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Firearm-related multiple 'spree' killings
Israeli Gunman Kills Four Then Self with Licensed Handgun
20 May 2013
Washington Post
JERUSALEM — A gunman stormed into a bank in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Monday, killing four people in a gunfight and taking a hostage before killing himself, police said.
Police initially suspected a bungled bank robbery but later changed their assessment.
They identified the gunman as a former military officer who fell on hard times financially. The 40-year-old man arrived at the bank to withdraw money and settle a debt, police said. He reportedly got... (GunPolicy.org)
Philippines Police Continue Search for 400,000 Illegal Guns
19 May 2013
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — And the search goes on.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) will continue to look for over 400,000 loose firearms all over the country even after the election gun ban ends on June 12.
PNP Director General Alan Purisima said the police had been able to account for more than 200,000 unlicensed guns since the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) launched a crackdown on loose firearms dubbed "Oplan Katok."
"The lifting of the gun ban… will... (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 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Russian President Opposes Idea of Free Gun Sales for Defensive Use
27 April 2013
RIA Novosti (Russia)
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he opposes the idea of allowing Russians to buy guns freely for self-defense purposes.
"I do not support the idea of free arms distribution in Russia," Putin told Rossiya 24 television adding: "It is dangerous to artificially stimulate this process."
The idea came after a shocking massacre in downtown Belgorod, southwest Russia, on Monday afternoon, which left six people dead.
A gunman killed three people... (GunPolicy.org)
German Gunman Kills Politician, Self After Alleged Licensing Altercation
26 April 2013
Local (Germany)
A 74-year-old gunman killed a top official in the northern German town of Hamelin on Friday before shooting himself dead, police said.
"The perpetrator killed district administrator Rüdiger Butte and then killed himself," a police spokesman said. Officers were still at the scene on Friday afternoon, collecting evidence to support an investigation.
Shots were heard shortly after 10am in the city's main administrative building, where 63-year-old Butte was later found... (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)
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)
Russian Mass Shooting Suspect Has Criminal Record, History of Aggression
24 April 2013
BBC News
A gunman suspected of shooting six people dead in the western Russian city of Belgorod on Monday has been captured, Russian police have said.
Sergei Pomazun, 31, was detained after being caught trying to flee the city on a freight train.
The manhunt lasted more than 24 hours and involved over 2,000 police.
Mr Pomazun is believed to have shot dead three people in a hunting shop and three passers-by. He is said to have wounded a policeman during his capture.
When... (GunPolicy.org)
Support for Stricter Gun Control Falls Slightly in Philippines
23 April 2013
Sun Star (Philippines)
MANILA - Three out of four Filipinos back the implementation of strict gun licensing regulations to prevent or curb violence arising from the use of loose firearms, down seven points from 82 percent in October 2000.
In a survey conducted by Pulse Asia from March 16 to 20, levels of support for such policy range from 66 percent to 87 percent across geographic areas and from 72 percent to 81 percent across socio-economic classes.
Residents in Metro Manila, where a New... (GunPolicy.org)
Russian Man Steals Rifle, Shoots and Kills Six People
22 April 2013
Reuters
MOSCOW - A man shot dead six people, including two schoolgirls, with a rifle after robbing a hunting shop in the western Russian city of Belgorod on Monday, local officials said.
Police said their main suspect was a former convict in his thirties, adding that the attacker had fled in an expensive car.
The man, who was still on the run on Monday evening, first opened fire at the personnel of the shop and then also shot dead passersby outside in the city's main street,... (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)
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)
At Least 19 Die in Bomb, Gun Attack on Somali Courthouse
15 April 2013
RIA Novosti (Russia)
MOSCOW - Bomb and gun attacks have left at least 19 people dead in Somali capital Mogadishu, media reported.
A total of 16 people, including nine assailants, are thought to have been killed after gunmen attacked the city's key court buildings. A car bomb later killed three people, including one attacker, as it went off on the road to the airport, the BBC reported.
Islamist militant group al-Shabab, linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Shabab... (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)
600,000 Unlicensed Guns in Philippines as Black Market Thrives
11 April 2013
France 24
Bespectacled and clean shaven, 37-year-old Jomari Paraas could pass for a typical office employee in the Philippines, except he has six guns in his backpack that he will soon sell.
The father-of-two is a prolific player in the country's enormous and lucrative weapons black market, which has been under scrutiny following a spate of high-profile massacres and shoot-outs this year.
"Why do I trade guns? Because there is a demand for it. And it's extra income," said... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Owner Used Legal Gun to Kill 14 in Serbian Mass Shooting
11 April 2013
Guardian (UK)
The Serbian veteran suspected of killing 13 people in a shooting rampage and then turning the gun on himself and his wife died on Thursday, hospital officials have said.
Belgrade Emergency hospital said Ljubisa Bogdanovic, 60, died from head wounds. His wife Javorka Bogdanovic, also 60, was recovering from surgery and in a stable condition.
Bogdanovic went on a pre-dawn house-to-house rampage on Tuesday, police said, killing his mother, his son and a two-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)
Serbia Considers New Gun Law After Mass Shooting
10 April 2013
Balkan Insight (Sarajevo)
BELGRADE - Milorad Veljovic, head of Serbian Police, said police were working on a draft Law on Weapons and Ammunition that would provide greater control over people who possess guns. "The draft will be passed to the government in the coming days," Veljovic said.
The move comes after a 60-year-old man, named only as Ljubisa B., went on the rampage on Tuesday morning, killing six men, six women and a boy aged two in Velika Ivanca, 60 kilometres south of... (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)
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)
War-Affected Serbian Man Kills 13, Injures Self and Wife in Mass Shooting
9 April 2013
CTV News (Toronto) / Associated Press
He went from house to house in the village at dawn, cold-bloodedly gunning down his mother, his son, a 2-year-old cousin and 10 other neighbours. Terrified residents said if a police patrol car hadn't shown up, they all would have been dead.
Police said they knew of no motive yet in the carnage Tuesday that left six men, six women and a child dead in Velika Ivanca, a Serbian village 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade.
After the rampage, police said suspect... (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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
School Shooting 'Likely' in Sweden - Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
21 March 2013
Local (Sweden)
There will likely be a school shooting in Sweden sometime in the foreseeable future, according to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, which warned that local authorities are woefully unprepared to deal with such an event.
"Many people have access to hunting weapons, even if you can't go to just any store and buy a gun, access to them is nevertheless pretty wide," MSB risk analyst Magnus Winehal told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
In a report looking at... (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)
Strict Gun Control Is Long Overdue in Uganda
14 March 2013
Observer (Kampala), Editorial
The minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, has promised stricter gun control in the aftermath of a shooting incident in Bombo town council in which 10 people were killed.
Kiyonga told Parliament on Wednesday that security organs are to review their discipline and gun control measures in a bid to achieve institutional tight control on firearms. This is long overdue as there have been far too many shooting incidents in Uganda involving armed security officers over the... (GunPolicy.org)
In US Around 88 People Die Every Day to Gun Violence
12 March 2013
Mother Jones (USA)
LF: What do you say to people who argue that these kinds of regulations don't work, that criminals will always find some way to get guns?
GW: All of the research evidence shows that increasing regulation of firearms—whether the firearms themselves, the people who are allowed to have them, or the conditions under which they are bought and sold—makes a difference. I think it can be hard to prove that any one law makes a difference because laws are enacted in groups,... (GunPolicy.org)
Sweden,Uruguay,Finland,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Cyprus,Switzerland,Yemen,Serbia,United States
10 Nations with Highest Gun Ownership
12 March 2013
SiliconIndia
Bangalore: "Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins," said novelist Ayn Rand. In an era where the misuse of guns and ammunitions are leading to massacres, it is no more a place of nonviolence. Arms and ammunitions leave bitter memories and scar the human race for ages to come. Here are the 10 countries with highest gun ownership, as listed by yahoo.com.
USA:
USA tops the list of countries with highest gun ownership and this no surprise! The... (GunPolicy.org)
Of 200 US Mass Killings in 7 Years, Only 29 Involved Random Victims
12 March 2013
USA Today
Tuesday's arraignment of James Holmes, accused of mass murder in Colorado, was a rarity among massacre suspects.
Holmes, who was scheduled to enter a plea for the July 2012 murders of 12 patrons in a suburban Denver movie theater and the attempted murder of nearly 60 others, is just one of a handful of suspects to face legal proceedings in a case involving no prior connection to murder victims. Judge William Sylvester declined a request by Holmes' attorneys to delay... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun-Related Deaths: How Australia Stepped Off "The American Path"
12 March 2013
American College of Physicians - Annals of Internal Medicine
Australia and the United States share many characteristics. Both are English-speaking democracies of multicultural immigrants. The 2 nations have been allies for nearly a century. Australians and Americans consume similar diets of movies, video games, popular music, recreational drugs, and alcohol. Both have vast interiors, early histories of armed European settlers mistreating native populations, plenty of feral pests to shoot, and many firearm enthusiasts. Yet the 2... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: American College of Physicians - Annals of Internal Medicine
Sandy Hook Shooting May Make almost No Difference in US Gun Control Laws
11 March 2013
Time (USA)
Here's a hard truth: all the emotion and outrage and sadness that followed the Dec. 14 shooting of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook elementary school may make almost no difference in federal gun control laws. How little is the Hill going to do on gun control? As things stand, Congress may not even pass two gun control measures that even some elements of the powerful gun lobby have suggested they could support. But if post-Sandy Hook gun control measures are badly... (GunPolicy.org)
Rate of Gun Ownership in US Is Down, Survey Shows
9 March 2013
New York Times
The share of American households with guns has declined over the past four decades, a national survey shows, with some of the most surprising drops in the South and the Western mountain states, where guns are deeply embedded in the culture.
The gun ownership rate has fallen across a broad cross section of households since the early 1970s, according to data from the General Social Survey, a public opinion survey conducted every two years that asks a sample of American... (GunPolicy.org)
Switzerland Debates Gun Registration Law in Shootings' Aftermath
7 March 2013
Bloomberg Business Week
On a snowy late-February morning, a man walked into the cafeteria of a wood-processing plant in the Swiss village of Menznau and opened fire with a Sphinx AT .380 pistol. Four people died, including the gunman. Six others were wounded. It was Switzerland's second mass shooting in less than two months. In January a man with a history of mental illness fired a rifle from his window in the Alpine village of Daillon, killing three and injuring two. The shootings have... (GunPolicy.org)
US States With Most Gun Laws Have Fewest Firearm Deaths, Study Says
7 March 2013
Bloomberg (USA)
States with the most laws regulating firearms, including Massachusetts and New York, have the lowest gun-death rates from homicides and suicides, according to a study published by the American Medical Association.
Physicians and researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard University used data on gun fatalities collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and surveys of states' laws compiled by advocacy groups such as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun... (GunPolicy.org)
More Gun Laws May Be Linked to Lower Rates of US Gun Fatalities: Study
6 March 2013
Journal of the American Medical Association
METHOD
Importance - Over 30 000 people die annually in the United States from injuries caused by firearms. Although most firearm laws are enacted by states, whether the laws are associated with rates of firearm deaths is uncertain.
Objective - To evaluate whether more firearm laws in a state are associated with fewer firearm fatalities.
Design - Using an ecological and cross-sectional method, we retrospectively analyzed all firearm-related deaths reported to the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Control Fight in Danger of Being Lost
3 March 2013
United Press International
WASHINGTON - As the images of 20 first-graders massacred in Connecticut, of the horrific attack on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona, of the slaughter of movie-goers in Aurora, Colo., and of numerous other mass killings in the United States fade in the national memory, the fervor to restrict access to some types of weapons and magazines appears to be abating.
The debate on gun control itself has largely been subsumed in recent weeks by concern over... (GunPolicy.org)
US Company Puts Plans for 3D Gun Parts Online to Bypass Laws
2 March 2013
BBC News, Video
As the gun debate around automatic rifles continues in the United States, one company has decided to combat possible legislation by designing a gun that can be made at home.
The design uses 3D printers and is being made available online for free.
Anti-gun advocates are worried about the future of gun... (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)
A Guide to Mass Shootings in America
27 February 2013
Mother Jones (USA)
It is perhaps too easy to forget how many times this has happened. The horrific mass murder at a movie theater in Colorado last July, another at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in August, another at a manufacturer in Minneapolis in September — and then the unthinkable nightmare at a Connecticut elementary school in December — are the latest in an epidemic of such gun violence over the last three decades. Since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings* across the... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Man Kills Three, Injures Seven in Mass Workplace Shooting
27 February 2013
New York Times
GENEVA — At least three people were killed in a shooting at a Swiss factory on Wednesday, the police said, adding that the gunman was among the dead. The episode was the second mass shooting in Switzerland this year.
The shooting occurred at about 9 a.m. in the canteen of a Kronospan wood processing factory in the town of Menznau, about 14 miles west of Lucerne, the police said in a statement. A spokesman for the police in Lucerne said that the gunman was a... (GunPolicy.org)
Three Dead, Seven Injured in Swiss Factory Shooting
27 February 2013
BBC News / Associated Press
Three people have been killed and seven injured during a shooting at a factory near the Swiss city of Lucerne, police have said.
The killer, a 42-year-old man who had worked at the factory for 10 years, is among the dead.
Shooting broke out in the canteen at the Kronospan wood processing plant in the town of Menznau at around 09:00 (08:00 GMT).
A prosecution spokesperson said the shooting took place over a few minutes.
Five of the injured are reported to be in a... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Maker Threatens to Stop Police Sales if Gun Rights 'Infringed'
23 February 2013
Christian Science Monitor
ATLANTA - A growing number of firearms firms in the United States are vowing to reverse-boycott local and state governments that enact any new infringements on the Second Amendment.
Vowing to close what they're calling "the police loophole," at least 50 US companies, ranging from gun machinists to gun shops, are now saying publicly they'll refuse to sell weapons and gear to police in places where governments have banned the use of the same gear by civilians.
Quality... (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)
Comprehensive Study of Mass Shootings by US Gun Control Campaign
22 February 2013
Demand a Plan / Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Blog
Using new data from the FBI, Mayors Against Illegal Guns updated its comprehensive study of mass shootings. The 25 percent increase in incidents — to a total of 56 over the last four years, more than one per month — strengthens its conclusions about where mass shootings occur, what weapons are used, and what other factors are at play:
- Less than 1% of gun murder victims were killed as part of incidents with four or more victims.
- In at least 57 percent of the... (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)
Quebec Moves Towards Gun Registry, Gun Storage Changes
19 February 2013
Montreal Gazette (Québec)
QUEBEC — It was in their eyes, it was in their voices.
Gun-control advocates, including the mother of a victim of the École Polytechnique massacre, descended on the National Assembly Tuesday to witness another step toward the creation of a provincial gun registry.
And while they heaped praise on Quebec's politicians — the new registry has the support of all the parties here — they expressed anger at what has happened to their dream of better gun control in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Finland,United States,European Union,Germany,Switzerland,Russia,South Africa,Mexico
Registry Shows Germans Fourth in World For Guns
17 February 2013
Local (Germany)
Figures compiled for Germany's new National Weapons Registry reveal that there are 5.4 million legally owned guns in the country, making it the world's fourth most-armed nation per capita.
Der Spiegel magazine reported on Sunday that the state of Bavaria topped the list with 1.1 million, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia with 1 million and Baden-Württemberg with 700,000.
The new national gun register bundles together the data from over 500 local authorities, which... (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)
Canada Govt Claim to Have Curbed Illegal Guns Falls Flat
16 February 2013
Yahoo (Canada) / Macleans (Canada)
As Americans debate their culture of guns with unprecedented intensity, concern in Canada about the spillover of firearms across the border might be expected to heat up too. Even before the school-shooting carnage at Newtown, Conn., which prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to propose a raft of politically contentious new gun-control measures, Canadian federal politicians regularly talked tough about the scourge of U.S. handguns turning up on Canada's city streets.... (GunPolicy.org)
Second US Teachers Pension Fund Drops Gun Shares
15 February 2013
Financial Times (UK)
A New York City teachers' retirement fund has withdrawn $13.5m in investments in gun manufacturers, in the latest move by a public pension fund to distance itself from the firearms industry after a mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school.
John Liu, New York City's comptroller who serves as investment adviser to the $46.6bn fund, said on Friday that the shooting that left 20 children dead in Newtown, Connecticut, and "the continued prevalence of gun violence... (GunPolicy.org)
Story of Last Australian Gun Massacre, Gun Control Now a Free E-book
14 February 2013
Sydney University Press, Book review
Over Our Dead Bodies: Port Arthur and Australia's fight for gun control
By Simon Chapman
Sydney University Press
The Port Arthur massacre on 28 April 1996, when 35 people were shot dead by Martin Bryant, transformed Australia's gun control debate. Public outrage drove politicians from all sides of politics to embrace gun control. Non-violent 'people power' galvanised government resolve to outlaw semi-automatic weapons, register all guns and tighten gun ownership... (GunPolicy.org)
Passionate Obama Speech Proposes Gun Control
14 February 2013
Salon (USA)
In a way, it was fitting that the cable news networks were forced by the drama in Big Bear to blow up hours of long-planned pre-State of the Union coverage Tuesday night. Only a few minutes before President Obama entered the House chamber did the news channels finally cut away from California, where it was becoming clear that Christopher Dorner had died inside a burning cabin, and return to Capitol Hill. His demise was confirmed in the middle of Obama's speech.
Dorner,... (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)
Israel Has Fewer Guns, Fewer Deaths Than US
11 February 2013
Forward, the Jewish Daily
WASHINGTON — Nine days after the Newtown, Conn. massacre in which 20 children died, Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, broke his group's long silence with a bristling attack against gun regulation that included a theme heard frequently among gun rights advocates.
"Israel had a whole lot of school shootings until they did one thing," LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They said, 'We're going to stop it,' and they put... (GunPolicy.org)
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)
Yemen,France,United States,Switzerland
Three Dead, Two Injured in Swiss Shooting
8 February 2013
Washington Post
DAILLON, Switzerland — On Jan. 3, the day Sandy Hook Elementary students returned to school in Newtown, Conn., Florian Berthouzoz leaned out his window and opened fire on this tranquil Swiss village with an old military carbine and a 12-gauge shotgun.
By the time he finished shooting, three women were killed, apparently at random, and two men were wounded. Berthouzoz was brought down by a police officer's bullet in the chest.
The shooting in Daillon, on a steep... (GunPolicy.org)
How the Gun-Control Movement in America Got Smart
7 February 2013
Atlantic (USA)
Here is how advocates of gun control used to talk about their cause: They openly disputed that the Second Amendment conferred the right to own a gun. Their major policy goals were to make handguns illegal and enroll all U.S. gun owners in a federal database. The group now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was once known as Handgun Control Inc.; a 2001 book by the executive director of the Violence Policy Center was entitled Every Handgun Is Aimed at... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Gun Crime Data Misused by US Pro-Gun Groups
5 February 2013
CNN / Global Public Square, Blog
I had a stark introduction to gun violence when I moved from Australia to Tucson, Arizona 12 years ago.
As I walked to my hotel room one evening, I passed some young people apparently holding a party in another room. They seemed mostly harmless, and I acknowledged them with a "g'day." A short time later, I heard a car pull up, followed by the sound of gunfire and screaming. The next morning I saw police tape and markers in the car park. There were bullet holes in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Western Europe,Sudan,South Africa,Colombia,Finland,Estonia,United States
13 Key Questions and Answers about US Gun Violence
4 February 2013
Atlantic (USA)
How much gun violence is there in the U.S.?
There were 8,583 homicides by firearms in 2011, out of 12,664 homicides total, according to the FBI. This means that more than two-thirds of homicides involve a firearm. 6,220 of those homicides by firearm (72%) are known to have involved a handgun.
It's worth noting that violent crime rates of all types have been steadily decreasing since the early 1990s. No one is quite sure what is causing this decrease, though there are... (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)
Obama Speech Indicates Action on Gun Crime, Not Gun Control
4 February 2013
Guardian (UK)
Observers billed Obama's speech here in the Twin Cities Monday afternoon as the first stop for a White House road show promoting gun control legislation, but the event's tone, its location, and, yes, even its content signal that the White House has chosen a circuitous route in pursuit of its goals. The goals themselves have changed, too, as the White House shifts our attention away from the specific horror of Sandy Hook to the more mundane living nightmare of daily gun... (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)
How the AR-15 Became the Most Wanted Gun in America
2 February 2013
New York Times
PASADENA, Maryland - The phone rings again at Pasadena Pawn and Gun, and a familiar question comes down the line: "Got any ARs?"
The answer is no. Pasadena Pawn and Gun, a gun retailer and pawnshop 15 miles south of Baltimore, is pretty much sold out of America's most wanted gun, the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Since the massacre in Newtown, Conn., in December, the AR-15, the military-style weapon that the police say was used in the shootings, has been selling... (GunPolicy.org)
12 Separate Polls Show Americans Support Gun Control
1 February 2013
Salon (USA), Poll
Another day, another poll showing a majority of Americans favor many of the proposed gun control measures being discussed in Congress right now. Today's poll comes from the University of Connecticut and the Hartford Courant, which found that majorities of American nationally favor requiring background checks on all firearm purchases, thus closing the so-called gun show loophole (84 percent); support reinstating the ban on assault weapons (57 percent); and back banning... (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)
Expert Clears Up 'Misrepresentations' of Australian Gun Data
31 January 2013
Courier-Mail (Brisbane)
With the debate raging in the US over firearms laws, several misperceptions are being aired in their media about guns and their relationship to crime in Australia.
Some misrepresentations are linked to reports and statistics published by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Older data and findings from the early-2000s are being used to argue that the Howard government gun reforms had little effect on violent crime in Australia.
Australia is often cited in the US... (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)
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)
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 Could Learn From South Korea's Gun Control
25 January 2013
Korea Times
The recent shooting tragedies in the United States and ensuing debates on gun control are shocking and almost incomprehensible to South Koreans because they don't face such issues pertaining to firearms.
There are strict laws here regarding the possession of hand guns. Citizens can only buy hunting guns and air rifles after obtaining a license from the police. They are only allowed to use guns for a limited period of time, usually during the hunting season.
At other... (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)
US Senator Proposes Assault Rifle Ban, Gun Owner Registration
24 January 2013
Guardian (UK)
Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced to Congress a revised assault weapons bill that would prohibit the manufacture or importation of 158 specific military-style assault rifles, ban large-capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds and possibly introduce a system of federal registration for all existing owners of such weapons and magazines.
The Feinstein proposals were unveiled at a Washington press conference in which several of the listed weapons were on display,... (GunPolicy.org)
'Alarmingly Easy Access' to Guns Online Fuelling Australian Crime
23 January 2013
ABC News (Australia), Video
A former senior federal police officer has warned more needs to be done to combat the online trade of firearms as authorities in Sydney deal with a spate of shootings and street violence.
In the past three months alone there have been 25 separate shooting incidents in Sydney - last night, two shootings were reported in the city's south-west.
The style and purpose of the shootings are not confined to traditional turf warfare over drugs or ongoing reprisals between... (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)
United States,Mexico,Venezuela
The Impact of Obama's Gun Control Proposal in Mexico
23 January 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
President Obama's push to enact stronger gun control measures answers a long-held wish from Mexican officials, but how likely is it to change the security dynamic south of the Rio Grande?
President Obama announced a new push to pass legislation limiting access to deadly weapons last week, adding, "I will put everything I've got into this." The proposal encompasses 23 executive orders, three of which Obama has already signed and went into effect immediately: an end to... (GunPolicy.org)
