Top of PageGun Policy News
Firearms and youth, crime and gun-related injury
Suicides Account For Most US Gun Deaths
24 May 2013
Pew Research Center
Suicides by gun accounted for about six of every 10 firearm deaths in 2010 and just over half of all suicides, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since the CDC began publishing data in 1981, gun suicides have outnumbered gun homicides. But as gun homicides have declined sharply in recent years, suicides have become a greater share of all firearm deaths: the 61% share in 2010 was the highest on record. That year there were 19,392... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Shop Asked to Stop Selling Restricted Airgun After Teen Arrest
24 May 2013
Marlborough Express (New Zealand)
Police have asked a Blenheim shop that sold a plastic gun to a Marlborough Boys' College student to stop selling the item after the teenager was arrested.
The 14-year-old boy was arrested and suspended from school on Tuesday after shooting a passing car and other students with the soft air pistol he bought at $2 Fantastic shop in Maxwell Rd.
Constable Dean Buckley, of Blenheim youth aid, said because compressed air fired a missile, it was legally classed as a... (GunPolicy.org)
Kenya Police Deny Allegations Guns Being Issued to Unlicensed People
9 May 2013
Star (Kenya)
MOMBASA - An assistant police commissioner has denied claims that firearms are being issue to unvetted people. Central Firearms Bureau chief licensing officer David Baya said firearms are only issued to civilians after going through a series of thorough interrogations by security officers at different levels.
A civilian who owned a licensed gun told media houses that there is a broker in Mombasa behind the deals. He said the broker cuts deals between senior security... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: Why Real Guns That Look Like Toys Should be Banned
9 May 2013
Washington Post, Opinion
CHICAGO — Two summers ago, my husband and I took our sons to a shooting range for multiple days of firearms training with a certified instructor. Our logic was simple: In our low-income community with lots of gang activity, it was laughable to imagine that our boys wouldn't someday find themselves in a situation where a pal had brought a gun to school or asked them to come see his parents' gun.
Did we want them to clumsily handle a deadly weapon — seduced by the... (GunPolicy.org)
3D Gun Fired in US But Officials Worried Over Risks for Crime, Youth
6 May 2013
BBC News, Video
The world's first gun made with 3D printer technology has been successfully fired in the US.
The controversial group who created the firearm plan to make the blueprints available online.
Anti-gun advocates have criticised the project and Europol, Europe's law enforcement agency, said it was closely monitoring the development.
Rebecca Morelle... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Suicides Soar Among White, Middle-Aged Americans
3 May 2013
Stuff (New Zealand) / Associated Press
The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans climbed a startling 28 per cent in a decade, a period that included the recession and the mortgage crisis, the government reports.
The trend was most pronounced among white men and women in that age group. Their suicide rate jumped 40 per cent between 1999 and 2010.
But the rates in younger and older people held steady. And there was little change among middle-aged blacks, Hispanics and most other racial and ethnic... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Attack in Thailand's South Leaves Six Dead
2 May 2013
BBC News
Six people, including a young child, have been killed in southern Thailand after a gun attack at a village shop, police say.
At least four gunmen fired bullets at the shop in Pattani province before escaping on motorbikes.
The attack comes days after a second round of peace talks between Muslim separatists and the Thai government.
More than 5,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004.
A toddler was... (GunPolicy.org)
Five-Year-Old US Boy Accidentally Kills Sister With His Own Rifle
1 May 2013
Reuters
A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother with a rifle he received as a birthday gift, Kentucky authorities said on Wednesday.
The shooting occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Burkesville, Kentucky, a community in the south-central part of the state, when the boy was playing with the .22-caliber rifle and accidentally shot his sister in the chest, state police said.
The boy had received the Crickett "youth model" gun for his birthday in... (GunPolicy.org)
French Teen Killer Bought Kalashnikov Online
26 April 2013
Global Post (Boston) / Agence France Presse
A French teenager who used a Kalashnikov to shoot three men dead obtained his murder weapon on the Internet, it emerged on Friday, a day after the shooting.
The apparently deranged 19-year-old was arrested shortly after opening fire on motorists and pedestrians in the small town of Istres, near Marseille on Thursday afternoon.
Police sources said the weapons enthusiast had bought the deactivated rifle on the Internet and had been able to get it working. Raids on his... (GunPolicy.org)
Swedish Children Find Loaded Gun in Snow, Fire Round
14 April 2013
Local (Sweden)
A group of children playing in a snow drift in Umeå in northern Sweden on Saturday came across what they thought was a toy gun only to find out that it was a real weapon when one of them pulled the trigger.
Luckily the shot was fired into the ground and none of the children were hurt.
"It could have gone really badly. The children could just as well have started playing a war game and begun shooting at each other. It is also an area with lots of people and children... (GunPolicy.org)
Public Health Approach Promises Gun Violence Prevention - NEJM
12 April 2013
New England Journal of Medicine
Scientists, policymakers, and advocates are increasingly advised to use "the public health approach" to address myriad social issues, from alcoholism and arthritis to vision care and war. However, it is rarely clear what exactly is meant by "the public health approach."
Policymakers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe the public health approach as a four-step model: Define the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test... (GunPolicy.org)
Public Health Approach Promising Path to Reducing Gun Violence - NEJM
12 April 2013
New England Journal of Medicine
Scientists, policymakers, and advocates are increasingly advised to use "the public health approach" to address myriad social issues, from alcoholism and arthritis to vision care and war. However, it is rarely clear what exactly is meant by "the public health approach."
Policymakers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe the public health approach as a four-step model: Define the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test... (GunPolicy.org)
Mayor Says NYC is Example on How to Combat Youth Gun Crime
5 April 2013
Washington Post
NEW YORK — New York City's mayor met Thursday with the parents of a Chicago girl killed just days after performing at President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities, then suggested that places interested in reducing gun violence might want to emulate the Big Apple, where studies have found teenagers are less likely to carry weapons than in any other major U.S. city.
The meeting between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the parents of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was... (GunPolicy.org)
Concerns in Ghana Over Availability of Guns, Youth Crime
4 April 2013
Spy Ghana (Ghana)
An increasing number of young people are in possession of firearms in the Northern Region, posing an additional risk to the already volatile situation in the area.
The disturbing phenomena was highlighted at the 2012 regional celebration of the West African Security Service Association (WASSA) in Tamale last Thursday when a number of speakers made reference to it and stressed the need to take measures to combat it.
Speaking at the function, the Northern Regional... (GunPolicy.org)
Drugs and Gun Violence Plagues Argentina Province
1 April 2013
Deutsche Welle
Argentina's Santa Fe province is one of the richest in the country. A focal point of the vast farming sector, hundreds of thousands of tons of soya leave the ports surrounding its main city, Rosario, every year. Despite the glossy facade, the province - and in particular the metropolis - is becoming known for something far more unsavory: an out-of-control drugs market and a spiraling murder rate.
The poor neighborhoods of Rosario, some 300 kilometers (185 miles)... (GunPolicy.org)
Clear Correlations Between Gun Laws and Gun Violence in the US
29 March 2013
New Yorker
Well, to paraphrase a great Republican, here we go again. The details of Adam Lanza's home environment — the armory of weapons there, the copy of the "NRA Guide to the Basics of Pistol Shooting," there was a useful book kept close — are scarcely out before the insistence that there's nothing, absolutely nothing, to see or to do returns, at a higher volume. The President talks, in his calm and conciliatory tones, about minimal gun control — that there's no threat... (GunPolicy.org)
Venezuela Struggles With Guns, Violence in Schools
29 March 2013
InfoSur Hoy (USA)
CARACAS, Venezuela – Violence is becoming part of the school day for Venezuelan students.
Of the 289 educational centers surveyed by the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM), 85% reported acts of aggression in their schools. Six in 10 reported incidents of this type occur at least once a week.
On Jan. 8, Michelle Buraglia, a 15-year-old student, died after being shot by another child at Andrés Bello High School, one of the largest in Caracas.
After the murder,... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Indian Gun Owner Kills Wife, Neighbour and Self in Spree
27 March 2013
Times of India
KANPUR - An enraged man went on a shooting spree gunning down a teenage youth in the neighbourhood and critically injuring his wife, before killing himself on Tuesday. The gruesome incident took place at Muradpur Nagariya village under the limits of Bhogaon police station in Mainpuri district.
"32-year-old, Prem Narain apparently first opened fire from his licensed firearm at his wife, Radha (28), then his neighbour, Vishal (18) and later killed himself," said circle... (GunPolicy.org)
New US Research Proves Guns in Homes are Health Hazard
25 March 2013
New York Daily News
According to a poll released this month by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of American gun owners report that their main reason for having a gun is protection; fewer than a third own a gun primarily for hunting. This is a striking change from 1999, when nearly half of gun owners kept firearms mainly for hunting and only about one quarter cited protection as their most important reason.
Pew's results might make sense if violent crime were surging. But it's not.... (GunPolicy.org)
Shootings on the Rise in Pakistan's Business Hub
25 March 2013
BBC News
"Have you absolutely lost your mind?" That was my mother's predictable response.
"People are trying to get out of this god-forsaken city," she said, "and you are planning to come back!"
Her fears aren't entirely exaggerated. Facts speak for themselves: last year was the bloodiest year for Karachi in nearly two decades, with about 2,000 people killed in drive-by shootings, bombings, and revenge attacks.
That is based on reported figures. A lot of threats, extortion... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns and Family Violence: How Many Tragedies Does It Take?
25 March 2013
al Jazeera, Opinion
On December 1, 2012, NFL linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins. He then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and then shot and killed himself in front of his two coaches and the general manager of his team, the Kansas City Chiefs. On February 14, 2013, South African track star Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his home. Two well-known athletes, two horrifying acts. While we don't know... (GunPolicy.org)
Child-Proof Medicine Bottles Save Lives. So Could Child-Proof Guns
22 March 2013
New York Times, Opinion
For nearly two months, my assistant, Jennifer Mascia, and I have been publishing a daily blog in which we aggregate articles about shootings from the previous day. Of all the stories we link to, the ones I find hardest to read are those about young children who accidentally shoot themselves or another child. They just break my heart. Yet Jennifer and I find new examples almost every day.
Partly, I react by thinking, "How can anyone be so stupid as to leave a loaded gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Uganda Gangs Stealing Weapons from Police, Terrorising Citizens
22 March 2013
New Vision (Kampala)
The Police have listed over a dozen criminal gangs that are terrorising residents in and around Kampala.
The media has recently been awash with reports of daring thugs raiding police stations and making off with weapons, killing or injuring security personnel and civilians in addition to rampant robberies of money and property.
Recently thugs raided Mpala police station on Entebbe road and stole a gun and ammunition. Last week a gang raided the suburb of Bweyogerere... (GunPolicy.org)
Philippines,South East Asia,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
Arms Trade Treaty or What? - Opinion
21 March 2013
Philippine Star, Opinion
In the next week or so, the members of the United Nations have an opportunity to agree an historic Treaty that would make a lasting difference to people across the world. It's not front-page news most of the time, but the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is within our grasp — and, with it, comes a chance to make a major contribution to the security of humankind. It will help to ensure that the uncontrolled movement of arms no longer threatens the security and prosperity of... (GunPolicy.org)
Romania,Burkina Faso,Poland,Russia,Latvia,Tunisia,Guinea,Senegal,Bulgaria,China,Africa,Europe,Côte d'Ivoire
Arms Proliferation and Abuse Shatter Communities in Côte d'Ivoire - AI
20 March 2013
Amnesty International (London)
Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.
The 33-page report, Communities shattered by arms proliferation and abuse in Côte d'Ivoire, documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms... (GunPolicy.org)
What's Worked, and What Hasn't, in Gun-Loving Switzerland
19 March 2013
NPR (USA)
Switzerland has an entrenched gun culture that is embraced by most of its 8 million citizens, some of them as young as 10 years old.
Every Swiss community has a shooting range, and depending on who is counting, the alpine country ranks third or fourth in the number of guns per capita.
"You can walk into a cafe in a town where there is a shooting festival and you'll see rifles hanging on the hat rack. It's just incredible. It's just proliferation all over the place,... (GunPolicy.org)
Nigeria Police Arrest Alleged Arms Supplier in Delta
15 March 2013
Vanguard (Lagos)
WARRI — Police have arrested a community leader, who allegedly armed youths from Orugbene community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State with weapons, including guns and cutlasses, to attack villagers in Asenkiri, a neighbouring community, and forcefully seized their motor-saws and other equipment, penultimate week.
The alleged arms supplier was nabbed following investigations by security agencies into the incident.
An Oborotu community leader, Chief Evans... (GunPolicy.org)
London Gun Murder Investigation Unit to Be Realigned, Merged
14 March 2013
Guardian (UK)
Police confirmation that they had moved the central core of Operation Trident – its dedicated murder investigation unit – to the homicide and serious crime command, effectively signals the end of Trident, the London-based organisation I founded with other community activists in the mid-1990s.
Back then, while the culture of gun crime affected whole communities and neighbourhoods, 90% of homicide victims were black, mainly black men. The police response was woeful,... (GunPolicy.org)
In First Two Months of 2013: One Child Died Everyday in Guatemala [Espanol]
12 March 2013
Te Interesa (Spain)
[Translated summary: At least one child died every day in Guatemala by the action of a firearm during the first two months of 2013, warned the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala (ODHAG).]
Al menos un niño murió cada día en Guatemala por la acción de un arma de fuego durante los dos primeros meses de 2013, advirtió ayer la Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de Guatemala (ODHAG).
Nery Rodenas, director de la ODHAG, indicó en rueda de... (GunPolicy.org)
Easily Available Home-made Handguns, 1st Choice of Criminals in Nepal
11 March 2013
Kantipur (Nepal)
PARSA - An 18-year-old boy brandished a pistol to threaten one of his friends over a minor dispute while playing snooker at Maisthan in Birgunj last Thursday.
Fortunately, the situation was brought under control as police reached the incident site immediately. The boy, however, managed to flee the scene upon seeing the police personnel.
On August 24, 2012, Rama Shankar Mandal, general secretary of the Madhesi Factory Workers' Forum, was shot dead by an unidentified... (GunPolicy.org)
Europe,China,Asia,Americas,Oceania,Kenya,Cuba,Côte d'Ivoire,Africa,Central America,Russia,United States
Women Explain Why an Arms Trade Treaty Can Save Many Lives
7 March 2013
Amnesty International (London), Media release
It is estimated at least half a million people are killed with guns every year and on average a further 200,000 men, women and children die as an indirect result of armed conflicts and violence that are frequently fuelled by the uncontrolled flow of small arms.
And for every person that is killed in an armed conflict, many more are injured and tortured, raped, abused, forcibly disappeared, taken hostage or displaced. Even more have their access to food, water, shelter,... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Shooters Caught Drunk, On Drugs While Hunting
6 March 2013
Sydney Morning Herald
Licensed shooters have been caught with prohibited firearms, using drugs and alcohol, and trespassing on restricted land, official reports reveal, as the NSW government prepares to expand amateur hunting of feral animals into national parks.
Documents released under freedom of information laws describe almost a dozen examples of serious transgressions last year that were considered by the Game Council NSW, which is responsible for issuing hunting licences.
In one case... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns Easily Available in Nepal, Especially Among Youth
6 March 2013
República (Kathmandu)
DHANGADHI - Authorities have expressed concerns over the spike in criminal activities resulting from the increased possession of small arms among youths in Kailali district. Easy availability of weapons across the border (in India) and the weapons left lying around from the insurgency period have been blamed for the problem.
"Nowadays the Dhangadhi town has been witnessing increasing number of criminal activities and small arms have been used in many of such... (GunPolicy.org)
American Doctors Beg Govt to be Able to Do Gun Research
28 February 2013
NBC News (USA)
Dr. William Begg wiped away tears as he pleaded with Congress on Wednesday to help rescind laws that limit medical research into gun deaths and that restrict doctors from asking patients about guns in their homes.
Begg's testimony highlighted a growing battle between some doctors and some gun advocates over whether federal health dollars should be spent on research into gun violence, and on whether doctors should counsel their patients about gun safety.
Medical groups... (GunPolicy.org)
Thai Men Arrested for Allegedly Selling Homemade Guns on Facebook
27 February 2013
Bangkok Post
Police have arrested two men for allegedly selling homemade guns, many of them to technical college students and teenagers, on Facebook.
The two suspects, Withaya Chai-Auari, 32, and Suriya Khoksombat, 25, were arrested in Bangkok yesterday.
An undercover police officer posing as a customer contacted Mr Withaya on the internet to buy weapons. Mr Withaya turned up for the meeting with the guns in Phahon Yothin Soi 55 and was immediately arrested, police said.
Police... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Homicide Rate Rising in Argentina as Drug War Heats Up
26 February 2013
Independent (UK)
ROSARIO - The events of that evening in January are etched into Vilma Jaime's memory. The sun had set, but it was still oppressively hot and neighbours were outside in the street, chatting and drinking traditional mate tea. Then the gunshots began.
Ms Jaime ran into her house, and watched through the keyhole of the front door as the blood started to spill. Three people were shot that night – miraculously, no one was killed. But many others have not been so lucky.
Ms... (GunPolicy.org)
Editorial: Violent, Drunk And Holding A Gun in the US
23 February 2013
New York Times, Editorial
Multiple mass shootings by deranged young men have made keeping firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people a big part of the gun debate.
Given the enormity of those crimes, that is understandable. Federal law does, in fact, prohibit gun ownership by mentally ill people if a judge has found them to be dangerous or they have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. President Obama has also issued executive orders to ensure that federal background checks... (GunPolicy.org)
German Teen in Court After Taking Gun to School to Impress
21 February 2013
Local (Germany)
A 15-year-old German boy who became embroiled in a tense armed stand-off with police after taking guns into his school has been sentenced to four and a half years in youth custody.
The boy, then 14, who was not named, was in a fragile state after splitting up with his girlfriend in May and took the weapons in to his classroom.
He did not go with the intention of creating a bloodbath, ruled the regional court in Memmingen, southern Germany, but rather of impressing his... (GunPolicy.org)
South Africa Athlete Case Shows Risk of Having Guns at Home
18 February 2013
Guardian (UK)
There is a rule in screenwriting that if you introduce a gun into a scene, at some point you must use it. The rule applies to real life too. That's how Reeva Steenkamp lost her life. A gun appeared in her story, and she got shot dead. Regardless of the circumstances, when guns are near people, they kill people.
I know the gun fraternity will say that it was Oscar Pistorius who pulled the trigger, and not the rest of the gun community out there. But that's what... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Norway,Australia
Former Australian PM on Gun Suicide Prevention, Mass Shootings
17 February 2013
CNN / Global Public Square, Transcript
Fareed Zakaria: On April 28, 1996, in Port Arthur, Australia, a man named Martin Bryant went on a killing rampage. In the first 15 seconds of his spree, Bryant killed 12 people and injured another 10, all with an AR-15 assault rifle. In the end, 35 people lie dead, men, women and children.
If his weapon of choice sounds familiar, it should. That's what Adam Lanza is believed to have used in the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre of 20 school children and six educators.
In... (GunPolicy.org)
US Pre-Teens Take Handgun, Knife to School, Plan to Kill Schoolmate
15 February 2013
Reuters
Two fifth-grade boys are in custody in Washington state after they brought a knife and gun to school with the goal of killing a schoolmate in a foiled murder plot that shocked their rural town because of their youth, prosecutors said on Friday.
The boys, accused of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder despite their tender ages of 10 and 11, also planned to harm other students by luring them away one at a time, said Tim Rasmussen, a Stevens County prosecuting... (GunPolicy.org)
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)
Switzerland Guns: Living with Firearms the Swiss Way
11 February 2013
BBC News
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, but little gun-related street crime - so some opponents of gun control hail it as a place where firearms play a positive role in society. However, Swiss gun culture is unique, and guns are more tightly regulated than many assume.
Throughout the attack, Anne Ithen kept her eyes shut.
"I didn't want to see it. I didn't want those images in my head for the rest of my life… but I remember... (GunPolicy.org)
Female Gun Ownership in US About Protection, Power
10 February 2013
New York Times
PAINESVILLE, Ohio — Mary Ann Froebe stood feet apart with knees slightly bent and aimed the .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic.
"You've got some adrenaline running through you right now," said Esther Beris, the coordinator of the northeastern Ohio chapter of A Girl and a Gun Women's Shooting League. "It's O.K., just relax."
Ms. Froebe, 42, a small-business owner who described herself as a "virgin gun shooter," concentrated and pulled the trigger. "It was awesome," she... (GunPolicy.org)
Critics Worried About Failing Disarmament Efforts in Kenya
6 February 2013
Capital FM (Nairobi)
NAIROBI — With less than a month to go until Kenya's general election, analysts are warning that widespread illegal gun ownership presents real risks to security. Government efforts to disarm the population have been ineffective, they say.
The warnings come after a series of violent incidents, particularly between pastoral and farming communities fighting over water, grazing rights and other resources.
Clashes between the Orma and Pokomo groups in the Tana Delta... (GunPolicy.org)
Tom Diaz on Converting to Gun Control and the Effect of Newtown
4 February 2013
Macleans (Canada)
Tom Diaz, 72, is one of the most prominent gun control advocates in the United States. A former senior policy analyst at Washington's Violence Policy Center — which considers firearms violence to be a public health issue rather than criminal issue — Diaz wrote Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America in 1999. It explored the links between political lobbying by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and gun manufacturers. Last year, dismayed by a decade of... (GunPolicy.org)
UK Officials Say Most Gun Crime Traced to Under 1,000 Illegal Guns
2 February 2013
Washington Post
LONDON — When police on a weapons raid swarmed a housing project after London's 2011 riots, they seized a cache of arms that in the United States might be better suited to "Antiques Roadshow" than inner-city ganglands. Inside plastic bags hidden in a trash collection room, officers uncovered two archaic flintlock pistols, retrofitted flare guns and a Jesse James-style revolver.
These days, that kind of antiquated firepower is about the baddest a British gang member... (GunPolicy.org)
Fact-Check: Dispelling Pro-Gun Myths in America
31 January 2013
Mother Jones (USA)
By cutting off federal funding for research and stymieing data collection and sharing, the National Rifle Association has tried to do to the study of gun violence what climate deniers have done to the science of global warming. No wonder: When it comes to hard numbers, some of the gun lobby's favorite arguments are full of holes.
Myth #1: They're coming for your guns.
Fact-check: No one knows the exact number of guns in America, but it's clear there's no practical way... (GunPolicy.org)
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)
US Author: Australian Gun Deaths Fall After Ban, Buybacks
31 January 2013
PolitiFact
Author Stephen King once asked his publisher to pull one of his novels off the shelves.
Six people had died — in real life.
Four boys in 10 years brought guns to school. One killed a teacher and two students. Another shot five members of a prayer group, killing three. All four teenagers had read Rage, a book King wrote when he was a teen himself and published under another name.
King, in a blunt, impassioned essay, wrote that when he learned of the copycat crimes,... (GunPolicy.org)
Answers to Ending Gun Violence May Lie in Nonsmoking Campaigns
30 January 2013
Christian Science Monitor
For those looking for quick action by Congress to curb guns in America, here's a lesson from the effort to ban smoking in public places: An official curb on risky products or practice isn't nearly as powerful as a shift in public attitudes about what is acceptable.
Nonsmoking zones became commonplace in the 1990s, but not until public concern about the hazards of tobacco smoke to nonsmokers had doubled in the 1970s and the '80s. By the '90s, smoking was already in... (GunPolicy.org)
Fijian in Court on Charges of Neglecting Gun Safety After Death
30 January 2013
Fiji Times
Pilot Mohammed Rizwan Khan has been refused bail by the Lautoka Magistrates Court for offences relating to the death of six-year old Mohammed Khubayb Salman Khan last weekend.
Appearing before Magistrate Sujeewa Nishanka, Mr Khan was charged with one count of failure to maintain arms in a safe and secure custody and one count of manslaughter by negligence or breach of duty.
While ruling on Mr Khan's bail application by his lawyer Vishal Pillay, Magistrate Nishanka... (GunPolicy.org)
Hollywood Divided Over Effect of Movie Gun Violence on Reality
30 January 2013
Guardian (UK)
The Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman has dismissed the depiction of gun violence in Hollywood as "fraudulent" and claimed that studios actively discriminate against actors who refuse to carry firearms onscreen.
Interviewed on National Public Radio in the US, The Graduate star became the latest high-profile figure to wade into the debate following the killing of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.... (GunPolicy.org)
Personalised Guns Delayed by US Gun Lobby Boycotts
28 January 2013
Washington Post / Associated Press
NEW YORK — It sounds, at first, like a bold, next-generation solution: personalizing guns with technology that keeps them from firing if they ever get into the wrong hands.
But when the White House called for pushing ahead with such new technology as part of President Obama's plan to cut gun violence, the administration did not mention the concept's embattled past. As with so much else in the nation's long-running divisions over gun rights and regulation, what sounds... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns Used in 80 Percent of Trinidad Murders, say Police
26 January 2013
Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
Firearms are used in almost 80 percent of the murders in the country, therefore it is critical that the police target getting guns out of the hands of criminals.
So said Ag Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, at the AmCham monthly meeting at the Hilton yesterday.
According to Williams, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) recovers firearms almost every day. He said it was important for the police to find ways of reducing the illegal entry of firearms... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Funds Recruitment Drive for Kids Using Games, Peers
26 January 2013
New York Times, Series
Threatened by long-term declining participation in shooting sports, the firearms industry has poured millions of dollars into a broad campaign to ensure its future by getting guns into the hands of more, and younger, children.
The industry's strategies include giving firearms, ammunition and cash to youth groups; weakening state restrictions on hunting by young children; marketing an affordable military-style rifle for "junior shooters" and sponsoring... (GunPolicy.org)
US Author Attacks 'Propaganda-Savvy Gun-Pimps', Gun Culture
25 January 2013
Guardian (UK)
Stephen King has entranced millions with tales of dread but his latest volume will read like a horror only to the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates. The best-selling author made an unexpected charge into the national debate on gun violence on Friday with a passionate, angry essay pleading for reform.
King, who owns three handguns, aimed the expletive-peppered polemic at fellow gun-owners, calling on them to support a ban on automatic and... (GunPolicy.org)
Welsh Man Finds Over 30 Guns Hidden in Wall While Renovating
24 January 2013
Wales Online
The sheer scale of a secret arsenal of guns and ammunition uncovered hidden behind a false wall by a builder renovating a house has been revealed.
These pictures show the secret haul of more than 30 shotguns and pistols as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition that Simon Berni, 41, was shocked to discover.
He said: "It was an incredible arsenal – full, absolutely choc-a-bloc with eight shelves of fire arms and ammunition."
Police are investigating the gun stache... (GunPolicy.org)
Asia,Europe,Germany,South America,United States,Austria,Italy,Croatia,Belgium
European Arms, Money Fuel US Gun Addiction say Experts
23 January 2013
Deutsche Welle
After each massacre in the US, Europe laments America's gun culture and violence. At the same time, European companies have no problem selling arms to Americans and supporting the NRA's fight against tougher gun laws.
It is not widely reported, but European firearms for a long time have played a pernicious role in US mass shootings and Europe's gun makers are among the strongest backers of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Handguns by Austrian arms manufacturer... (GunPolicy.org)
US Teen Shoots, Kills Five as Gun Lobby Protests for Rights
20 January 2013
BBC News / Associated Press
A teenage boy in New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the fatal shootings of five people.
Two adults and three children were found dead with apparent multiple gunshot wounds at a house near Albuquerque on Saturday evening.
Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson said it was not yet clear what the suspect's motive was, or his connection to the victims.
He faces two counts of murder and three of child abuse resulting in death.
Mr Williamson... (GunPolicy.org)
Johns Hopkins Publishes First Instant Book in Response to Gun Violence
17 January 2013
Publishers Weekly (New York)
Even before President Obama announced Wednesday his plans to take comprehensive action against gun violence in the wake of the December tragedy at Sandy Hook, Johns Hopkins University Press was moving quickly to inform the national debate on gun control by fast-tracking into publication a book that was acquired less than a week ago and is scheduled to be shipped January 28. Reducing Gun Violence: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, edited by Daniel W. Webster... (GunPolicy.org)
Irish Personalised Gun Tech Shown at Obama's Gun Control Meeting
17 January 2013
Irish Times (Dublin)
President Barack Obama signalled he is ready for a fight with House Republicans and the National Rifle Association over gun control when he announced the most far-reaching initiative on the issue in nearly 20 years.
"I intend to use whatever weight this office holds," Mr Obama vowed. Referring to the December 14th massacre of 20 six and seven-year-olds and six adults at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, he said, "This is our first task as a society; keeping our... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns are 'Instruments of Escalation', Increase Risk of Death - Kristof in NYT
16 January 2013
New York Times, Opinion
When I travel abroad and talk to foreigners about the American passion for guns, people sometimes express a conclusion that horrifies me: in America, life is cheap.
President Obama announced a terrific series of gun-control measures to show that we do indeed hold life dear. But the fate of these proposals ultimately will depend on centrist Americans who are torn. They're troubled by the toll of guns but also think that it's reassuring to have a Glock when you hear a... (GunPolicy.org)
NY State Tightens Gun Laws, Requires Mental Health Checks
15 January 2013
Reuters
NEW YORK - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed into law one of the nation's toughest gun-control measures and the first to be enacted since the mass shooting last month at an elementary school in neighboring Connecticut.
The bill passed the Democratic-led Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, a day after sprinting through the Republican-majority Senate. State lawmakers have been in session for just a matter of days.
New York's legislation comes just a day before... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Violence Summit: Experts on What the Evidence Really Shows
15 January 2013
Slate (Washington)
The headquarters of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry's trade association, is 3.2 miles, a seven-minute drive, from Sandy Hook Elementary School.
After last month's massacre, all the pictures of NSSF executives had been taken down from the organization's website, said Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the UC-Davis Medical Center.
"I suspect they were taken down because they were involved. This was their... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Plans 'Gun Appreciation Day' as Tougher Controls Debated
15 January 2013
Time (USA)
Well, this is awkward: Some Americans are celebrating Gun Appreciation Day on Jan. 19 — two days before President Obama's second inauguration, nine days after a teenager opened fire at a California high school, the same week as the one-month anniversary of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting and the same month as the second anniversary of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tuscon, Ariz.
But Gun Appreciation Day isn't a long-standing tradition with poor timing. Nope,... (GunPolicy.org)
British Girl Shot Dead in Jamaica, Authorities Condemn 'Senseless' Act
13 January 2013
BBC News
An eight-year-old girl from south London shot dead when a gunman opened fire in a shop in Jamaica was a "happy, playful and popular" pupil, her head teacher has said.
Imani Green was inside her cousin's shop in the rural north coast town of Duncans on Friday when a man entered the store and an argument broke out.
Police said the man then opened fire, shooting at people inside.
Imani, from Balham, was hit and died later in hospital.
Three other people are being... (GunPolicy.org)
Gunman Critically Injures US Student as Authorities Debate Gun Control
11 January 2013
Reuters
A 16-year-old boy armed with a shotgun opened fire in a California high school classroom on Thursday, critically wounding a fellow student before two staff members talked him into surrendering the weapon, authorities said.
The accused gunman was arrested at Taft Union High School in inland Kern County following the shooting and investigators later said he felt he was being bullied by one or two students in the class, including the boy who was shot and seriously... (GunPolicy.org)
US Scientists Urge Authorities to End Limits on Gun Safety Research
10 January 2013
Reuters
Research restrictions pushed by the National Rifle Association have stopped the United States from finding solutions to firearms violence, more than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Vice President Joe Biden's task force on gun violence in a letter on Thursday.
In the wake of the December school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and other mass homicides, the group of economists, health researchers, educators, doctors and... (GunPolicy.org)
'Horrific' Gun Violence in US Needs Public Health Focus
9 January 2013
Harvard Magazine
In the wake of the murder of more than two dozen children and adults in Newtown, Connecticut, in December, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Reuters sponsored a forum at the school on "Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis" on January 8. Reuters correspondent Scott Malone moderated the conversation, in which professor of health policy and management David Hemenway (HSPH), professor of child psychiatry Felton Earls (Harvard Medical School), Loeb University... (GunPolicy.org)
US Mulls Nationwide Gun Registry, Limiting Sales to Licensed Dealers
6 January 2013
Washington Post
The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation's gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration's discussions.
A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the... (GunPolicy.org)
Unsecured Antique Gun Kills Brazilian Teen in Accidental Shooting
4 January 2013
Telegraph (UK)
A Brazilian teenager died after an antique shotgun which had been hidden for years fell to the floor and went off as he was cleaning his room.
Helciane Pereira da Silva, 14, was shot in the stomach by the gun, which is believed had been placed in a gap near the ceiling of the boy's room by a previous owner.
Police in Monteiropolis, in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, said the teenager had been rearranging his room at the time of the accident and had probably... (GunPolicy.org)
US School Shooting a Watershed: Think Pearl Harbour, 9/11 – Wintemute
4 January 2013
Sacramento Bee (California)
Gun violence has not been far from our collective minds since the nation was shocked Dec. 14 by the shooting of 20 first-graders in Newtown, Conn. Now a New Year's Eve shootout in Old Sacramento has left two people dead and three wounded in our own community, bringing the issue of public violence closer to home.
Perhaps no one in the Sacramento region is better known for his research on gun violence than Dr. Garen Wintemute, who as director of the UC Davis Violence... (GunPolicy.org)
8 Dead in Philippines Shooting, Unlicensed Guns Rife Say Police
4 January 2013
CBC News (Canada) / Associated Press
A man with domestic problems fatally shot eight people, including a pregnant woman and two children, after taking alcohol and drugs in a rampage Friday near the Philippine capital that ended when he was shot dead by police, officials said.
At least eight other people were wounded in Kawit township, about 16 kilometres south of Manila, Cavite provincial Gov. Jonvic Remulla said.
The violence happened days after the death of a 7-year-old girl who was hit in the head by... (GunPolicy.org)
Girl's Death Triggers Gun Debate in Philippines
4 January 2013
Bangkok Post / AFP
The death of a girl hit by celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve sparked calls Thursday for stricter gun controls in the Philippines, where unlicensed weapons are widely blamed for rampant violence.
The girl, Stephanie Ella, aged seven, died Wednesday from a gunshot wound to the head, triggering outrage and condemnation of poor law enforcement that allows hundreds of thousands of unregistered firearms to be on the streets.
"This incident should not be allowed to... (GunPolicy.org)
9 US States Gave Millions in Tax Breaks to Support Assault Rifle Makers
2 January 2013
Pine Tree Watchdog (Maine)
Taxpayers across the country are subsidizing the manufacturers of assault rifles used in multiple mass killings, including the massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. last month.
A Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting examination of tax records shows that five companies that make semi-automatic rifles have received more than $19 million in tax breaks, most within with the past five years.
"I feel horrified at the power of... (GunPolicy.org)
Experts Suggest US Can Learn From Australia's Post-Port Arthur Laws
30 December 2012
Sky News (UK)
When Martin Bryant massacred 35 people with semi-automatic weapons at a tourist spot in Tasmania in 1996, then-Australian prime minister John Howard reacted swiftly by pushing for tough new national gun laws.
Just 12 days after the shootings at Port Arthur, legislation was agreed which banned most people from owning rapid fire rifles and shotguns.
In a government buyback scheme more than 600,000 weapons were handed in and destroyed.
There have been no mass killings... (GunPolicy.org)
We Know Several Ways to Reduce, Prevent Gun Violence - Wintemute
26 December 2012
New England Journal of Medicine
We are learning how to watch the news through tears. All those children, and the adults protecting them. With an assault rifle. Up close. The survivors, eyes averted, are led to safety in daisy chains. Ambulances rush to the scene, but nearly all return empty. Loved ones go home empty, too.
We pore over the details, searching for the clues that will bring order to chaos and help us predict and prevent the next one. But these catastrophes are all different. We have... (GunPolicy.org)
Zimbabwe,Pakistan,Colombia,United States,Brazil
Brazil Should Continue Responsible Gun Control, Reduce Deaths Further
25 December 2012
Rio Times, Opinion
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Last week's slaughter of twenty elementary school children in the United States has tragic echoes with the massacre in Realengo, Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. At 8:30 AM on April 7th, Wellington Oliveira calmly walked into a classroom with two .38 and .32 caliber handguns, and shot twelve children dead.
At least sixty shots were fired and twenty boys and girls were critically wounded. It was the worst school massacre in Brazilian history.... (GunPolicy.org)
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)
Turkey NGO says Potential for Mass Shootings Due to Lack of Gun Control
23 December 2012
Today's Zaman (Istanbul)
As long as Turkey does not take action to put in place gun control measures, the country is likely to face mass shootings like the one that shook the United States in mid-December, killing 26 people, observers have said.
A 20-year-old man, Adam Peter Lanza, on Dec. 14 shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their Newtown home before fatally shooting 20 children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. He then took his own... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby 'Rant' After Newtown Shooting Shows Ignorance
21 December 2012
New York Times, Editorial
Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, would have been better advised to remain wherever he had been hiding after the Newtown, Conn., massacre, rather than appear at a news conference on Friday. No one seriously believed the N.R.A. when it said it would contribute something "meaningful" to the discussion about gun violence. The organization's very existence is predicated on the nation being torn in half over guns. Still, we were... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Deaths Projected to Top Car Fatalities by 2015
20 December 2012
Independent (UK) / Bloomberg (USA)
Guns and cars have long been among the leading causes of non-medical deaths in the U.S. By 2015, firearm fatalities will probably exceed traffic fatalities for the first time, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
While motor-vehicle deaths dropped 22 percent from 2005 to 2010, gun fatalities are rising again after a low point in 2000, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shooting deaths in 2015 will probably rise to almost 33,000,... (GunPolicy.org)
Silent Gun Lobby Leaders Had Family in 'Gun Valley' Town of Newtown?
20 December 2012
Sacramento Bee (California)
The National Rifle Association has gone dark since Sandy Hook.
This is not the usual refusal to comment out of respect. Nothing has been posted to their website since the killings last Friday morning in Newtown, Conn. Their last daily video news feed went up the day before. Their Facebook page has been deactivated. Their last Twitter posting ("10 Days of NRA Giveaways – Enter today for a chance to win an auto emergency tool!") must have come early on Friday.
There... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Are Very Serious about the Right to Own, Carry Firearms
20 December 2012
Time (USA)
Even as the gun-control debate rises again in the U.S. in the aftermath of the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the gun-loving Swiss are not about to lay down their arms. Guns are ubiquitous in this neutral nation, with sharpshooting considered a fun and wholesome recreational activity for people of all ages.
Even though Switzerland has not been involved in an armed conflict since a standoff between Catholics and Protestants in 1847, the Swiss are very... (GunPolicy.org)
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)
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)
Yemen,Norway,Switzerland,Canada,Germany,Spain,Finland,United States,United Kingdom,Australia
Homicides Down after Tougher Gun Laws Adopted Abroad
19 December 2012
Los Angeles Times
Twelve days after the worst mass murder in Australian history, when 35 people were shot to death at Tasmania state's Port Arthur tourist mecca in 1996, the government issued sweeping reforms of the country's gun laws. There hasn't been a mass shooting since, and suicides, deaths by firearms and robberies at gunpoint have plummeted.
The results of toughened gun rules in Britain after the massacre in the Scottish town of Dunblane that same year weren't so immediate or... (GunPolicy.org)
Tunisia,Egypt,Qatar,United Arab Emirates,Kuwait,Bahrain,Oman,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Iran,United States
How US, Middle East Gun Laws Measure Up
19 December 2012
Al Arabiya (Dubai)
The fatal Dec. 14 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut which claimed the lives of 28 people, including 20 innocent children under 10 once again brought to light the dilemma of gun ownership in the United States and despite the fact that it received no response from the gun rights advocates but a deafening silence, laid emphasis on the necessity for the United States to revise its gun policies.
The shooting rampage, in which a mentally... (GunPolicy.org)
US Chance to Emulate UK, Australian, Canadian Gun Control 'Is Gone'
16 December 2012
Nation (USA)
The following is a Q & A with Professor Garen Wintemute, Baker-Teret Chair of Violence Prevention, at the University of California at Davis medical school. Wintemute is one of the country's leading experts on the public health theory of gun control. He has long argued that gun violence is equivalent to a medical epidemic, and that, as such, public health measures ought to be taken to counter its spread.
Sasha Abramsky: What happened in Connecticut last Friday was by... (GunPolicy.org)
US President Obama Comforts Nation Over Mass School Shooting
16 December 2012
Washington Post, Video
On Sunday night, President Obama spoke at a vigil for those who died in the Newtown, Conn., tragic shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school.
Link to video:... (GunPolicy.org)
US Pro-Gun Culture Blamed After Mass Shooting at Elementary School
14 December 2012
Battle Creek Enquirer (Michigan), Editorial
The gun culture in this country is insane. Even as the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., unfolded on our television screens on Friday, we could almost predict the calls to "avoid politicizing" the issue.
Politicizing? That's code for let's not have a discussion about restrictions on firearms, or whether guns contribute to the numbers of homicides, or whether better regulation might have prevented Friday's massacre of innocents.
After all, guns don't kill people; people kill... (GunPolicy.org)
Marijuana Found at Airport, PNG Police Suggest Gun Running Plot
5 December 2012
Post-Courier (Port Moresby)
PORT MORESBY – In Papua New Guinea, a major drugs-for-guns trade syndicate operating between Tari in the new Hela province and Daru in the Western province involving the use of light aircrafts was uncovered last Tuesday in Tari, Hela province.
Third level airliner Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) workers in Tari become suspicious when two youths fronted up in the morning with their bags to travel to Balimo in Western province.
Tari MAF port manager Mr. David... (GunPolicy.org)
Malaysia Cop Acquitted of Fatal Youth Car-Chase Shooting in Appeal
5 December 2012
New Strait Times (Malaysia)
SHAH ALAM - Police corporal Jenain Subi was acting within the scope of his duties when he opened fire at the Proton Iswara driven by teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah two years ago.
The High Court found that Jenain had only answered was only doing his duty when he tried to stop a speeding vehicle.
Judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli said this yesterday before acquitting Jenain after allowing his appeal against his conviction and sentence of five years' jail for causing the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence Falling in Bermuda, Cops Hope New Plan Continues Trend
27 November 2012
Royal Gazette (Bermuda)
National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief has defended his Ministry's record on fighting gang violence.
But Government will implement a National Crime Reduction Plan which will "raise the game" on fighting crime even further, the media was told yesterday.
At Alaska Hall Mr Perinchief said that his Government had been "proactive" in fighting gang crime. An "easy guide" on community action and gang prevention had been widely distributed and well received, and... (GunPolicy.org)
'Crisis' of Armed Violence in South Sudan Despite Disarmament, says NGO
27 November 2012
Médecins Sans Frontières, Media release
JUBA — A report released today by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) highlights the devastating impact of violence on the lives and health of civilians in South Sudan's Jonglei state. Women and children as young as four months old are among the victims. Healthcare is threatened as medical facilities are targeted and destroyed.
Jonglei state has a long history of intercommunal cattle-raiding; however, since 2009 thousands of civilians, women and children have been... (GunPolicy.org)
GPNHeader: Guns Where Tobacco Was in 1950s: Death Toll Amenable to Science
25 November 2012
Denver Post (Colorado)
Gun violence must be treated as a public-health issue — such as alcohol, smoking and traffic — say people concerned about gun-related death rates from mass shootings and random shots nationwide.
"Guns are where tobacco was in the 1950s," said Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program, who practices emergency medicine at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. "There's a little bit of science and a great deal of... (GunPolicy.org)
Call for US to Keep Promises on Gun Control, Ban Assault Weapons
23 November 2012
New York Times, Editorial
President Obama's fleeting mention of the need for stronger gun controls at a presidential debate last month was hardly the kind of forceful political statement needed to address the scourge of gun violence in this country. Even his tepid remark was considered by the nation's gun owners as a threat to take away their firearms. In what amounts to a buyers' panic, they are again ramping up gun and ammunition sales as they did four years ago, convinced that Mr. Obama... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Attack Suspect Able to Access Guns Despite Stalking, Psych Issues
21 November 2012
New York Times / Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A southwest Missouri man accused of plotting attacks at a movie theater and Walmart store legally bought the guns he allegedly planned to use, despite being forced to undergo a psychiatric exam three years ago after stalking a store clerk he said he planned to kill, authorities said.
Blaec Lammers, 20, was arrested last week after his mother told police she feared he was planning an attack. Authorities say Lammers told investigators he planned... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Thailand,Austria,Czech Republic
Thai Authorities Concerned Over Easy Access to Guns
18 November 2012
Bangkok Post
In recent years Thailand has been flooded with illegal firearms and the misery they cause is plain for all to see. Every day there are media reports of shootouts and homicides that begin with domestic quarrels, school rivalries and traffic accidents, and quickly escalate. Law enforcement officials say the root cause is the easy availability of guns, and this is true for teenagers as well as adults. People prefer to buy weapons outside of legal channels because they are... (GunPolicy.org)
