Gun Policy News, 22 April 2007
More Gun Owners Registering Their Weapons in Australia's Largest State
22 April 2007
Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)
The number of registered guns in NSW has surged since the end of the Federal Government's buyback in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
Latest figures from the NSW Firearms Registry show a 28 per cent increase in the number of registered guns in NSW in just six years.
In July 2001 there were 516,468 guns registered, compared to 663,412 as of April 9 this year.
The number of licence holders has fallen slightly to 171,350 suggesting people are now buying multiple... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Debate Rages After Virginia Tech, NASA Shootings
22 April 2007
Agence France Presse
BLACKSBURG, United States — Debate raged anew Saturday over gun controls in the United States after reports said that Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui should not have been able to legally buy guns due to his mental health history.
With the nation rocked by yet another shocking murder-suicide Friday, at a NASA building in Texas, critics began to assail the state of Virginia, where Cho was able to buy two handguns in a little more than a month despite having been... (GunPolicy.org)
US Democrats 'Hushed' on Gun Control in Wake of Campus Shootings
22 April 2007
Newsweek (USA)
Rahm Emanuel was once a fierce gun-control advocate. As a top aide to Bill Clinton, he helped push the president's assault-weapons ban. At the time, Emanuel argued there was little reason for anyone to have a military-style weapon designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest time.
Restricting guns is the last thing Emanuel wants to talk about now. An Illinois congressman, he helped Democrats take back the Capitol last year in part by recruiting pro-gun... (GunPolicy.org)
In Private Talks, US Gun Lobbyists Give Backing to Tougher Checks
22 April 2007
Telegraph (UK)
WASHINGTON — The National Rifle Association, the leading pro-gun lobby group in America, is in private talks aimed at forcing tougher checks on buyers, which would prevent the mentally ill obtaining a lethal weapon.
Democrat leaders in Congress have asked the group to back a bill that would force the states to provide mental health records to the FBI, to prevent disturbed individuals buying guns. The Virginia Tech killer, Cho Seung-Hui, was twice able to pass state... (GunPolicy.org)
Shooting Tragedy Has American Politicians Running Scared of Gun Laws
22 April 2007
Scotsman (Edinburgh)
When a former Miss America was confronted by a thief in her Kentucky barn last week, the plucky 82-year-old knew just how to react. Venus Ramey, whose figure adorned Second World War B52 bombers, pulled out her .38 calibre handgun, leaned on her walking frame to steady her aim and coolly shot out the tyres of the startled intruder's getaway vehicle. She then held him at gunpoint, flagged down a motorist to raise the alarm and calmly waited until the sheriff arrived.... (GunPolicy.org)
As American Politicians Duck Responsibility for Guns, US Mayors Step In
22 April 2007
Newsweek, Opinion
The senseless loss of life at Virginia Tech breaks our hearts. And every day, nearly 30 people are murdered in the United States. We ask ourselves, what can be done to stop this kind of gun violence? As mayor of the country's largest city, I have asked myself that question many times. In New York, we've cut murders by 40 percent compared with six years ago. But eight police officers have been gunned down in the line of duty in that span — eight young men who were... (GunPolicy.org)
American Gun Violence: When Liberty Turns Lethal
22 April 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial
"We create the world in which we live; if that world becomes unfit for human life, it is because we tire of our responsibility."
British author Cyril Connolly wrote those words in 1938. The harsh week just ended gives them fresh relevance — and offers a starting point for a national conversation on the role of responsibility in a society that prizes liberty and individualism.
Cho Seung-Hui, 23, exploited those aspects of the American character to kill 32 others and... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Gun Buyback Has Saved 120 to 280 Lives Each Year Since 1997
22 April 2007
ABC News (Australia)
A group of researchers say Australia's gun buyback scheme that followed the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania 11 years ago could have saved up to 280 lives per year.
A 2006 study that concluded the gun buyback had no impact on gun homicide or suicide rates has been revisited by economists in Canberra and Canada.
They say the original study was flawed because of the data used.
Dr Andrew Leigh from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra says the gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Critique of Australian Gun Buyback 'Seriously Flawed'
22 April 2007
IBN News (Australia)
A 2006 study that claims Australia's gun buyback scheme in the wake of the Port Arthur killings had no effect on homicide or suicide rates is "seriously flawed", a Canberra economist says.
Dr Andrew Leigh from the Australian National University, together with Dr Christine Neill from the Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, analysed a study published in the British Journal of Criminology last year by Dr Jeanine Baker and Dr Samara McPhedran, who is the chairwoman of... (GunPolicy.org)
Weapon of Choice for Cops and Crims, 9mm Pistol is Frighteningly Lethal
22 April 2007
Newsweek (USA)
The three students from Wilberforce University, near Xenia, Ohio, had a tremendous fondness for 9-millimeter pistols. They bought them as many as 25 at a time from the accommodating owner of the Hole in the Wall Gun Shop, James Dillard. As required by Ohio law, the buyers duly attested that the guns were for their personal use, which was good enough for Dillard. In fact, according to federal prosecutors, the pistols were passed to a gunrunner who resold them to street... (GunPolicy.org)
Before Deadly Campus Rage, a Life Consumed by a Troubling Silence
22 April 2007
New York Times
From the beginning, he did not talk. Not to other children, not to his own family. Everyone saw this. In Seoul, South Korea, where Seung-Hui Cho grew up, his mother agonized over his sullen, brooding behavior and empty face. Talk, she just wanted him to talk.
"When I told his mother that he was a good boy, quiet but well behaved, she said she would rather have him respond to her when talked to than be good and meek," said Kim Yang-Soon, Mr. Cho's 84-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)
Some Americans Love Guns. Why Should the Rest of Us Be Targets?
22 April 2007
Washington Post, Opinion
Knives also cut bread and carve wood and aid surgery, but guns only shoot bullets. That's what they are designed to do, and that's what they do. When we talk about protecting our right to have guns, we are talking about protecting our right to shoot bullets. So what is it that's so important to shoot at?
The principal defense of guns is constitutional. The Second Amendment ensures that "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Congress May Deny Guns to Americans With Obvious Mental Illness
22 April 2007
Reuters
WASHINGTON — Prompted by the Virginia Tech massacre, a U.S. Congress reluctant to tackle gun control may pass limited legislation to help keep firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill, lawmakers and aides said on Sunday.
"Given the horror that happened at Virginia Tech, I think there's a real chance of passing this," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, told "Fox News Sunday."
A Republican leadership aide agreed, telling Reuters, "If there is a... (GunPolicy.org)
US Lawmakers Could Deny Guns to People With Detectable Mental Illness
22 April 2007
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Grappling with the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, lawmakers said Sunday they want to eliminate a gap between state and federal laws that can allow someone with a history of mental illness to buy guns.
Members of Congress have shown little political appetite, however, for attempting to expand federal gun control in response to the massacre at Virginia Tech.
Seung-Hui Cho, who gunned down 32 people on campus and killed himself Monday, was... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Gains Strength, Calls for More Guns After Campus Shooting
22 April 2007
Agence France Presse
WASHINGTON — The powerful US gun lobby, far from being weakened by last week's tragic college campus shooting, actually has emerged stronger, gun advocates said, stepping up calls Sunday for a better-armed US citizenry to prevent future attacks.
Gun rights advocates said that following last week's massacre, in which 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui fatally shot 32 victims at Virginia Tech University, gun control forces will be hard pressed to make the case for tighter... (GunPolicy.org)
Are Mass Killings on Campus a Mostly American phenomenon?
22 April 2007
CBS News (USA)
BLACKSBURG, Virginia — After a week full of shock and horror as more information has emerged about the Virginia Tech shooting that left 33 people dead, it is now time for the funerals and memorial services for the part of this nightmare where the families of victims can finally take their pain private.
The nation has begun to turn away — massacre fatigue has now set in. Six days and counting since Seung-Hui Cho, the author we discover of twisted student... (GunPolicy.org)
US Campus Killing Reveals Crisis of Young Males in a Feminised Society
22 April 2007
Sunday Times (UK)
Just before 5am on Monday, April 16, Cho Seung-hui got out of bed and walked to his computer. Perhaps he fiddled with his rambling 1,800-word self-portrait of a killer as the insults and grievances that he had been nursing for years coursed through his head.
High on his list were his classmates from Westfield high school, who jeered at him to "go back to China" without bothering to check his nationality. Two of them — who happened to attend Virginia Tech — were... (GunPolicy.org)
In America, Even Modest Gun Restrictions Scare Off State Lawmakers
22 April 2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
All sides acknowledge the bill never had much of a chance, not in Washington, where blue politics turn crimson in the presence of gun control.
Still, when Seattle's mayor and police chief advocated for a measure to tighten background checks on weapons sold at gun shows, they didn't expect this sort of a shellacking.
One bill, the Senate version, barely crawled out of committee before dying. The other, in the House, expired before getting a single vote. Relatively... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Culture Back in Spotlight: Do We Need More or Fewer Firearms?
22 April 2007
Denver Post (Colorado)
Across Denver, it was a week of painful memories and unanswered questions about America's gun culture.
Parents and teachers solemnly observed the eighth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. All week, television was dominated by the face of Seung-Hui Cho, the young man who killed 32 people and himself on the Virginia Tech campus.
As Russell and Jayme Elsevier settled in for a quiet break at an Aurora mall, they recalled another day, nine years ago, when... (GunPolicy.org)
Columbine Father Highlights America's 'Shameful Rate of Gun Violence'
22 April 2007
Washington Post, Opinion
LITTLETON, Colorado — I can relate to the horrible pain felt by so many parents of the Virginia Tech victims. Eight years ago, I lost my 15-year-old son, Daniel, at Columbine High School.
Like the rings emanating from an earthquake, this latest school shooting has affected many lives. The parents and friends in the epicenter have been shattered by the loss of a loved one and will progress through the stages of grief. Students who survived may face "survivor's guilt."... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Safeguards Must Improve, Say Californian Firearm Enthusiasts
22 April 2007
San Francisco Chronicle
Gun enthusiasts' cliché of choice was on the tip of many tongues at this weekend's Code of the West gun show in Antioch.
As Antioch resident Tom Green put it, "It's not the gun that kills people, it's the idiot behind it."
Despite pronouncements from political pundits that Democrats in Congress are unlikely to push for tougher gun control laws before an election year, gun owners such as Green worry such regulations are inevitable in the wake of Monday's massacre at... (GunPolicy.org)
Uphill Climb for US Gun Laws: New Mass Shooting, Same Old Politics
22 April 2007
US News & World Report
Amid the media din that descended on Blacksburg, Va., last week, one voice not known for its reticence was conspicuously absent. On Monday, the National Rifle Association released a short statement offering condolences to the families of the shootings' victims. Then silence.
There was little pressure to speak out. Though some advocates for stricter gun laws expressed hope the shootings would boost their cause, experts are skeptical that gun control is primed for a... (GunPolicy.org)
US Killers Will Get Guns No Matter How Strict the Law: Ideology and Carnage
22 April 2007
Herald News (New Jersey), Column
WASHINGTON — What can be said about the Virginia Tech massacre? Very little. What should be said? Even less. The lives of 32 innocents, chosen randomly and without purpose, are extinguished most brutally by a deeply disturbed gunman. With an event such as this, consisting of nothing but suffering and tragedy, the only important questions are those of theodicy, of divine justice. Unfortunately, in today's supercharged political atmosphere, there is the inevitable rush... (GunPolicy.org)