Inicio de la páginaGun Policy News, 26 January 2006
Pro-gun Group Launches in Western Cape, Wants Firearms Act Repealed
26 January 2006
Citizen (Cape Town)
The official launch of pro-gun organisation Gun Owners of South Africa will take place in the Western Cape today.
Although the formal launch takes place today, GOSA has been in operation since 2004 opposing the government's "stated intent of public disarmament".
It was formed with the sole intention of having the Firearms Control Act of 2000 repealed. GOSA has slammed the Act, calling it "fatally flawed, un-implementable, despotic and unconstitutional".
GOSA claims... (GunPolicy.org)
UK National Gun Register Goes Ahead With No Link to Police System
26 January 2006
Computing (UK)
The government is to press ahead with the introduction of a national firearms certificate register despite the system being unable to connect to the Police National Computer (PNC).
Without the link, forces will be unable to receive automatic alerts from police in other parts of the country about firearm certificate holders acting suspiciously.
Last week Computing reported on fresh technical problems that forced the latest round of testing of the much-delayed National... (GunPolicy.org)
Georgia Gun Lobby Bills Send Wrong Message of Deadly Force
26 January 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia), Column
It may not be as glamorous as a title fight between King Kong and Godzilla, or even Godzilla and Mothra, but in the Georgia General Assembly, the National Rifle Association vs. the Georgia Chamber of Commerce comes pretty close.
Both groups are accustomed to getting what they want from state legislators, but in the case of House Bill 998, only one of them can win.
Under the bill, private employers would no longer be able to prevent their workers from bringing guns to... (GunPolicy.org)
Lea el artículo entero : Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)
When Kids Can Get Guns, Where is Safe?
26 January 2006
Washington Post, Column
The architecture of daily life rests on some hard facts and some flimsy foundations. The job is where it is. Home is where you can afford. The kids go to school an hour after you have to be on the highway. So you park the kids at the day care before school opens and trust that all will be well. Because it has to be for everything else to work.
Then some 8-year-old shoots a 7-year-old at the day care.
The next morning, the moms stand around in the elementary school... (GunPolicy.org)
Father Taught 8yr-old Day Care Shooter to Work Gun, Prosecutor Says
26 January 2006
Washington Post
The father of an 8-year-old boy arrested in the shooting of a 7-year-old girl at their Germantown day-care center provided his son with violent video games and showed him how to cock and release a gun hammer the day before the boy pulled the trigger, a prosecutor said yesterday.
John L. Hall has "significant influence" over the juvenile suspect, Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Karyn McAuliffe said during a bond hearing for Hall, who has been charged with... (GunPolicy.org)
Newly Elected Tories Don't Have the Votes to Kill Canada's Gun Registry
26 January 2006
Edmonton Sun (Alberta)
So you're a rookie prime minister who campaigned on a promise to get tough on gun crime — and kill a $1-billion-plus gun registry program your party sees as a monument to government waste. Simple, right?
In a pig's eye. Of all the challenges Stephen Harper faces as he tries to implement his program in a fractured Parliament, none is more daunting than his promise to scrap the firearms registry.
In fact, a spokesman for the anti-registry National Firearms Association... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Aims to Fight Gun Control in Crime-Plagued South Africa
26 January 2006
San Diego Union-Tribune (California) / AP
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African gun lobbyists set up a new organization Thursday to press the case that even more weapons are needed to curb crime in a country notorious for murders and armed robberies.
The new group, Gun Owners of South Africa, said people had the right to self-defense in a nation that has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
"We want the Firearms Control Act scrapped altogether, and we want a constitutional amendment to... (GunPolicy.org)
Lea el artículo entero : San Diego Union-Tribune (California) / AP
Texas Teen Kills Little Brother While Playing With Handgun
26 January 2006
Port Arthur News (Texas)
Bradley Tran, 11, died Wednesday after he was accidentally shot in the back by his 15-year-old brother while they and two other boys played in the master bedroom of their Port Arthur home.
Maj. Raymond Clark, deputy chief of investigations for Port Arthur police, described the scene as tragic at the household on Burchwood Triangle, with devastated family members including several people living there after their homes were damaged in Hurricane Rita.
Two of the boys... (GunPolicy.org)
Amnesty's AK-47 'Ad' Pushes Global Gun Control in Britain
26 January 2006
ABC News (USA)
LONDON — British moviegoers will be shown a spoof TV-shopping advertisement for an AK-47 assault rifle as part of a shock campaign designed to increase awareness of the illegal arms trade.
The presenters glorify firepower and the merits of the AK-47, and a young boy demonstrates how a Kalashnikov works.
Viewers are even told they will receive free ammunition when they call to place their orders with the phony advertiser, Teleshop.
The cinema ad is part of a much... (GunPolicy.org)
Virginia Lawmaker's Handgun Fires, Hits Flak Jacket in Capitol Office
26 January 2006
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Virginia — A state lawmaker's handgun accidentally discharged in his office Thursday as he tried to unload it, sending a bullet zinging across the room.
It was stopped by a bulletproof vest hanging on the door.
"That absorbed the entire thing," said Del. John S. "Jack" Reid, a 63-year-old Republican who was both shaken and embarrassed by the incident.
He later took the rare step of apologizing to both the Democratic and Republican caucuses before... (GunPolicy.org)
New York's Republican Mayor Plans to be National Anti-gun Spokesman
26 January 2006
Newsday (New York)
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg used his State of the City address on Thursday to muscle his way into some thorny second-term battles: He wants greater control over World Trade Center redevelopment and plans to be a national anti-gun spokesman.
The Republican mayor, who four years ago was a businessman untested in politics, is more emboldened now than perhaps ever before. He was re-elected after crushing his Democratic opponent, he insists he has no higher... (GunPolicy.org)
Maintain Gun Registry, Says Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
26 January 2006
York Region Era-Banner (Ontario)
Maintain gun registry, La Barge urges Conservatives Changes will take time, advocate says
The election of a party with a heavy law and order agenda has the region's law enforcement community pleased.
The Conservatives have made a "fairly strong" commitment safety and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police feels promises made throughout the campaign will help, OACP president and York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge said.
On the campaign trail, Conservatives... (GunPolicy.org)
Support Chicago Mayor, State Governor: Ban Assault Weapons in Illinois
26 January 2006
Chicago Tribune, Editorial
The federal ban on assault weapons suffered a quiet and unfortunate death in September 2004 as concerns about national safety got swallowed whole by politics.
That's too bad. Statistics suggest the ban on 19 kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons reduced the use of such guns in crimes.
In the five years before the Federal Assault Weapons Act was enacted in 1994, such weapons figured in 4.8 percent of guns used in crimes, as traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,... (GunPolicy.org)