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Firearm violence, gun control and small arms
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)
Concerns Over 'Self-Aiming' Rifle That Turns Novices Into Expert Snipers
21 May 2013
New Scientist
First time firing a gun? There's help at hand – a new "self-aiming" rifle can help even a novice hit the target at long range on the first go. But the technology has its critics, who see it as a serious threat to public safety.
Just weeks after the firing of the world's first 3D printed handgun, a smart rifle that allows the user to accurately hit targets up to 900 metres away has gone on sale in the US.
Made by TrackingPoint, a start-up based in Austin, Texas, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Germany,Nigeria,China,United States,United Kingdom
Former Doyen of UK Gun Lobby Pleads Guilty to More Gunrunning
17 May 2013
Democrat and Chronicle (USA)
British arms dealer Gary Hyde has admitted helping smuggle illegal AK-47 magazines into the United States for sale by a Chili-based firearms wholesaler, federal court records show.
Hyde signed a plea agreement in late April but it was not filed until this week, records show.
Hyde admitted that he had helped alter the markings on the 5,760 magazines so their country of origin — China — would not be known. In the U.S., there is a federal ban on the importation of... (GunPolicy.org)
Brazil,Iceland,United States,United Kingdom,Denmark
Low Rates of Gun Homicide in Iceland Despite High Gun Ownership
16 May 2013
BBC News
Even though I grew up in New England, there was something novel about seeing an Icelandic blizzard. It was paralysing, with epic wind gusts that made snowflakes feel like razors.
As I dragged my bags along Reykjavik's snowy pavement, an older man in a Jeep pulled alongside me.
"You want to get in?" he asked.
It sounded crazy. Why would I ever get in a stranger's car?
Despite everything I was taught about riding in cars with strangers, I climbed in the backseat. And... (GunPolicy.org)
Dominica,United States,Virgin Islands (US)
Dominica Man Jailed for Smuggling Guns from US to Virgin Islands
15 May 2013
CBS News (USA) / Associated Press
HOUSTON — A man with ties to the Caribbean has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sending guns bought in Texas to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A federal judge in Houston on Wednesday sentenced 22-year-old Tyrone Reid. Investigators say Reid is a citizen of Dominica who's been living in Houston.
A jury in February convicted Reid of a conspiracy-related firearms count and two charges of making false statements to a firearms dealer.
Prosecutors say Reid was... (GunPolicy.org)
US Govt Moves to Stop Spread of 3D Gun Plans Online
15 May 2013
Red Deer Advocate (Alberta), Opinion
The story so far: Cody Wilson, who describes himself as a "crypto-anarchist" and almost certainly wears a Second Amendment belt-buckle, had a bright idea early last year. No government could ever oppress its people again, reasoned the 25-year-old law student at the University of Texas, if everybody in the world was able to manufacture their own guns at home.
Well, not everybody in the world, exactly, but at least everybody with $8,000 to buy a 3D printer on eBay, or... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: Appearances To The Contrary, Gun Control Not Dead in the US
15 May 2013
Sydney Morning Herald, Opinion
They were dancing in the street to celebrate Mother's Day in New Orleans when the bullets started whipping through the crowd.
Shermaine Tyler, a 32-year-old woman, was with her mother heading towards a parade following a band when a man shot in the hand and groin tumbled into her lap.
"This is all ridiculous. We all bleed the same blood. We all come from the same God," Tyler told The Times-Picayune. "Everyone is getting shot, and for what?"
By the time the gunfire... (GunPolicy.org)
US Defence Considers New Gun Policy as Military Suicide Rate Soars
15 May 2013
New York Times
After Specialist Freddy Hook, a medic with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, killed himself in 2010, the trail of possible causes seemed long.
He had used illegal drugs: Was it the demons of addiction? His rocky relationship with his fiancée? A wrenching deployment to earthquake-ravaged Haiti or the prospect of an impending tour in Afghanistan?
As with most of suicides plaguing the military today, no one will know for sure.
"There are so many factors," said his... (GunPolicy.org)
US Pediatricians Take on Gun Lobby – Carefully
13 May 2013
NBC News (USA)
To pediatricians, gun control is a public health issue, not a political one. But they're treading a fine line, and they know it.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has begun a renewed push to try to get Congress to pass gun control measures, sending more than 100 pediatricians to Capitol Hill earlier this month. But others who have taken on the issue over the past decade have a warning for them: they can run afoul of the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Technology Helping Canadian Police Dig Up Firearm History
13 May 2013
CBC News (Canada)
Advanced technology is helping Toronto police learn more about the history of the guns they seize from city streets, but wary criminals are paying attention and taking steps to thwart that process.
Police say that when they retrieve bullets, fragments or shell casings from crime scenes, investigators can tell if they have come from a firearm that they have seen before. They do this using the Integrated Ballistics Identification System, a Canadian-designed technology... (GunPolicy.org)
19 Injured After Shooting at US Parade
13 May 2013
BBC News
Nineteen people have been wounded in a shooting at a Mother's Day parade in the US city of New Orleans, police say.
The victims included two children who were grazed by bullets. Police say most injuries are not life-threatening,
It is unclear what sparked the shooting in the city's 7th Ward on Sunday afternoon. Police say three suspects were seen fleeing the area.
The incident happened at about 14:00 (19:00 GMT) at the intersection of Frenchmen and Villere... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Homicide Falls, What Does This Mean for Gun Control?
9 May 2013
Economist, Blog
HOUSTON - Gun-control legislation fell short last month in a close Senate vote, but some spy flickers of hope in the "world's greatest deliberative body". However, the sense of urgency that followed the Newtown massacre has definitely faded, and new studies from the Department of Justice and the Pew Research Center showing an astonishing drop in gun violence over the past two decades seem to call into question the need for new, stricter regulations. Americans have been... (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)
United States,Mexico,Guatemala
Report Traces Arms Trafficking From US to Guatemala
8 May 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
A new report sheds light on a little-studied subject: the trafficking of US weapons into Guatemala, a relatively limited phenomenon that could be far bigger than suggested by the available data and may play a role in the continuing violence and criminality in that Central American nation.
The report (pdf), from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, reviews an analysis that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted of... (GunPolicy.org)
Report Shows Drop in US Gun Violence but Most Killings Still With Guns
8 May 2013
Washington Post
Gun violence dropped dramatically nationwide over the past two decades, but nearly three-quarters of all homicides are still committed with a firearm, the Justice Department said in a report released Tuesday.
The report, by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, painted an encouraging picture of long-term trends at a time of divisive political debate over guns and legislation to regulate them. Firearms-related homicides declined 39 percent between 1993 and... (GunPolicy.org)
US, Spanish Gun Lovers Download 3D Gun Plans 50,000 Times First Day
7 May 2013
New York Daily News
The first downloadable gun has gone viral.
The plastic firearm that can be churned out on a 3-D printer and easily assembled was downloaded at least 50,000 times Monday, according to the self-described anarchist who made it available for free online.
Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed, a collective of gun advocates, said the most downloads were done in Spain followed by the United States.
The prospect of terrorists getting hold of the guns by clicking a computer... (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)
US Girl's Death By Gunshot is Rejected as Symbol
5 May 2013
New York Times
BURKESVILLE, Kentucky — Last Monday, Kristian Sparks and his sister, Caroline, visited a Fred's Super Dollar store here. A store manager recalled that it was an ordinary shopping trip, saying that the boy was outgoing and energetic, his little sister was cute and their grandmother was "like any grandmother — she bought them anything they wanted."
The next day Kristian, 5, shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a gun marketed for children as "My First Rifle" in... (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)
Man Jailed for Gun Smuggling Between US and Caymans
1 May 2013
CayCompass.com (Cayman Islands)
A Caymanian man accused in a gun smuggling ring that operated between Grand Cayman and south Florida between 2008 and 2009 has been sentenced to nearly four years in United States federal prison.
Mikkyle Brandon Leslie was sentenced before Judge Robin Rosenbaum Monday in Fort Lauderdale following a plea deal his attorneys reached with federal prosecutors earlier this year. Leslie could have faced between 20 to 30 years in prison if he had gone to trial and been... (GunPolicy.org)
More US Women Taking Up Guns, For a Variety of Reasons
1 May 2013
Korea Herald / Agence France Presse
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia ― Proudly brandishing a target she had riddled with bullets, 62-year-old Sharon Schaefer could not hide her delight at joining America's growing number of gun-toting women.
"It was fun!" she exclaimed breathlessly, much to the approval of her instructor Teresa Ovalle.
"You did a good job, Sharon," said the former Marine, who had just given the senior citizen a crash course in pistols at the Fredericksburg Range, some 80 kilometers southwest... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Govt Budgets to Seize Rifles Easily Converted to Automatic
1 May 2013
Global News (Canada)
Six years after approving German-made rifles that can be converted to machine guns "in minutes" – guns that by law should have been prohibited to begin with – the federal government will spend up to $260,000 buying them from their owners.
In February 2007, the RCMP classified the SSD BD38, a semi-automatic replica of a German Second World War-era sub-machine gun, as a 'restricted' firearm, meaning that it had the same legal status as a handgun. That classification... (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)
Opinion: Gun Makers and the NRA Capitalise on Shooting Tragedy
1 May 2013
Guardian (UK), Opinion
After the Sandy Hook massacre when 20 school children were gunned down in their classrooms along with several of their teachers, many of us thought the country would finally wake up to the insanity of allowing civilians to arm themselves with weapons designed to inflict mass carnage. Instead, what we have seen is tragedy descend into farce as all efforts to pass sensible gun reform measures have collapsed and gun makers, their lobbyists and now security companies are... (GunPolicy.org)
80-Yr-Old Indian Engineer Arrested for Supplying Arms Parts to Gang
1 May 2013
DNA India (Mumbai)
An 80-year-old man from Dadar was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly supplying spare parts of imported weapons, arms and ammunition to a Uttar Pradesh-based gang. A joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad and Mumbai police also recovered spare parts of imported weapons and ammunition from his flat.
Senior inspector of Dadar police station Prakash Patil said that D'Souza was arrested from his fifth floor flat at Salvation Apartments in Agar Bazaar area.... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Man Jailed After Flouting Lifetime Weapons Ban for Third Time
30 April 2013
Metro Canada
A Vancouver criminal who had already received two lifetime weapons bans was caught again with three illegal guns.
Police executed a search warrant on June 20 last year on a home where Victor Sharma lived with his late mother.
Police found a fairly large marijuana grow-op of 659 marijuana plants, worth an estimated $220,000, and a hydroelectric bypass.
Officers also found an illegal Ruger semi-automatic pistol with 13 live rounds loaded in a clip. The gun had its... (GunPolicy.org)
Yemen,Argentina,Costa Rica,Libya,Germany,United States,Brazil,Paraguay,Austria
Most Brazilian Guns Exported to US
29 April 2013
Folha de Sao Paulo
BRASILIA - The U.S., currently discussing restrictions on the sale of firearms, purchased 7.9 million guns from Brazil in the past 40 years, and 59% of those were exported during the Lula administration (2003-2010).
That is the result of a new study by the Army Command to which Folha had access through the Access to Information Act, with a detailed record of the sellers and buyers of 9.9 million revolvers, pistols, rifles and shotguns, among other weapons, exported... (GunPolicy.org)
Banned Handguns, Rifles with No Crime Links Found in Canadian Home
29 April 2013
CTV News (Toronto)
The London police drugs and guns unit seized over $5,000 worth of drugs, nine handguns and three assault rifles from a residence on William Street.
Police executed a search warrant at the London residence on Friday around 10 p.m.
Officers also found hundreds of rounds of ammunition and over $13,000 in cash.
Following a press conference on Monday afternoon, police released a list of all the firearms that were seized:
- Smith and Wesson .45 Calibre semi-automatic... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Rights Group Using Legal Threats to Force Local Law Changes
26 April 2013
Washington Post
HAGERSTOWN, Maryland. — A gun owners' rights group has threatened to sue 35 Maryland counties or municipalities unless they repeal regulations that the group says violate state gun laws.
The Second Amendment Foundation of Bellevue, Wash., said Thursday that Maryland is the third state targeted in its campaign to eliminate more-restrictive local laws in states where local governments have little or no authority to regulate firearms.
The group has run similar projects... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: Easing Gun Rules Ignores the Pain of Those Grieving
26 April 2013
Sydney Morning Herald, Opinion
This Sunday marks the 17th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, where 35 people were killed and 18 wounded by a lone gunman brandishing high-powered longarms.
In response to the killings, Australia's gun laws were significantly tightened. The prime minister at the time, John Howard, was able to gain bipartisan support from all state governments for a 10-point plan to regulate firearms - known as the 1996 Nationwide Agreement on Firearms.
This agreement... (GunPolicy.org)
GE Capital Joins Cerberus in Cutting Ties to Gun Industry in US
25 April 2013
Associated Press / NPR
NEW YORK — General Electric's finance arm is cutting ties with gun dealers, halting financing offers at about 75 gun shops across the U.S. in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., massacre that took the lives of 20 schoolchildren and six teachers and administrators.
The December school shooting ignited a national debate about gun laws and drove some companies to distance themselves from the gun industry. Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced a few days... (GunPolicy.org)
Africa,Oceania,Europe,Asia,United States,Americas
Study Shows Gun Ownership Doesn't Preserve Freedom, Democracy
25 April 2013
Atlantic (USA)
After League City, Texas, became the first city in the state to pass a resolution effectively nullifying federal gun regulations in February, Councilwoman Heidi Thiess, who speared the motion, shared a quote. "Gen. Isoroku Yamamoto, who was the commander of Japan's WWII Combined Fleet, was asked why he never bothered to invade the U.S. after Pearl Harbor," she remarked. "And you know what he said? 'You can't invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind... (GunPolicy.org)
GE Takes Further Steps to Stop Loans to Gun Shops, Industry in US
24 April 2013
Reuters
General Electric Co discovered it was financing a small number of firearm purchases in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings - despite deciding five years ago to avoid the practice - and moved to stop future loans, the company said on Wednesday.
Many of the conglomerate's employees live in or near Newtown, about 25 miles from GE's Fairfield, Connecticut, headquarters. Peter Lanza, the father of the Newtown gunman, is a GE executive.
The company's GE... (GunPolicy.org)
The Gun Fighter: Garen Wintemute's Battle for US Gun Violence Research
24 April 2013
Nature
With his crisp blue suit and wire-framed spectacles, Garen Wintemute hardly looked frightening as he stepped to the podium last month to address a conference on paediatric emergency medicine in San Francisco, California. But his presence there made the organizers nervous.
Wintemute, an emergency-department doctor, is better known as the director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California (UC), Davis. As such, he has published dozens of... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,United States,Europe
Gun Crime, Homicide Falling But Violence Still Costs UK £124b a Year
24 April 2013
Kensington and Chelsea Today (UK)
Surprisingly, the UK is 11% less violent than a decade ago but the lack of peace still has an economic impact of £124 billion which comprises both direct and indirect costs and lost productivity annually. In 2012 this was the equivalent of £4,700 per household an astonishing 7.7% of the UK's annual GDP. These figures were released today by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in the first-ever UK Peace Index (UKPI), which reveals London was beaten to the... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Soldier Faces Charges After Gun Smuggling Investigation
23 April 2013
CBC News (Canada)
An investigation into an international weapons smuggling operation has led police to raid an Ontario army base and lay more than 30 charges against a Quebec soldier.
Ontario provincial police say the raids conducted at CFB Borden and several locations in Quebec netted hundreds of firearms, gun enhancements and parts, including silencers and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
They say officers also seized documents related to the production of prohibited firearms parts... (GunPolicy.org)
Amid Gun Control Debate, US Asks How Bombing Suspects Got Guns
22 April 2013
Leader Post (Canada)
WASHINGTON - Just days after U.S. senators defeated a bid to expand background checks on potential gun buyers, Americans are asking how the Boston Marathon bombing suspects acquired a cache of firearms alongside their explosives.
Among the weapons officials have said were in the possession of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were not only several bombs, but handguns, an M-4 carbine rifle and more than 250 rounds of ammunition.
Much of that arsenal was on fiery display... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada: 'Gun Shy' Govt Hushed Up Firearm Registry Destruction Bash
21 April 2013
Calgary Herald (Alberta) / Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Public servants spent a full month, at the "urgent" request of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, preparing two splashy announcements heralding the destruction of the long-gun registry data — only to have the events cancelled at the last moment without explanation.
The final deletion of millions of registry records last October 31 could be seen as a crowning achievement for a Conservative government that had campaigned against the registry for more than a... (GunPolicy.org)
US Rapper Promotes Jewellery Made From Buyback Guns
19 April 2013
Scientific American
The rap star is supporting a new (and controversial) line of jewelry made from illegal guns that spends its proceeds to try to help get guns off the street.
If you follow rap, reggae or gun control, you may be aware of the transformation of gun-toting gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg into peace-loving reggae singer Snoop Lion. His first single as Snoop Lion, "No Guns Allowed," grabbed attention not only for its anti-gun hook - "Let the music play, me don't want no more... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Pipeline: Mules Pay High Price for Smuggling on Canada Border
19 April 2013
Toronto Star (Ontario)
Chantelle Batte didn't know she had successfully smuggled a small arsenal of guns, including a machine gun with a silencer, into Canada until police showed up at her door and arrested her days later.
Batte, a single mom from Sarnia, is just one of the many people used to mule guns across the border each year.
An ongoing Star investigation reveals that border officers seize few of the guns destined for the criminal market in Toronto and across Ontario.
Today, we look... (GunPolicy.org)
India's Anti-Terrorist Squad Busts Gun Smuggling Gang
19 April 2013
Pioneer (India)
LUCKNOW - Sleuths of the Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) arrested four persons and claimed to have busted a gang which is smuggling parts of arms from overseas and assembling them here to dispose it off later to hardened criminals at higher rates. They said to have recovered arms in large quantity besides equipments and tools used for assembling.
Giving the details of the above development here on Thursday afternoon, ADG (law and order) Arun Kumar, said that the ATS is... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Bill Defeated Amid Heavy Lobbying by NRA, Obama 'Furious'
18 April 2013
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona was in an empty hallway in the Capitol on Tuesday when he bumped into Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic member of Congress from his home state who was critically wounded in a mass shooting. Both froze in anticipation of the painful minute about to unfold.
Ms. Giffords, who had been fiercely promoting a background check bill for gun buyers, knew that Mr. Flake, a Republican and an old friend, had announced on his... (GunPolicy.org)
US Senate Blocks New Laws, Ignore Pleas from Gun Victims
18 April 2013
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades Wednesday, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons as they spurned pleas from families of victims of last winter's school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
"This effort isn't over," President Barack Obama vowed at the White House moments after the defeat on one of his top domestic... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Aren't US Gun Control Advocates Focusing More on Online Sales?
17 April 2013
Atlantic (USA)
Despite clear demonstrations of the ease with which anonymous weapons transactions can occur online — including ties to mass shooting incidents — the issue has been largely sidelined during the political debate.
After all, the "gun show loophole" — the shorthand expression for exempting a number of gun buyers from background checks — is much more than a gun show loophole. The image of two guy shaking hands to finalize a sale in a crowded, well-lit conference... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: US Senate in the Gun Lobby's Grip
17 April 2013
New York Times, Opinion
Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: US Gun Lobby Rhetoric, Not Money, Blocking Gun Control
17 April 2013
Guardian (UK), Opinion
Of all the senators who attempted Wednesday to rally support for the doomed Manchin-Toomey background check amendment, Connecticut's Democratic freshman representative, Chris Murphy, probably faced the greatest temptation to borrow the moral authority of the Newtown families. They are his constituents and many were present in the chamber.
He's young – the youngest sitting senator, actually – and an early Obama supporter, given to occasional bouts of... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Man Shoots, Injures Neighbour with Rifle Over Noise
16 April 2013
Local (Switzerland)
An American expat rapper living in Biel in the canton of Bern says he is lucky to be alive after a neigbour fired at him with a gun for making too much noise in his apartment.
"I really dodged a bullet today," the man said on his Facebook page, according to a report online from the 20 Minutes newspaper.
The bearded man posted a photo showing a burn mark on his cheek about the size of a two-franc coin.
"My neighbour arrived with a pump action rifle in my apartment... (GunPolicy.org)
Bermuda Govt Announces Gun Amnesty, Buyback to Cut Crime
15 April 2013
Global Post (Boston) / CANA News
Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley has announced that a cash for guns scheme is to be introduced next month in a fresh attack on violent crime in Bermuda.
The programme, run jointly with the independent Crime Stoppers group, will see cash rewards for information leading to the recovery of firearms or the arrest and prosecution of offenders.
Dunkley said an advertising blitz for the scheme will kick off this month after emphasising the independence and... (GunPolicy.org)
New US Study Shows Guns Rarely Used to Kill Criminals or Stop Crime
15 April 2013
Violence Policy Center (Washington, DC), Media release
WASHINGTON, DC — "Guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes" according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use (http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable.pdf). The report analyzes national data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program's Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey... (GunPolicy.org)
New Research Shows Gender Divide on Gun Control in US
13 April 2013
Daily Mail (UK)
Nearly two thirds of women favour stronger gun laws compared to just 44 per cent of men, a poll has revealed - highlighting the enduring gender divide over the issue.
The numbers, from a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, show that gun control could be yet another hurdle for Republicans in their battle to win female votes.
Experts note this divide has been a long-standing trend, with a Pew Research Center survey from March showing current gap is similar to that between... (GunPolicy.org)
Mother Of Newtown Victim Steps In For Obama, Pleas For Gun Control
13 April 2013
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
WASHINGTON - The mother of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting made a deeply personal plea from the White House for action to combat gun violence, choking back tears almost from the start of her speech.
Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son, Ben, was killed in the Dec. 14 attack inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, stepped in for President Barack Obama to deliver the president's weekly radio and Internet address. She is the first... (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)
Portugal,Libya,United States,Guinea-Bissau,Colombia
Alleged FARC Scheme Swapped Cocaine for West African Arms
12 April 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
An international police operation has dismantled a network in which Colombian rebel group the FARC allegedly attempted to exchange cocaine for weapons from the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau.
The investigation, involving US, Colombian, Portuguese, and Guinea-Bissau authorities, lasted over a year, reported EFE. Colombian police arrested two men in Bogota who are accused of serving as as the FARC's intermediaries for the West Africa-based weapons suppliers.
On... (GunPolicy.org)
Syria,North Korea,Iran,United States
Expert Says Explaining Benefits of Arms Treaty will Boost US Support
11 April 2013
New York Times, Opinion
On April 2, the United States joined an overwhelming majority of countries at the United Nations in voting to adopt a treaty regulating the international trade in conventional weapons — a monumental achievement after seven years of diplomacy, lobbying and out-and-out arm-twisting.
The United States pushed for the General Assembly vote last week after securing, in a March conference, the treaty language its negotiators wanted.
Yet now, just days after the United... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Gun Sent Through Mail in Canada Leads to Arrests
11 April 2013
CBC News (Canada)
RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency have intercepted a prohibited firearm that was being sent to someone in northern B.C. through the mail.
In late March, the CBSA found the gun in Canada Post mail destined for Dawson Creek, located in northeastern B.C.
Working with Canada Post, police tracked the alleged recipients of the package and arrested two Dawson Creek men, aged 31 and 40, who are both well-known to police.
Both men are facing charges of importation of a... (GunPolicy.org)
Serbia,United States,England & Wales
Motives Unclear in Serbian Gunman's Rampage, Law Change Demanded
10 April 2013
Montreal Gazette (Québec) / Associated Press
Serbia held a national day of mourning Wednesday as police searched for possible motives in the Balkan nation's worst peacetime shooting massacre, which left 13 villagers dead and triggered demands for tighter gun-control laws.
Police say a 60-year-old veteran went on a pre-dawn, house-to-house rampage Tuesday in a village near Belgrade, including killing his mother, his son and a two-year-old cousin before shooting himself and his wife. The two are in critical... (GunPolicy.org)
Toronto Artist's Bullet-riddled School Bus Turns Heads at White House
10 April 2013
Toronto Star (Ontario)
The torn up shell of a school bus, pockmarked with gashes and dents from 6,000 bullets, was paraded through the streets of Washington, D.C. this week, centre of the action in the swirling American gun control debate.
Was it the remains of an unspeakable horror? Some kind of war zone relic?
No. It's art, and in post-Sandy Hook America, where the bullet-riddled bus installation by Toronto artist Viktor Mitic is on display, the stark portrayal of the destructive power of... (GunPolicy.org)
Yemen,England & Wales,United States,Macedonia,Croatia,Slovenia,Kosovo,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Montenegro,Serbia
Citizens in Former Yugoslavia 'Traumatised and Heavily Armed'
10 April 2013
Washington Post
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The wars from 1991 to 1999 as Yugoslavia broke up took up to 200,000 lives, turned millions into refugees and left much of the region's people traumatized and heavily armed. It was the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The millions of weapons that remained in possession of civilians after the fighting have caused fatalities every week, as traumatized former soldiers either shoot family members or commit suicide or... (GunPolicy.org)
CDC Ban on Gun Research in US Caused Lasting Damage
9 April 2013
ABC News (USA)
President Obama may have ended the 17-year ban on gun violence research at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but even if Congress restores research funds, experts say the damage runs deeper than funding cuts.
Since the 1996 ban, many of the leading researchers of the 1980s and 1990s have moved on to other specialties, and some said they've even discouraged students from specializing in gun violence research because the work doesn't pay. The ban also... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Lobby Group Plans Giving Guns to Homeowners to Fight Crime
7 April 2013
The DePaulia (USA)
The nonprofit organization known as the Armed Citizen Project recently announced its plans to start a gun giveaway in Tucson, Ariz., that would function as a crime-fighting measure.
Fighting guns with guns? It's a novel idea. Undoubtedly, this will create a world of controversy, especially in a city such as Tucson, which was the site of the shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the mass killing of six other people in 2011.
Yet the measure, which is... (GunPolicy.org)
Legally-Owned Guns Weapons of Choice in Domestics in Canada
5 April 2013
Ottawa Sun (Ontario)
Police say it's nearly impossible to prevent domestic-related murders like the one that rocked a Gatineau daycare Friday morning.
Hunting shotguns similar to the gun used in Friday's incident can be legally owned but police no longer know who they belong to.
"Since the long gun registry was abolished, there's absolutely no way now for law enforcement to know who owns or possesses long guns," said Ottawa police weapons expert Det. Chris O'Brien.
Most often, it's women... (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 About Influence of Canada's Gun Lobby on Arms Trade Treaty
4 April 2013
Toronto Star (Ontario)
The champagne was flowing Tuesday afternoon in the office of the Canadian charity Project Ploughshares.
Hours earlier, the United Nations in a 154-3 vote agreed to approve an arms trade treaty, a pact that has the promise to regulate the cross-border sale of conventional weapons. In theory, the treaty should stop arms makers from being able to sell so easily to countries with spotty human-rights records.
Tanks, combat aircraft, naval vessels, missiles and launchers,... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Running into Mexico on the Rise as US Admits Lack of Data on Guns
4 April 2013
San Marco Mercury
As the gun control debate swirls around issues like background checks and mental health, a new study reveals that gun running into Mexico remains a large-scale problem.
In their report, titled "The Way of the Gun," researchers at the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute estimated that as many as 253,000 firearms were purchased in the United States from 2010 to 2012 for the sole purpose of being trafficked across the border into Mexico. The figure is nearly... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia's Gun Controls a Political Template for US
3 April 2013
Reuters
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard wore a bullet proof vest under his suit when he addressed an angry crowd of gun owners in 1996, telling them he was going to ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons for the safety of all Australians.
At other rallies, effigies of his deputy prime minister Tim Fischer were hanged by opponents of gun control.
The battle for gun control in Australia, after the country's worst massacre in which 35 people were shot dead, was... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA Publishes Study Claiming US Schools Need Armed Guards
3 April 2013
Washington Post
A 225-page study commissioned by the National Rifle Association has endorsed and amplified the gun rights group's immediate response to the mass killing in Newtown, Conn.: that all schools in the United States should have police or armed staff members trained to confront a shooter.
Although ostensibly independent of the NRA, the examination of school safety issues, released Tuesday, provides the organization with an alternative narrative to the various gun-control... (GunPolicy.org)
Report Links High Rates of Gun Violence to Weak US Gun Control Laws
2 April 2013
New York Times
Many states with the weakest gun laws have the worst rates of gun violence, ranking high on numerous indicators, like gun homicides and suicides, firearm deaths of children, and killings of law enforcement officers, according to a report to be issued Wednesday by the liberal Center for American Progress.
Alaska ranked first in overall gun deaths, the report found, with 20.28 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 — more than twice the national average — followed by... (GunPolicy.org)
US State Agrees to Tough Gun Law Changes After Mass Shooting
2 April 2013
BBC News
Lawmakers in the US state of Connecticut have agreed to a sweeping set of gun restrictions, including a ban on new high-capacity magazines.
The proposal requires background checks on all gun sales and expands the state's assault weapons ban.
It comes as new federal gun measures appear to have stalled in Congress.
Debate over US gun laws was reignited after a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at a Connecticut primary school in December.
Tighter gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada's Gun Show Dealers Unhappy Over Trigger Lock Law Enforcement
31 March 2013
CBC News (Canada)
Dealers at this year's Calgary Gun Show say that stricter rules on trigger locks go too far.
The province is starting to enforce a trigger-lock law designed to make handling and transporting guns safer. The law has been in place for 15 years but hasn't been enforced until now. Dealers say that the precaution is unnecessary.
"We don't look at them as a very safe device," says Hank Holm, president of the Alberta Arms and Cartridge Collectors' Association. "If you put... (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)
US President Uses Executive Power to Advance Gun Control Agenda
29 March 2013
The Hill (Washington DC)
President Obama is quietly moving forward on gun control.
The president has used his executive powers to bolster the national background check system, jumpstart government research on the causes of gun violence and create a million-dollar ad campaign aimed at safe gun ownership.
The executive steps will give federal law enforcement officials access to more data about guns and their owners, help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, and lay the... (GunPolicy.org)
Health Authorities Fear NYC's New Gun Laws May Hurt the Mentally Ill
28 March 2013
BBC News
When Governor Andrew Cuomo put his name to the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (Safe) Act, just a month after the mass shooting at Newtown, Connecticut, he told supporters that the bill's mental health provisions lay at the core of the legislation.
The act includes, among its various controls on gun ownership, something called a "mental health alert", which requires mental health professionals to report patients who they believe pose a threat to themselves... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Firearms Instructor Arrested Over Illegal Sales, Restricted Guns
27 March 2013
CBC News (Canada)
Winnipeg police have laid charges against a firearms safety instructor after seizing 101 firearms from a St. Boniface-area home.
On Feb. 26, a 54-year-old man from Winnipeg was charged with uttering threats and a variety of firearms related offences. A shot gun was seized at the time of the arrest, according to police.
Shortly after the incident, officers began looking into where the gun came from.
After a lengthy investigation, officers executed a search warrant at... (GunPolicy.org)
Concerns Raised as Convicted Bermuda Gunmen get Reduced Sentences
27 March 2013
Royal Gazette (Bermuda), Opinion
The Court of Appeal made two decisions last week which won't have escaped the attention of anyone worried about spiralling gun violence in this country.
As reported in The Royal Gazette on Friday, 22-year-old armed robber Jaron Roberts had his sentence for a crime spree involving an imitation firearm cut by almost a third.
And gunman Marico Bassett, also aged 22 and serving 25 years in prison for shooting Randy Lightbourne, was told he'd be eligible for parole two... (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)
US Gun Deaths - and Tougher Laws - Shaped by Race
25 March 2013
Japan Times / Washington Post
WASHINGTON – Gun deaths are shaped by race in the United States: Whites are far more likely to shoot themselves, and blacks are far more likely to be shot by someone else.
The statistical difference is dramatic, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A white person is five times as likely to commit suicide with a gun as to be shot with a firearm, while for each African-American who uses a gun to kill... (GunPolicy.org)
Oceania,Asia,Europe,Africa,Americas,United States
NGOs Slam New Arms Trade Treaty Draft, Blame US for Changes
25 March 2013
Reuters
Human rights groups on Monday sharply criticized the latest draft of what could become the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade, accusing the United States and others of pushing to dilute it.
Several Western delegations, however, played down the complaints of groups like Oxfam, Amnesty International, the World Council of Churches and Control Arms, saying the latest draft showed progress, though improvements were clearly... (GunPolicy.org)
Bloomberg Funds $12m US Gun Law Campaign
25 March 2013
BBC News
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is bankrolling a $12m (£7.8m) advertising campaign for tougher gun control laws.
The television adverts will run in 13 states and urge voters to persuade their senators to back comprehensive background checks for gun buyers.
Mr Bloomberg, a strong supporter of gun control, has said he is cautiously optimistic of winning over Congress, which votes on the issue next month.
But his campaign has been dismissed by the National Rifle... (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)
Facts Show Guns Don't Offer Protection, Despite What the NRA Says
25 March 2013
Guardian (UK), Blog
"The one thing a violent rapist deserves is to face is a good woman with a gun!" That was Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association, the standard bearers for America's gun lobby, making the case that personal firearms prevent rape.
The assertion that guns offer protection is a mantra the NRA has repeated often. In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, LaPierre opined: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a... (GunPolicy.org)
Both Sides of US Gun Debate Citing Nazis as Reason For, Against Guns
24 March 2013
Washington Post
When the president of Ohio's state school board posted her opposition to gun control, she used a powerful symbol to make her point: a picture of Adolf Hitler. When a well-known conservative commentator decried efforts to restrict guns, he argued that if only Jews in Poland had been better armed, many more would have survived the Holocaust.
In the months since the Newtown, Conn., school massacre, some gun rights supporters have repeatedly compared U.S. gun control... (GunPolicy.org)
US Begins to Notice Scandal of Federal Ban on Gun Control Research
23 March 2013
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
Like a lot of people who follow the gun debate, I was surprised to learn earlier this year that for more than a decade, Congress has made it nearly impossible for our premier federal health research institutions to study gun violence.
That became evident when President Obama announced his series of executive orders in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
In one of those orders, he directed the Centers for Disease Control and... (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)
One Stolen Gun Blazes a Violent Path – A Typical Tale from Any City
22 March 2013
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
Thomas Allen Hoffman was looking for a "cheapie."
In the spring of 2007, he browsed a North Mankato gun dealer's collection for a Hi-Point pistol, one of the least expensive handguns on the market.
Hoffman wanted the gun for personal protection.
He paid $150 to the Red Bear Hunting Emporium and took home a Hi-Point C-9 9mm semiautomatic pistol, serial #P1352366. But soon the gun was stolen, changed hands, then changed hands again, spiraling beyond the bounds of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Law Heads to US Senate, Leader says Background Checks a 'Must'
21 March 2013
Reuters
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday any gun-control bill that passes his chamber can only be effective if it includes universal background checks, an embattled centerpiece of President Barack Obama's bid to curb gun violence.
Reid voiced hope an elusive bipartisan compromise could soon be reached on requiring virtually all firearm purchasers to be screened for possible criminal and mental-health records.
Republicans have voiced concerns that a proposed... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA Lobbies for Domestic Abusers and Drinking, Disturbed Gun Owners
20 March 2013
al Jazeera
The National Rifle Association's guns-at-all-costs mentality and total disregard for public safety has already put it in the uncomfortable position of opposing the most basic laws to protect the public safety. It opposes the regulations that would help stop disturbed young men from going on shooting sprees in schools with weapons that are as easy to fire as video game controllers. It opposes the international Arms Trade Treaty, which according to the Washington Post... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada Police Seize Loaded Assault Weapon in Trafficking Bust
20 March 2013
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
Calgary police were disturbed to find a loaded AK-47 assault rifle — the first weapon of its kind seized in the city in recent years — during a recent trafficking bust.
"It's shocking we found such a high-calibre weapon in the hands of criminals," said Staff Sgt. Steven Drennan with the Calgary Police Service's guns and gangs unit.
While the city has seen a growing weapons trade over the years, this is the first time in recent history a genuine high calibre AK-47... (GunPolicy.org)
Mexico Gun Trafficking Benefits Nearly 50% US Dealers - Study
20 March 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
A new study found that nearly half of United States firearms dealers are economically dependent on demand from Mexico, while under 15 percent of illicitly trafficked arms are seized at the border, highlighting the US role in Mexican gun violence.
The study, titled "The Way of the Gun: Estimating Firearms Traffic Across the U.S.-Mexico Border," aimed to quantify the US role in feeding Mexico's gun violence, which continues to rise despite tight gun control policies and... (GunPolicy.org)
South America,Eastern Europe,Thailand,Italy,Canada,United States,Philippines
The Gunmakers of the Philippines
20 March 2013
BBC News
CEBU, Philippines - A shot rings out from a factory on the outskirts of the Philippines' second-biggest city, Cebu.
But this isn't an all-too-frequent drive-by killing or an argument that has become violent.
The sound is from a testing range at Shooters Arms, the country's second-largest gun factory.
Shooters Arms produces about 20,000 pistols and shotguns every year, 85% of which are sold abroad - mainly to the US, Canada, Italy and Thailand.
Operations manager... (GunPolicy.org)
Did the Doomed Assault Weapon Ban Kill Most Other US Gun Control?
20 March 2013
Daily Beast (USA)
Sen. Harry Reid announced Tuesday that he would not be including Sen. Dianne Feinstein's proposal to ban the sale of assault weapons in the package of gun legislation he'll bring to the floor of the Senate. This all but ends gun control advocates' hopes of reinstating the ban on assault weapons, although Feinstein can offer it as an amendment once Reid's package is being debated. Reid, however, says there aren't anywhere near the 51 votes for passage, much less the 60... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Regional Police Uncover Huge Stash of Firearms
20 March 2013
Oshawa Express (Ontario)
Durham Regional Police Inspector Mario Lessard of the Criminal Intelligence Branch was surrounded by a room full of guns.
There were weapons strewn about everywhere, all part of a massive seizure.
Grenades, landmines, 67 guns and a small cannon were recently found in a Bancroft home where a couple now faces more than 600 charges as a result.
But what does Durham have to do with this? According to Insp. Lessard, Durham is a member of the Provincial Weapons Enforcement... (GunPolicy.org)
Germany,United Kingdom,France,Mexico,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,China,Russia,United States
Armed Violence Kills 66,000 Women and Girls Each Year
20 March 2013
New Zealand Herald, Associated Press
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has urged the world's nations to agree on a strong UN treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade in the next two weeks, saying it will save lives and make it more difficult for warlords, organised criminals and terrorists to obtain weapons.
Hopes of reaching agreement on what would be a landmark treaty were dashed last July when the United States said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord - a... (GunPolicy.org)
More Than 250,000 Guns a Year Illegally Smuggled into Mexico - Study
19 March 2013
Fox News Latino
The Fast and Furious gun-running scandal that continues to haunt the U.S. Department of Justice highlighted a frightening fact: Illegal firearms are flowing into Mexico from the U.S. at an alarming rate.
More than two percent of all firearms bought in the United States -- about 253,000 -- end up south of the border, up from 1.75 percent in 1990, according to a binational report by the Trans-Border Institute in San Diego and the Igarape Institute, a research center in... (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)
Africa,Americas,Asia,Europe,Oceania,United States,Russia,Italy,Germany,Brazil,Switzerland,Israel,Austria,South Korea,Belgium,Spain,Turkey,Norway,Canada,United Kingdom,Australia,France,Pakistan,Yemen,Honduras,El Salvador,Jamaica
Fact and Figures: Global Trade in Small Arms
18 March 2013
al Jazeera
Diplomats from around the world have gathered at the UN for talks on an international arms trade treaty, in an effort to stop the sale of illegal conventional arms.
Similar talks held last July failed, mainly due to the objections of the US and Russia, the world's two largest arms exporters.
Al Jazeera has compiled a list of facts related to the global production and trading of small arms.
1. Authorised international transfers of small arms, light weapons, their... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Advocates Want Provincial Firearms Officers Scrapped
18 March 2013
CBC News (Canada), Canadian Press
A pro-gun advocacy group that has two representatives on a federal firearms advisory panel wants the Conservative government to eliminate all provincial firearms offices, saying they have "poked the lion" once too often.
The Canadian Sports Shooting Association has launched a national petition that asks Ottawa to establish a single "civilian agency" in place of provincial and territorial firearms officers that oversee licensing and other gun regulations.
The group is... (GunPolicy.org)
China,Russia,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States
UN Revives Effort on Pact to Regulate Arms Trade
17 March 2013
New York Times
In the shadow of the re-energized gun-control debate in the United States, negotiators at the United Nations will reconvene this week to try to reach a final agreement on a treaty to regulate the global trade in conventional weapons, a lucrative business that rights groups call the main source of illicit arms fueling deadly conflicts around the world.
"I am confident that member states will overcome their differences and muster the political will needed to agree on... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
US Gun Lobby Stepping Up Its Opposition to UN Arms Trade Treaty
17 March 2013
Guardian (UK)
The National Rifle Association is stepping up its opposition to a UN treaty aimed at halting the illicit trade of guns into conflict zones, after months of silence on the issue believed to be due to its focus on domestic gun control.
Human rights campaigners said that the resurgence of the NRA's campaign was designed to "stir up anti-UN panic" ahead of the UN conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which opens on Monday in New York. The Obama administration indicated in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia,China,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States
NRA Opposes UN Arms Trade Treaty
16 March 2013
Washington Post
The National Rifle Association, which is battling a raft of gun control measures on Capitol Hill, also has an international fight on its hand as it gears up to oppose a U.N. treaty designed to restrict the flow of arms to conflict zones.
Negotiations open Monday in New York on the Arms Trade Treaty, which would require countries to determine whether weapons they sell would be used to commit serious human rights violations, terrorism or transnational organized... (GunPolicy.org)
