, 300 Guns Marked per Month
17 November 2011
Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
The Police Service will use a new firearms laser marking machine to mark an average of 300 firearms per month over the course of next year.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar made this statement at a brief ceremony to receive one of those machines at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain yesterday. The machine was donated to the police by the United States (US) government through the Organisation of American States.
Persad-Bissessar said on July 27, Government entered... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
35552
Germany,China,United States,India
Increasing Availability and Seizures of Illicit Guns in Pune, India
17 November 2011
Express India
PUNE - Failure in identifying and cracking down on criminals involved in manufacturing and selling of illegal firearms is the major reason behind unchecked illegal trade of firearms in the city, police said. And investigation of some of the cases revealed that the quality of illegal firearms has improved, availability has increased while cost has gone down, police said.
According to the figures obtained by The Indian Express under the Right to Information Act (RTI)... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Express India
35548
Guatemala,United States,Mexico,Central America
Arms Trafficking, Business of Death: Guns in Central America [Espanol]
16 November 2011
Contralinea (Mexico)
[Translated Summary: Contralinea magazine details the routes by which guns are trafficked into Mexico, including the flow of arms from the US directly to Guatemala, and then over Mexico's southern border. English translation at: http://bit.ly/uBnEGu]
En la última década, México pasó del lugar vigesimosegundo al quinto en tráfico de armas en el ámbito mundial. Se calcula que cada día ingresan al país unas 2 mil para abastecer a los cárteles de la droga, la... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Contralinea (Mexico)
35574
North Africa,China,Ukraine,Chad,Mali,Niger,France,Europe,United States,Libya
Hundreds of Thousands of Libyan Assault Rifles Looking for New Owners?
15 November 2011
Time (USA)
More than three weeks after Libya's rebels killed Muammar Gaddafi, arms experts say the task of finding and securing the mountain of weaponry abandoned by Gaddafi's forces in their final rout has been complicated by a lack of international funding and coordination, as well as conflicting priorities among Western and African governments about which weapons pose the biggest threat.
While U.S. and European officials have sounded the alarm about the threat posted to... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Time (USA)
35547
Canada
Dumping Canada's Gun Registry Risks More Gun Running - Federal Memo
15 November 2011
CTV News (Toronto) / Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Scrapping the requirement to register rifles and shotguns could fuel illegal firearms trafficking across the Canadian border, warns an internal federal memo.
It says the move would weaken import controls by eliminating a requirement for border officials to verify firearms coming into the country.
"Such a loophole could facilitate unregistered prohibited and restricted firearm trafficking into and through Canada," says the declassified memo, originally... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CTV News (Toronto) / Canadian Press
35543
Algeria,France,Mauritania,Mali,Israel,Egypt,United States,West Africa,Niger,North Africa,Libya
Smuggled Libyan Arms Threaten to Destabilise Swath of African Continent
12 November 2011
Wall Street Journal
Weapons smuggled from Libya after the collapse of Moammar Gadhafi's government are flowing through the surrounding region, the president of the west African nation of Niger said Friday, a development that threatens to destabilize a swath of the continent already struggling against ethnic unrest and a regional branch of al Qaeda.
"Arms were stolen in Libya and are being disseminated all over the region," President Mahamadou Issoufou told reporters following a meeting... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
35536
Guatemala,El Salvador,Mexico,United States,Honduras,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Latin American Leaders Demand International Action on Arms Trafficking
11 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
The 2011 Ibero-American Summit, held in Asuncion, Paraguay in October, was criticized for its failures, but leaders used the platform to call attention to the global arms trade and demand international cooperation on more effective measures to fight weapons trafficking and organized crime.
At the close of the summit, the member countries issued a separate and special declaration (available in pdf format here) defining public security as a precondition for economic and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35537
United States,United Kingdom
UK Man Guilty of Receiving Handguns Smuggled from US, Selling to Gangs
10 November 2011
Guardian (UK)
A man has been found guilty of helping an international gun runner to smuggle dozens of handguns into Britain on commercial transatlantic flights.
Over a six-month period gun runner Steven Greenoe, 37, – an American who lived in Shrewsbury and is currently awaiting sentence in the US – repeatedly crossed the Atlantic to purchase weapons to sell on to the criminal underworld for a huge profit. He broke the guns down to their component parts and smuggled them into... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35529
Mexico,United States
Obama's A-G Blames Congress for 'Losing Battle' in US-Mexico Gun Running
8 November 2011
Guardian (UK)
The Obama administration has warned that the US is "losing the battle" to stem the flow of weapons from American guns shops to Mexican drug cartels responsible for tens of thousands of killings.
The US attorney general, Eric Holder, told a Senate hearing that Congress is in part to blame because of its hostility to gun control, even going so far as to try and block federal law enforcement agencies from requiring gun shops to report multiple sales of automatic... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35522
Mexico,United States
Attorney General Urges US Lawmakers to Slow US-Mexico Gun Running
8 November 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Tuesday sought to move past the political furor over Operation Fast and Furious, the disputed Arizona gun trafficking investigation, to the wider problem of the flow of American firearms to Mexican drug cartels — and what he portrayed as roadblocks members of Congress have thrown up to stemming that flow.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Holder criticized a recent vote by the House of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35516
United States
Four California Police Agencies Linked to Probe of Illegal Gun Sales
5 November 2011
Sacramento Bee (California)
The federal probe into suspected illegal gun sales by local law enforcement officers involves at least four major police agencies in the Sacramento region, officials confirmed Friday.
Two deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, one Sacramento police officer and one Roseville police officer are the focus of the probe that spilled into the open Thursday, the Bee has learned.
In addition, a Sacramento firearms dealer allegedly involved with some of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Sacramento Bee (California)
35510
Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States
Tough to Prosecute Gun Dealers Without Laws: Oxfam, Human Rights First
4 November 2011
San Francisco Chronicle, Opinion
In a trial that played out with far less fanfare than the "Lord of War" movie based on Viktor Bout's life, the public got a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of international arms brokering. Bout was convicted by a federal jury in New York this week on four counts of conspiracy, including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Not among the counts against him, ironically, was his alleged involvement in nearly 20 years of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: San Francisco Chronicle
35507
North Africa,West Asia,South America,Africa,Thailand,Colombia,United States
Global Gun Runner, 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout Swiftly Convicted
2 November 2011
BBC News
A former Soviet military officer has been found guilty in a New York court of attempting to sell heavy weapons to a Colombian rebel group.
Prosecutors said Viktor Bout, 44, who has been dubbed the merchant of death, stood to make millions from supplying weapons to the group.
The defence argued Bout had only wanted to sell two cargo planes.
He was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 after a sting operation in which US informants posed as Colombian rebels.
He remained in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
35497
Mexico,United States
US Defends Gun Sale Reporting Requirement in Court
26 October 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Gun store owners in southwestern border states argued in federal court Tuesday that the Obama administration cannot require them to report when customers buy multiple high-powered rifles.
The Justice Department responded to a lawsuit seeking to block the two-month-old requirement by asking a judge to uphold its legality, arguing the measure could help stop the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels. It requires sellers in California, Arizona, New Mexico... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35475
Guatemala,El Salvador,Caribbean,South America,Central America,Mexico,United States
Authorities Discussed California's Role as a Pipeline for Illegal Guns to Mexico
25 October 2011
Southern California Public Radio (USA)
State and local officials were joined by Mexican law enforcement in Los Angeles Tuesday to discuss California's role as a pipeline for illegal weapons to Mexican drug cartels.
Authorities say California actually ranks much lower than other border states in gun trafficking. But the state's highways are often used to transport the weapons.
State Senator Kevin De Leon chairs the Senate Select Committee on Immigration and the Economy. The L.A. Democrat says federal... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Southern California Public Radio (USA)
35462
United States
Eight New York Policemen Charged in Gun Smuggling Ring
25 October 2011
Reuters
NEW YORK - Eight New York City policemen were charged on Tuesday with helping run a gun-smuggling ring in a city whose mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is leading a national campaign against illegal guns.
The men were accused of exploiting their experience and credentials to take part in schemes to illegally transport guns, slot machines, cigarettes and counterfeit goods across state lines, a criminal complaint released by the U.S. District Attorney's Office said.
Five of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35457
Niger,Mauritania,Mali,Libya,Algeria,United States
US, Algeria to Cooperate in Fight Against Libyan Arms Trafficking [Francais]
24 October 2011
Le Nouvel Observateur (France) / AP
[Translated summary: The United States wants to strengthen cooperation with Algeria in the fight against small arms trafficking from neighboring Libya. Sahel countries - Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger - are concerned about the movement of illicit small arms from Libya.]
ALGER — Les Etats-Unis souhaitent renforcer la coopération avec l'Algérie pour lutter contre le trafic d'armes en provenance de la Libye voisine, a déclaré lundi le secrétaire d'Etat... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Le Nouvel Observateur (France) / AP
35452
Syria,Iran,Lebanon,Canada
Quebec Woman Charged with Trying to Export Assault Rifle Parts to Lebanon
21 October 2011
National Post (Toronto)
MONTREAL — Young and striking in her black hijab, Mouna Diab was once active in a Quebec youth group that fought discrimination against Muslims by challenging the stereotypes that too often associate them with violence and terror.
But the outspoken 26-year-old activist had little to say this week after appearing in a Montreal courtroom to face a charge alleging she had violated a United Nations Security Council arms embargo that prohibits the export of weapons to... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Post (Toronto)
35444
United States,United Kingdom
Gang Leaders Jailed for 24 Years for Smuggling Guns into UK from US
21 October 2011
Guardian (UK) / PA
Two ringleaders of a gang which smuggled guns into the UK from the United States have each been jailed for 24 years. Mohammed Tariq, 33, and Atique Arif, 32, were sentenced at Bradford crown court along with six other men who were sent to prison for up to 12 years. The gang imported guns concealed with electrical equipment including DVD players and portable radios. Police said they smuggled 13 firearms into the UK over a 12-month period. West Yorkshire police said the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK) / PA
35442
United States,Canada
London, Ontario Gun Violence Fear: Toronto's Guns Land Here
19 October 2011
London Free Press (Ontario)
Many come from the U.S. - ripped off, smuggled across the border and often secreted here with the illegal drug trade.
But London also pays for crime in the Big Smoke - Toronto, with many of the illegal guns seized here by police originating in the mega-city as well. As recently as four years ago, four of every 10 guns seized by a special London squad could be traced back to the Toronto area.
But the truth is, illegal weapons scooped off London streets - 441 so far... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: London Free Press (Ontario)
35437
Canada
Licensed Canadian Firearm Dealer, Offsider Jailed for Gun Trafficking
18 October 2011
Province (British Columbia)
The son of a cop who was arrested after police found 127 firearms in his vehicle was sentenced Monday to 61/2 years in prison.
Marc Gougeon, a native of Montreal who was living in Vancouver's West End at the time, was convicted in May of trafficking in firearms.
Gougeon, 33, the son of a Montreal police officer, was arrested in September 2006 in Burnaby while driving a rented vehicle with the handguns, all of them semi-automatic weapons with the serial numbers... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Province (British Columbia)
35428
United States,Libya,Germany
Germany Provides Eur 750,000 for Destruction of Small Arms in Libya
17 October 2011
African Press Organization (APO)
BERLIN, Germany -- The German Government is providing EUR 750,000 for the securing and destruction of small arms – including man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS) – up to the end of this year.
The money will be used to enable specialist Libyan and international teams to locate, secure and destroy small arms and ammunition arsenals.
In Foreign Minister Westerwelle's view, supporting the securing and destruction of old weapons is an important task for the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: African Press Organization (APO)
35424
Mexico,United States
Second Bush Administration Gun-Trafficking Investigation
15 October 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A second Bush administration gun-trafficking investigation has surfaced using the same controversial tactic for which congressional Republicans have been criticizing the Obama administration.
The tactic, called "gun walking," is already under investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general and by congressional Republicans, who have criticized the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama for letting it happen in an operation called... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35418
Europe,North America,St Lucia,Barbados,Antigua & Barbuda,Trinidad & Tobago,St Kitts & Nevis,Jamaica,Bahamas,Caribbean
Caribbean Nations Demand Global Gun Trade Treaty to Curb Armed Crime
11 October 2011
Caribbean 360 (Barbados)
NEW YORK, United States - Battling the scourge of rising crime and violence and some of the world's highest murders rates, Caribbean nations are appealing to the United Nation for help.
They are urging the world body to help them stem the unrelenting flow of guns and ammunition to the region.
From the Bahamas, Jamaica and St. Kitts-Nevis, countries with some of the world's highest homicide rates, Trinidad and Tobago, which already has a state of emergency in place... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Caribbean 360 (Barbados)
35396
United States,United Kingdom
Handguns Smuggled into UK from US in Major Criminal Enterprise
11 October 2011
Yorkshire Post (UK)
Lethal handguns were smuggled into Yorkshire from the US in a major criminal enterprise which saw weapons dismantled and hidden in hollowed-out electrical goods.
Self-loading Glock pistols, normally used only by police, were bought in Texas and shipped to the region in an operation involving 15 Yorkshire-based conspirators, a court heard yesterday.
The group succeeded in smuggling 12 pistols into the country and wanted 18 in total, but the plot was foiled by a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Yorkshire Post (UK)
35390
Mexico,United States
Smuggled US Ammunition Feeds Mexico's Ongoing Drug Gun Wars
9 October 2011
USA Today
PHOENIX - Every year, thousands of guns are smuggled into Mexico from the United States, fueling the brutal drug-cartel wars and stirring outrage on both sides of the border.
But often overlooked in the controversy are the tons of bullets that also make their way south of the border.
In Mexico, ammunition is strictly regulated and possession of even a single illegal round can lead to prison. But there is nonetheless a steady supply of bullets. Almost all of it comes... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: USA Today
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United Kingdom,United States
Former US Marine Smuggled up to 80 Guns for UK Criminals - Court
5 October 2011
Guardian (UK)
Guns smuggled into the UK on commercial flights by a former US marine captain were used to carry out crimes on the streets of Britain, including a fatal shooting, a court was told.
Steven Greenoe, 37, bought weapons from American gun shops, broke them down to their component parts, and smuggled them into the UK in his luggage, Liverpool crown court heard on Wednesday.
Two British men were also said to have been involved in the alleged conspiracy: Steven Cardwell, 31,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
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India,Russia,Germany,United States
India's Unlicensed Gun Market Thrives on Smuggled, Home Made Firearms
5 October 2011
First Post (Mumbai)
A 10-year-old boy was accidentally shot dead by his 12-year-old neighbour while they were playing cop and thief in West Delhi earlier this week. On 24 September, 23-year-old toll attendant, Umeshkant Pandey, was shot dead by the driver of a white Bolero. His crime: he asked the driver to pay Rs 27 as toll tax.
Gun crime has consistently been on the rise in India, and every few weeks, there is a new tragedy. An armed gang shoots a woman over a small piece of jewellery,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: First Post (Mumbai)
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Canada
Canada Gun Safety Double Standard - Lorne Gunter on Lost Police Guns
5 October 2011
National Post (Toronto), Opinion
Since Bill C-68 became the law of the land more than 15 years ago, one of the most common charges police have laid against gun owners has been for unsafe storage. The reason for this is that the federal firearms law is very unclear about what constitutes safe and unsafe storage.
Is it enough to have one's firearms locked away in a gun safe or must they also have trigger locks installed? How secure must the safe's lock be: strong enough to keep a thief out for two... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Post (Toronto)
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Libya,United States
As Civil War Winds Down, Libya Is Awash in Small Arms
26 September 2011
National (Abu Dhabi), Editorial
Somewhere amid the detritus of Col Muammar Qaddafi's unlamented regime, US officials say, are as many as 20,000 shoulder-launched rockets, each capable of shooting down an airliner or helicopter. The notion of such weapons in the hands of Al Qaeda or its allies is a nightmare for everyone.
For the people of Libya, however, those rockets are just part of a much wider problem: as the civil war winds down, after the collapse of Qaddafi's regime, the country is awash in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National (Abu Dhabi)
35333
United States,Mexico
US Customs Seized 30 Assault Rifles Bound for Mexico
22 September 2011
Reuters
AUSTIN, Texas - U.S. customs agents in Texas seized 30 high-powered assault rifles when they searched a car heading into Mexico in what they said was the largest gun seizure at the state's border this year.
Agents at the Del Rio port of entry found the stash of Kalashnikov and M-4 type rifles in the trunk of a Nissan Altima headed into Mexico on Wednesday, and arrested the 18-year-old driver from Eagle Pass, the Customs and Border Protection agency said in a news... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
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