Top of PageGun Policy News
Media mentions of .50cal small arms and ammunition
NZ Shop Asked to Stop Selling Restricted Airgun After Teen Arrest
24 May 2013
Marlborough Express (New Zealand)
Police have asked a Blenheim shop that sold a plastic gun to a Marlborough Boys' College student to stop selling the item after the teenager was arrested.
The 14-year-old boy was arrested and suspended from school on Tuesday after shooting a passing car and other students with the soft air pistol he bought at $2 Fantastic shop in Maxwell Rd.
Constable Dean Buckley, of Blenheim youth aid, said because compressed air fired a missile, it was legally classed as a... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Firm Wins Egyptian Tender For Pistols, Submachine Guns
23 May 2013
Xinhua
PRAGUE - Czech arms firm Ceska zbrojovka won an international tender to supply 50,000 pistols to the Egyptian interior ministry, company CEO Lubomir Kovarik said on Thursday.
Speaking at a defence industry trade fair in Brno, Kovarik said some of the firearms were sent to Egypt last week. The CZ P-07 Duty pistols are smaller than those supplied by Ceska zbrojovka to the Czech military and security forces.
The one-year contract will be followed by the supply of several... (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)
Man Injured in Shooting at Swedish School
18 May 2013
Local (Sweden)
Panic broke out at a Gothenburg school on Friday evening as one man was injured in a shooting which could be linked to a violent robbery that took place in the area on the same day.
The man sustained light injuries and was admitted to the Sahlgrenska Hospital.
On Saturday morning, police had made no arrests but were treating the incident as attempted murder or attempted manslaughter after receiving around 30 calls from the public.
At least one cartridge case was... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Arms Flowing into Bangladesh at 'Alarming' Rate
15 May 2013
Dhaka Tribune
The illegal arms trade has gone up alarmingly recently in the wake of ongoing pre-election political turmoil and triggered by high demands from local criminals and terrorists, intelligence departments of law enforcement agencies have reported.
Intelligence sources said arms are being smuggled into the country through at least 20 different points along the border, mostly from India.
According to sources, syndicates smuggle arms across the border taking advantage of... (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)
32 Crime Guns Linked to Over 230 Murders in Guatemala
8 May 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Forensic analysis has revealed that the MS-13 gang in Guatemala used 32 guns to allegedly commit 238 murders, offering insight into the gang's modus operandi and highlighting some of the difficulties of tackling organized crime with gun control.
Members of Guatemala's National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) used the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (Ibis) to identify 1,133 guns that had been used in multiple crimes, reported Prensa Libre.
Of those... (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)
Turkey Launches Locally Made Rifles, Aims for $100M in Exports
6 May 2013
Today's Zaman (Istanbul)
ISTANBUL - Sarsılmaz Firearms Industry, the leading private producer of guns and rifles in Turkey, introduced on Monday the country's first domestically produced infantry rifles as well as new generation pistols, firearms with which the company is targeting to reach the $100 million export mark in the next three years.
The 133-year-old company invested TL 14 million in its new products and plans to increase its investment to TL 27 million in line with an expected... (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)
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)
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)
Concerns Grow Over Korean Gun Violence
21 April 2013
Korea Herald
Calls for more stringent regulations on guns are mounting in the wake of four shooting incidents within a month in a nation that many believed to be free from the dangers of firearms.
On Tuesday, a 42-year-old man shot a 38-year-old man who had an affair with his wife with an air gun in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. He had held the weapon for years to fend off wild animals.
The three other cases involved unauthorized guns. On the previous day, a man in his 30s... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia Govt Passes New Law to Crack Down on Shootings in Public
17 April 2013
RIA Novosti (Russia)
MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Wednesday adopted in the first reading a bill toughening punishment for shooting in public places.
The amendments to the Russian Administrative Offenses Code were proposed by a group of Duma deputies. In line with the draft law, those shooting in inhabited localities and at sites where shooting is not allowed will be fined 50,000 rubles ($1,575), their weapons license suspended, weapons seized, and may... (GunPolicy.org)
Poland,Ukraine,Israel,Côte d'Ivoire,Bulgaria,Belarus,China,Angola,Russia
Guns Easily Available in Côte D'Ivoire Despite Embargo
16 April 2013
IRIN (UN News)
ABIDJAN - Côte d'Ivoire's recent turbulence - including the ouster of president Henri Konan Bédié in 1999, a long-running insurgency and deadly poll unrest in 2011 - has left the country awash in arms, which have contributed to human rights abuses, widespread crime and persistent insecurity.
Two years after coming to power in 2000, Laurent Gbagbo's administration faced an army mutiny, which morphed into a full-scale rebellion. In response, the government underwent a... (GunPolicy.org)
Saudi Youths Jailed for Brandishing Guns
11 April 2013
Gulf News (Dubai)
Manama - A Saudi court has sentenced three young men to spend time in jail and to be lashed for brandishing a gun in public.
Two defendants, including the son of a well-known businessman, were given 15 months in prison and 60 lashes, while the third was handed 24 months in jail and 50 lashes and was barred from leaving the country for two years afterwards, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Thursday.
The lashes will be given out over three times, including twice in front 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)
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)
Philippines Military Loses 200 Guns in Fire
8 April 2013
Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) lost more than 200 assault rifles and machine guns in a fire that razed its firearms supply building in Zamboanga del Sur over the weekend.
Belated reports reaching the Armed Forces of the Philippines' main headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo said that the blaze that hit the 1st Infantry Division Training Unit (IDTU) Supply building at Upper Labangan, Pulacan in Pagadian City, started with an explosion.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Americas,Asia,Africa,Oceania,Europe
UN Approves Global Gun Trade Treaty: NRA, Iran, N Korea, Syria Oppose
3 April 2013
Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to create the first treaty regulating the international arms trade, a landmark decision that imposes new constraints on the sale of conventional arms to governments and armed groups that commit war crimes, genocide and other mass atrocities.
The vote was hailed by arms-control advocates and scores of governments, including the United States, as a major step in the global effort to put in place... (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)
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)
Russians Debate the Right to Bear Arms After Shooting
26 March 2013
Russia and India Report
"If you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns" – so goes the famous slogan of the National Rifle Association in the US. Until recently, few people thought that this would ever be a contentious issue in Russia. But the case of Alexandra Lotkova, a 21-year-old Moscow student, is stoking the fire of a debate that will eventually spill into the open.
Lotkova was jailed for three years this month because she injured a man with a shot from a travmatichesky pistol, or... (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)
Two Arrested Over Illegal Manufacture and Sale of Guns in Ghana
21 March 2013
Vibe Ghana
Prosper Adewornu alias Dzakpasu Kofi 50, a Blacksmith and his son Safari Daworlo 21, Auto Mechanic and Blacksmith, have been arrested for allegedly manufacturing and selling guns and gun parts at Kakadedzi on Ghana-Togo border.
Two locally manufactured pistols, seven old locally made shotguns and two foreign shotguns, six BB-short-barrel gun cartridges and 39 empty cartridges were retrieved from them.
A grinder, metal boring machine, hammers, a newly made shotgun... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Homicides an Increasing Risk for Honduras Lawyers
21 March 2013
InSight Crime (Bogota)
More than 50 lawyers were murdered in Honduras between 2010 and 2012, according to a government report, with almost total impunity for their killers.
In the first three years of President Porfirio Lobo's rule 53 lawyers were murdered, yet only two people have been convicted in the cases, according to a report submitted to the Honduran Congress by the country's National Human Rights Commission.
The lawyers, 43 of whom were men, worked not only in criminal law, but also... (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)
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)
Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
Global Gun Grabbers Team with UN to Prep African Countries for Arms Trade Treaty
15 March 2013
Fox News (USA)
A week before it opens a treaty conference to impose worldwide limitations on arms sales, the United Nations co-hosted and paid for a series of meetings involving 48 African nations and an anti-gun group that espouses much greater national and international control of firearms, including registration of small arms and ammunition.
The co-host of the gathering in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa was a multinational "civil society" network known as IANSA, which calls... (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)
Share of US Households with Guns Declined Over Past 4 Decades, Study
9 March 2013
Globe & Mail (Toronto)
NEW YORK — The share of U.S. 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 U.S. General Social Survey, a public opinion survey conducted every two years that asks a sample... (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)
How Brazil Exploited Sexual Insecurity to Curb Guns
8 March 2013
Bloomberg (USA)
Brazil has a gun culture, a gun industry and a gun problem -- much like the U.S. In fact, more Brazilians than Americans died of gunfire in 2010.
Yet Brazil's 2010 tally, 34,300 deaths, was significantly lower than its gun fatalities in 2003 (39,284), when the government enacted major gun-control regulation. I asked Brazilian political scientist Antonio Bandeira, who coordinates the arms-control program of Viva Rio, a nongovernmental organization in Rio De Janeiro, how... (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)
Scottish Man Jailed for Storing Guns and Ammo
4 March 2013
BBC News
A man who was caught with firearms and drugs at his home in North Lanarkshire has been jailed for seven years.
Police raided 50-year-old John Lucas' isolated home at Roughrigg, Airdrie, on April 27 last year.
They found cocaine worth £164,000, cannabis worth £12,000, amphetamine worth £11,000 and £38,000 in cash. They also found gun barrels and ammunition.
Wheelchair user Lucas was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh after earlier pleading guilty to the... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Bullets Cost the Same as Bread in Jamaica
3 March 2013
Gleaner (Jamaica)
In Jamaica, a loaf of bread retails at a corner shop for about $235 while a single 9mm bullet can be bought for about $280 or less. The degree of difficulty in purchasing the bread or the bullet is relatively the same: zero.
A special Sunday Gleaner probe has confirmed that one does not have to work up a sweat to buy bullets on the streets of Jamaica. It is literally no problem, as we found out when we purchased 25 of these 9mm bullets last week.
Anyone interested in... (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)
Trinidad & Tobago,South Africa
Trinidad Official Thinks Gun Laws Don't Go Far Enough
20 February 2013
Guardian (Trinidad and Tobago)
As the Government battles unbridled gun violence, national security adviser Gary Griffith says guns don't kill people, people kill people. On Friday, Olympic blade runner Oscar Pistorius appeared before the court in South Africa charged with the murder of his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp who had been shot four times with Pistorius' licensed gun.
In South Africa where levels of crime are extremely high, many private citizens have licensed guns. But the... (GunPolicy.org)
UK Sells Arms To Sri Lanka's 'Brutal' Regime
18 February 2013
Belfast Telegraph
Britain is selling millions of pounds worth of arms and ammunition to Sri Lanka despite the country's dire human rights record.
Figures taken from the Government's own database show how the authorities in Colombo have gone on a buying spree of British small arms and weaponry worth at least £3m.
Some of the items sold to Sri Lanka include pistols, rifles, assault rifles, body armour and combat shotguns – despite the Foreign Office still classifying the South Asian... (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)
How Strict Are South African Gun Laws?
15 February 2013
Time (USA)
The paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been charged with murder by a South African court following the death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, from gunshot wounds at his home within a gated Pretoria housing estate. The woman sustained wounds to her head and the upper body, and was reported to have been shot four times. A 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene.
According to Gunpolicy.org, there are just under 6 million licensed firearms in South Africa, which has a... (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)
Illicit Gun Trade in Mogadishu, Somalia: A Lucrative Business
12 February 2013
al Jazeera
MOGADISHU, Somalia - The car barely came to a stop when a hand softly knocked at the tinted passenger seat window. The window rolled down, revealing a tall, skinny figure wearing a half-buttoned, baggy polyester shirt, a red sarong, and pink sandals - and holding a rusty AK-47 in his left hand.
"Seven-hundred fifty dollars," he said in a firm voice, barely making eye contact, before dropping the fully loaded gun onto this reporter's lap. Another 10 men came rushing... (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)
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)
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)
Pakistan's Gun Makers Protest Election Ban, Blame Illegal Guns
30 January 2013
Express Tribune (Pakistan) / International Herald Tribune
PESHAWAR - A nationwide ban on the issuance of new small arms licences has hit manufacturing units hard, Peshawar's gunsmiths told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Siraj Afridi, the proprietor of City Arms, explained that locals do not purchase arms from Peshawar's gun shops, as they prefer indigenously-made arms from Darra Adam Khel. The 80 functional small arms manufacturing units operating in Peshawar rely solely on orders from... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Express Tribune (Pakistan) / International Herald Tribune
Guns Used in 80 Percent of Trinidad Murders, say Police
26 January 2013
Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
Firearms are used in almost 80 percent of the murders in the country, therefore it is critical that the police target getting guns out of the hands of criminals.
So said Ag Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, at the AmCham monthly meeting at the Hilton yesterday.
According to Williams, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) recovers firearms almost every day. He said it was important for the police to find ways of reducing the illegal entry of firearms... (GunPolicy.org)
What America Doesn't Know About Gun Violence is Killing Them
26 January 2013
New York Times, Editorial
In one of the 23 executive actions on gun control signed this month, President Obama instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal science agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. He called on Congress to aid that effort by providing $10 million for the C.D.C. in the next budget round and $20 million to expand the federal reporting system on violent deaths to all 50 states, from the current 18.
That Mr.... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Italy,Netherlands,Germany
British Queen's Soldiers Jailed After Attempting to Smuggle Guns
25 January 2013
Telegraph (UK)
The Queen's Royal Hussars soldiers, based in Sennelager, Germany, attempted to smuggle five guns worth £18,000 on the black market and cocaine worth £72,000 into the UK by car via the Channel Tunnel, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Lemar Loveless 26, of Brydon Walk, Kings Cross, was arrested with former colleague Trave Dyce, 22, in Folkstone as they left a Euroshuttle from Calais in two BMWs on January 25 last year.
Officers, who had received intelligence about the... (GunPolicy.org)
Mexico,Puerto Rico,Dominican Republic
El Salvador's Inadequate Port Security Increases Gun Availability
23 January 2013
Huffington Post (USA) / Voxxi
The Dominican Republic continues to be the main command center for drug trafficking in the Caribbean region, with an increase in the past two years of 800 percent of the cocaine to United States and Europe.
According to the European Union's COPOLAD Program (drug partnership cooperation program between the European Union and Latin America), the lack of control and technological resources of the Dominican ports Multimodal Caucedo and Haina pose a major threat to the... (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)
Action on Bullets Missing from US Gun Debate, say Police
20 January 2013
Reuters
Bullets are one thing Sacramento Police Detective Greg Halstead can count on to root out weapons that otherwise would be impossible to find. They are also largely missing from the gun control debate in Washington.
Since 2008, California's capital has required ammunition dealers to take names and thumbprints of bullet buyers. They send the information electronically to police computers, which compare the names to an FBI criminal database.
Halstead begins his day... (GunPolicy.org)
Blackout on Gun Violence Research May End After Obama Calls for Action
17 January 2013
USA Today
President Obama's demand Wednesday for research into gun violence could usher in a flood of data on the nation's 32,000 annual gun deaths after decades of an information blackout.
Scientists and policy makers say they have little scientific data about gun violence after Congress prohibited federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from offering research grants to study anything that could... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence Research Freeze May End With New Obama Plan
15 January 2013
NBC News (USA)
A little-known kibosh on government research into the public health effects of gun violence is expected to be lifted after President Barack Obama called Wednesday for renewed scientific inquiry - and funding - to address the problem.
Obama issued a presidential memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other scientific agencies to research the causes and prevention of gun violence - and he called on Congress to provide $10 million to pay... (GunPolicy.org)
British County Knife, Gun Crime Rate Halves in 10 Years
14 January 2013
BBC News
The number of people killed with knives in the West Midlands has halved since 2002, according to police figures.
West Midlands Police said the number of fatal knife incidents dropped from 20 between April 2002 and March 2003 to 10 in the same period in 2011 to 2012.
However, 12 people died in knife-related incidents between April and December 2012, and on Friday, two men were stabbed to death in Birmingham.
Ch Insp Simon Wallis said fatal incidents were "mercifully... (GunPolicy.org)
Colombia,Venezuela,Mexico,Chile,Brazil,Argentina
Gun Laws in Six Latin American Nations Explained
11 January 2013
Americas Society/Council of the Americas
Following a mass school shooting in Connecticut in December 2012, policymakers in the United States began engaging in a renewed debate about gun control. AS/COA Online looks at gun-related legislation in Latin America's six largest economies, identifying regulations for arms licensing. In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela, gun possession is legal for civilians, though restrictions tend to be stringent. …
Argentina: Gun ownership in Argentina... (GunPolicy.org)
Yemeni Authorities Seize Guns, Motorbikes After Hit-and-Run Killings
7 January 2013
Al Arabiya News (Dubai) / Agence France Presse
SANAA, Yemen - Yemeni authorities impounded 500 illegal motorbikes in a three-day campaign to put an end to hit-and-run shootings which killed dozens of security officers last year, officials said on Monday.
"The campaign has succeeded in stopping 500 unlicensed motorbikes and 72 cars without number plates, some of which are suspected to have been used in assassinations," an interior ministry report said, adding that 50 weapons such as Kalashnikovs and other firearms... (GunPolicy.org)
Restricted Guns Easily Available Online in China
5 January 2013
Olympian (Washington)
Want to buy illegal drugs in China? No problem – just go to the wild and woolly Internet here and order a $50 or $100 package of methamphetamines, ecstasy or cocaine. It'll be delivered to your door within hours!
"Our company has delivery stations in every part of China," boasts one Chinese-language website, with photos of illegal narcotics it sells. "We offer 24-hour delivery service to your door, and we have long-term and consistent supplies. If you just make one... (GunPolicy.org)
Guatemala,El Salvador,Venezuela,United States,Australia,Jamaica,Russia,Colombia
NRA 'Good Guys With Guns' Theory Already Disproved in Latin America
5 January 2013
New York Times
In the wake of the tragic shooting deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month, the National Rifle Association proposed that the best way to protect schoolchildren was to place a guard — a "good guy with a gun" — in every school, part of a so-called National School Shield Emergency Response Program.
Indeed, the N.R.A.'s solution to the expansion of gun violence in America has been generally to advocate for the more widespread deployment and... (GunPolicy.org)
Shooter Uses Ex-Army Rifle, Kills 3 Women in Swiss Village Spree
3 January 2013
Bloomberg Businessweek (USA)
A gunman shot dead three people and injured another two in a mountain village in southern Switzerland, police said.
Officers were alerted to the shootings in Daillon, near the city of Sion in the Valais canton, at 8:50 p.m. yesterday by a caller, who reported seeing "several wounded people lying on the ground," the regional police force said in a statement posted on its website late yesterday.
An elite police unit deployed to the village opened fire on the gunman... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun, Ammo, Bulletproof Gear Sales Rocket in US Due to Fears of Ban
28 December 2012
CBS News (USA) / Associated Press
The phones at Red's Trading Post wouldn't stop ringing. Would-be customers from as far away as New York wanted to know if the Twin Falls, Idaho gun shop had firearms in stock. Others clamored to find out if their orders had been shipped.
Overwhelmed, gun store manager Ryan Horsley had to do what no employee would ever think of doing just days before Christmas: He disconnected the phone lines for three whole days.
"We had to shut everything off," says Horsley, whose... (GunPolicy.org)
Zimbabwe,Pakistan,Colombia,United States,Brazil
Brazil Should Continue Responsible Gun Control, Reduce Deaths Further
25 December 2012
Rio Times, Opinion
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Last week's slaughter of twenty elementary school children in the United States has tragic echoes with the massacre in Realengo, Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. At 8:30 AM on April 7th, Wellington Oliveira calmly walked into a classroom with two .38 and .32 caliber handguns, and shot twelve children dead.
At least sixty shots were fired and twenty boys and girls were critically wounded. It was the worst school massacre in Brazilian history.... (GunPolicy.org)
How US Congress Blocked Gun Violence Research in 'Ugly Campaign'
19 December 2012
Slate (USA)
After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, calls for gun-control legislation have begun. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on NBC's Meet the Press that she plans to introduce a bill to ban assault weapons. Even West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who calls himself a gun supporter, says he sees no reason for these types of weapons.
But as Congress considers new laws, the scientific research we need to craft the best policies is in short... (GunPolicy.org)
Without the Fear of Guns, Other Countries More Free than America
19 December 2012
ABC News (USA)
If there is one country that best represents the possibility of cutting gun crime by increasing gun control, it is Australia.
In 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant finished his lunch in a café in the seaside resort of Port Arthur and pulled out a semi-automatic rifle. In the first 15 seconds of his attack, he killed 12 and wounded 10. In all, he shot more than 50 people in six locations, killing 35. The worst mass shooting in Australia's history capped a violent decade... (GunPolicy.org)
Big US Gun Company Up for Sale Under Ethics Pressure from Investors
18 December 2012
New York Times
Sitting in their offices high above Park Avenue late on Monday, the private equity executives who own the country's largest gun company received a phone call from one of their most influential investors.
An official at the California teachers' pension fund, which has $750 million invested with the private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, was on the line, raising questions about the firm's ownership of the Freedom Group, the gun maker that made the rifle used... (GunPolicy.org)
Scotland,United States,United Kingdom,Australia,Japan
Several Countries Curbed Guns, Saw Public Safety Improve [Espanol]
18 December 2012
BBC News
[Translated summary: Three industrialised nations - Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom have dramatically reduced gun deaths after applying strict firearm laws.]
Tres naciones industrializadas -Japón, Australia y Escocia- han logrado reducir dramáticamente las muertes por armas de fuego tras aplicar estrictas leyes que regulan el porte y comercio de armas que podría servir de modelo en Estados Unidos cuando ese pueblo trata de reponerse de la matanza de niños y... (GunPolicy.org)
Israel Gun Control Regulations 'Opposite of US'
18 December 2012
Jerusalem Post (Israel)
There is no full-auto Friday or Ladies night at the "Lahav" gun store in TA, a store that bears little resemblance to its US counterparts.
A gun lover's dream or a stringently controlled police state that would make a National Rifle Association supporter's blood boil? In recent days, following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 26 dead, including 20 children, Israel has been mentioned as a country awash in guns yet still free of such random massacres. Many... (GunPolicy.org)
Honduras,Colombia,Mexico,Panama,Guatemala,Swaziland,South Africa,Jamaica,Philippines,Brazil,El Salvador,United States
Top 12 Countries for Firearms Related Deaths
17 December 2012
Forbes (USA)
Few major nations have the right to bear arms configured in their Constitution. Even fewer (as in we are the only one) have gun control legislation as a hot button political issue. The U.S. is the most violent core economy in terms of gun related deaths. It is also the leader in gun violence at school campuses. Yet, the U.S. does not lead the world in firearms related deaths. Countries were gangs and drugs are a problem top the list, even where there is strict gun... (GunPolicy.org)
One Leader of a Democracy Reversed His Nation's Gun Laws in 12 Days
17 December 2012
CNN, Opinion
Editor's note: Philip Alpers is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. A policy analyst in the public health effects of gun violence and small arms proliferation, his web site GunPolicy.org compares armed violence and gun laws, country by country.
SYDNEY, Australia - Could the leader of a democracy reverse his nation's slide toward the ever more permissive use of firearms and mandate stringent new gun control laws in... (GunPolicy.org)
Israel,India,Czech Republic,Switzerland,United States,Italy
Indian Factory to Make 1 Million Rifles for Army Upgrade
16 December 2012
Sunday Standard / New Indian Express (Chennai)
NEW DELHI - The Indian Army has half a million rifles and carbines it doesn't want, and now plans to junk them all over the next five years. The dark lining is that these infantry weapons were developed and manufactured in India to equip four lakh soldiers at an expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore over two decades. So far, so bad. Now add another Rs 50,000 crore that will have to be spent over the next decade to re-equip our soldiers with the four kinds of weapons that are... (GunPolicy.org)
US Chance to Emulate UK, Australian, Canadian Gun Control 'Is Gone'
16 December 2012
Nation (USA)
The following is a Q & A with Professor Garen Wintemute, Baker-Teret Chair of Violence Prevention, at the University of California at Davis medical school. Wintemute is one of the country's leading experts on the public health theory of gun control. He has long argued that gun violence is equivalent to a medical epidemic, and that, as such, public health measures ought to be taken to counter its spread.
Sasha Abramsky: What happened in Connecticut last Friday was by... (GunPolicy.org)
Bolivia Police Seize Guns, Ammo from Suspected Traffickers [Español]
11 December 2012
Opinion (Bolivia)
[Translated summary: Bolivia police seized 32 guns, over 3,500 bullets from the La Paz home of suspected gun dealers. Two people were arrested.]
La Policía descubrió en las últimas horas una comercializadora de armamentos en una vivienda particular de la calle Agustín Ugarte de la zona Tembladerani de la ciudad de La Paz, donde delincuentes bolivianos, peruanos y colombianos acudían a adquirir las armas de fuego para delinquir.
El director de la Fuerza Especial... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Leader Rejects Proposals to Loosen Gun Controls
7 December 2012
Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba)
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rejected recommendations from his firearms advisory committee and is suggesting the group's membership may need revisiting.
Documents obtained by the Coalition for Gun Control reveal the committee advising Public Safety Minister Vic Toews wants some prohibited weapons, including handguns and assault rifles, reclassified to make them more easily available.
The 14-member group is also pushing to make firearm licences good for... (GunPolicy.org)
Costa Rica,Mexico,Honduras,Guatemala,Colombia,Brazil,El Salvador
Study Shows South America Gun Deaths More Likely in Cities [Español]
5 December 2012
Prensa Libre (Guatemala) / EFE News Agency
[Translated summary: A new study found that over 60 percent of gun homicides in Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador occur in large cities. ]
GINEBRA - El informe titulado "Violencia urbana armada" señala que las capitales de los países concentran buen parte de la violencia, por ejemplo la Ciudad de Guatemala o Managua, que contabilizan un 42 por ciento del total de los homicidios armados a nivel nacional.
El estudio, basado en cifras oficiales, revela también las... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada's Gun-Related Homicides Down to 50-Year Low in 2011
4 December 2012
United Press International
OTTAWA - While the total number of homicides are up in Canada, the number of gun-related homicides are at a 50-year low, police records show.
There were 598 homicides throughout Canada in 2011 - 44 more than in 2010 - the first annual increase in three years, Statistics Canada said on its website Tuesday.
However, just 158 2011 homicides were committed with a firearm, 13 fewer than the year before and the lowest number of gun-related homicides in almost 50 years.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Crime Falls in Scotland, Authorities Warn Against Comnplacency
4 December 2012
BBC News
The number of offences in Scotland involving firearms has more than halved since 2006-07, according to official figures.
Scotland's police forces recorded 514 incidents in 2011-12, a 21% fall on the previous year and a fall of more than 50% on 2006-07.
This year's figures are the lowest total recorded in Scotland in 34 years.
Air weapons accounted for 38% of all offences - 195 out of 514 - compared with 36%, 234 offences, in 2010-11.
Justice minister Kenny MacAskill... (GunPolicy.org)
India Struggling with Illegal Arms Trade, Rise in Gun-Related Crime
28 November 2012
Time (USA)
In a small tent, in a village about 60 miles outside the capital, Salim is putting the finishing touches on his gun. Despite the bright sun outside, the shelter is dark and Salim, who uses only one name, has to bend close to see the homemade pistol he's been working on for the last hour. Salim, 50, makes pistols and rifles in his clandestine workshop in Jhola, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where many villagers work in India's illegal gun making trade. Low... (GunPolicy.org)
SE Asian Soldiers Rent Army Machine Guns as Tourist Lure, Cash Cow
27 November 2012
New York Times
PHNOM PENH — Just after a Honda pickup truck screeched to a halt beyond the decommissioned Soviet-era Antonov aircraft, four resolute-looking Chinese men with a military escort climbed out, slammed the doors shut and neatly arranged a series of firearms they had been carrying on a nearby table.
Once the pistols' magazines were loaded with shiny golden bullets, they began emptying round after round into paper targets at a distance of 25 meters, or 82 feet.
Nearby,... (GunPolicy.org)
'Crisis' of Armed Violence in South Sudan Despite Disarmament, says NGO
27 November 2012
Médecins Sans Frontières, Media release
JUBA — A report released today by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) highlights the devastating impact of violence on the lives and health of civilians in South Sudan's Jonglei state. Women and children as young as four months old are among the victims. Healthcare is threatened as medical facilities are targeted and destroyed.
Jonglei state has a long history of intercommunal cattle-raiding; however, since 2009 thousands of civilians, women and children have been... (GunPolicy.org)
GPNHeader: Guns Where Tobacco Was in 1950s: Death Toll Amenable to Science
25 November 2012
Denver Post (Colorado)
Gun violence must be treated as a public-health issue — such as alcohol, smoking and traffic — say people concerned about gun-related death rates from mass shootings and random shots nationwide.
"Guns are where tobacco was in the 1950s," said Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program, who practices emergency medicine at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. "There's a little bit of science and a great deal of... (GunPolicy.org)
Drug Gang Shootings Blamed for Uruguay Homicide Rate Rise
22 November 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Uruguay is on course for its most violent year on record, according to a new report, suggesting that organized crime may be increasing its presence in one of Latin America's historically more peaceful countries.
The Proposal Foundation (Fundacion Propuesta - FP), an organization that monitors security in Uruguay, released figures putting the country on course for a homicide rate of 9.19 per 100,000 in 2012. This marks a jump from 6.27 per 100,000 last year, and means... (GunPolicy.org)
Anti-Poaching Operation Seizes Tusks, Illegal Weapons in Tanzania
19 November 2012
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Government trophies worth 618.4m/- were seized at Tunduru, Ruvuma Region, in an on-going operation by a special joint task force formed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
The operation, which was launched in July this year, impounded 297 firearms, 370 rounds of ammunition and 150 shell castings.
The type of firearms seized included 47 submachine guns, 225 homemade guns (gobole), 23 rifles, two SARs, one SMG, and one Egyptian G3.
Trophies seized include... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Thailand,Austria,Czech Republic
Thai Authorities Concerned Over Easy Access to Guns
18 November 2012
Bangkok Post
In recent years Thailand has been flooded with illegal firearms and the misery they cause is plain for all to see. Every day there are media reports of shootouts and homicides that begin with domestic quarrels, school rivalries and traffic accidents, and quickly escalate. Law enforcement officials say the root cause is the easy availability of guns, and this is true for teenagers as well as adults. People prefer to buy weapons outside of legal channels because they are... (GunPolicy.org)
Armed Crime Rate Up in Guyana, Homicide Rate Unchanged
14 November 2012
Demerara Waves (Guyana)
Guyanese police are reporting a spike in armed robberies and a slight increase in murders and an 8.1 percent reduction in road fatalities.
In its latest update, the Guyana Police Force stated that robbery under arms has increased by 15% up to October 2012, with 854 reports compared to 744 for the same period in 2011.
The number of armed robberies involving the use of firearm at the end of October 2012 was 512 compared to 468 for the same period in 2011, an increase of... (GunPolicy.org)
Authorities Worried About Gun Crime, Availability of Weapons Rising
7 November 2012
Gulf Times (Doha) / Agence France Presse
It was a classic bank heist in many ways. Armed men using a stolen car and motorbikes held up a van carrying cash in central New Delhi, shot a guard, and made off with the money.
While familiar in many countries and a set-piece of Hollywood films, it set alarm bells ringing in India where gun crime and armed robbery is still low by the standards of other developing countries in Latin America or Africa.
The daylight robbery in September and several mass shootings in... (GunPolicy.org)
Ballistics Info Sharing Catches Major Crime Gang in Spain, Portugal
5 November 2012
PR Web (America), Media release
MONTREAL, Canada - A violent transnational gang, operating between Spain and Portugal, has been stopped thanks to diligent police work, rigorous cross border protocols, and an innovative new-technology-based program called the INTERPOL Ballistic Information Network (IBIN). IBIN proved its value when it counted most, on the streets of Portugal and Spain, where police using IBIS® (Integrated Ballistics Identification System) technology were able to share and leverage... (GunPolicy.org)
Claims Italian Gun Law to Blame for Hunting Deaths, Injuries [Italiano]
4 November 2012
GeaPress (Italy), Editorial
[Translated summary: 16 people have died and 50 have been injured in Italy's 2012 hunting season, angering victim support groups who blame the law for failing to ensure hunters take adequate safety precautions.]
16 morti e 50 feriti, di cui ben 18 vittime tra la gente comune. Ovvero 14 feriti e 4 morti non cacciatori. Continua così il triste conteggio dei dati sugli incidenti di caccia relativi alla sola ultima stagione venatoria, ancora in corso, diffusi... (GunPolicy.org)
Russian Arms Company Rogozin Wants Kalashnikov Merger
3 November 2012
RIA Novosti (Russia)
KLIMOVSK - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called on Saturday for a merger of two of Russia's leading small-arms makers, Izhmash and Izhmekh, under the Kalashnikov brand.
"We need to set up a new-old brand, named 'Kalashnikov', based on the two old factories," said Rogozin, who has special responsibilities for Russia's arms industry, during a visit to the TsNIITOCHMASH arms plant near Moscow.
Oleg Bochkaryev, a member of Russia's military-technical... (GunPolicy.org)
Weapons Seizures Rise as UK Police Crackdown on Gangs, Gun Suppliers
31 October 2012
Scotsman (Edinburgh) / Edinburgh Evening News (Scotland)
Silenced pistols, rifles and sub-machine gun rounds are among the firearms seized in the past year by the elite unit set up to take down organised crime in the Lothians.
Officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit also
recovered seven shotguns, two revolvers and two stun guns during raids on gang members and properties.
Hollow point bullets – dubbed "dum dums" – were also recovered.
The shells shatter on impact, where conventional bullets flatten, and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Scotsman (Edinburgh) / Edinburgh Evening News (Scotland)
UK Police Recover 'Mini-Uzi' in Pursuit of Suspected Thieves
25 October 2012
BBC News
A mini-Uzi machine gun has been recovered in Greater Manchester by police in an "unusual" discovery that will have "saved people's lives".
The gun was found with live ammunition by officers investigating an attempted robbery in Broughton Park, Salford.
An incident was reported on Coke Street West, at about 22:50 BST on Wednesday.
As police arrived, two men fled and one dropped a bag containing the gun in an alleyway leading to Seymour Road, after officers gave chase... (GunPolicy.org)
Lack of Guns Saves Lives says Maldives Gang Leader
22 October 2012
Guardian (UK)
Ibrahim sits in a dark corner of a cafe, talking about his gang, the stabbings and the money he makes from selling heroin. Outside, locals splash through the narrow lanes of the congested capital of the Maldives under a heavy monsoon shower. "It's been a good few months. We've been doing well," he says, lighting another cigarette. Recently Ibrahim's gang has been busy with a new sideline: providing political parties with muscle to intimidate opponents, swell meetings... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Gun Industry Thrives Under Obama, Gun Lobby Remains Alert
19 October 2012
Newser (USA) / Associated Press
President Barack Obama has presided over a heyday for the gun industry despite predictions by the National Rifle Association four years ago that he would be the "most anti-gun president in American history." The president hasn't pressed such an agenda, but gun owners still are afraid that, if re-elected, an Obama who wouldn't have to face voters again would try to restrict firearms purchases.
An analysis by The Associated Press of data tracking the health of the gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Call for Higher Gun Taxes in Dominican Republic [Espanol]
19 October 2012
Listin Diario (Dominican Republic)
[Translated Summary - There are calls for the Dominican Republic to increase the taxes for gun possession and carry licences to reduce violence against women and children. However others have called for tougher controls on those who can access firearms.]
SANTO DOMINGO - La ministra de la Mujer, Alejandrina Germán, pidió hoy incluir el aumento de los impuestos de la expedición y renovación de licencia de armas de fuego en el proyecto de reforma fiscal integral,... (GunPolicy.org)
Somalia,Congo (DRC),Kenya,South Sudan,Sudan,Uganda,East Africa
East Africa States to Work Together to Reduce Gun Trafficking
16 October 2012
New Vision (Kampala)
Directors of Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Directorates (CIID) in the East African region on Monday resolved to support Somalia to neutralise gun trafficking across the region.
The directors said arms traffickers were taking advantage of Somalia's instability and location next to the sea.
The Inspector General of Police, Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said Somalia, which is now a reconstructed state, is ready to halt and thrash all culprits in gun trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)
