Gun Policy News, 15 January 2011
New York Mayor Ducks Push for High-capacity Handgun Magazine Boycott
15 January 2011
New York Post
An NYPD boycott of gun makers who supply high-capacity magazines to the public would be right on target, powerful gun-control advocates said yesterday, despite Mayor Bloomberg's skepticism.
"Breaking into law enforcement is the Holy Grail for every single gun manufacturer," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, a nationally prominent nonprofit that focuses on the issue.
"If [cities] said, 'For our next buy, we only want to hear from... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Shootings Add to Notoriety, Desirability of Glock Semi-auto Pistol
15 January 2011
New York Times
New York City police officers carry Glock pistols, and rappers wax eloquent about them. Movie stars brandish Glocks, too.
"Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol," Tommy Lee Jones said in the 1998 movie "U.S. Marshals."
When Saddam Hussein was captured in a hole in the ground in Iraq, soldiers found his Glock pistol inside. It was later presented to President George W. Bush, who displayed it in the Oval Office as a treasured souvenir.... (GunPolicy.org)
America's 'Murderous Fools, Mad Gun Laws' Caused the Tucson Massacre
15 January 2011
Mirror (UK), Opinion
The life of Christina Green, born on September 11, 2001, should have been a hymn to all that is good in America.
This beautiful child loved ballet and wanted to be a vet – as many little girls do at that age.
And Christina was smart – she was interested in the world, dreamed of making it a better place, and was waiting to talk to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with an excited look on her face.
But gunman Jared Loughner was waiting for Giffords too, and... (GunPolicy.org)
At a Gun Show and a Safeway, Tucson, Arizona Looks for 'Normalcy'
15 January 2011
New York Times
TUCSON — A week after a gunman killed six people and wounded 13 others here, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a gun show at the Pima County Fairgrounds went forward as planned on Saturday, and the Safeway supermarket where the shooting occurred reopened for business.
At both places, visitors observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims.
At the Safeway, Nancy Ostromencki, 56, said, "I decided I needed to come here again to start to reclaim... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Shooting Energizes Push for More Hidden Handguns in Florida
15 January 2011
Miami Herald
TALLAHASSEE -- In the aftermath of Tucson's shooting rampage, lawmakers in Florida are ready to make their stand on guns clearer: They want more people to have the right to carry them in the open and fewer government restrictions.
All told, lawmakers have filed three separate bills that seek to restrict local governments from regulating firearms, stop doctors from even asking patients about them and that allow for licensed gun owners the right to wear firearms outside... (GunPolicy.org)
Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
Globalisation and the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons
15 January 2011
Eurasia Review
In June 2010, the representatives of all United Nations (UN) Member States came together at the Biennial Meeting of States in New York to consider the implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action (POA) on the illicit trade in small arms. The program was initiated in July 2001 to keep a check on the ever-growing illicit trade on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and to help countries, combat this pernicious problem. While the forum has worked continuously for the... (GunPolicy.org)
Business Brisk at Tucson Gun Show Just a Week After Shooting Rampage
15 January 2011
Reuters
TUCSON, Arizona - Thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show in Tucson on Saturday, a week after a shooting rampage that killed six people and raised questions about permissive gun laws in the United States.
"People see it as either guns are going to get banned, or I'm going to get shot," said stall holder Randall Record, 27, explaining the mood at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on the outskirts of the city. "Either way, it drives sales."
The show was... (GunPolicy.org)
Politifact: US Has More Gun Deaths Than Other Large Countries - Correct
15 January 2011
St Petersburg Times (Florida)
The Statement
"When we look at the number of murders in the United States (in) 2009, we had 9,500 people murdered. When we look around the world, we see … large countries, the U.K., Germany, Japan, had 200 or less killed in a year."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Jan. 11, on MSNBC
The ruling
After the attack by a gunman in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and 14 wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., some politicians and pundits brought up the issue of... (GunPolicy.org)
Mass Killings Aren't the Real Problem: Tailor Gun Control to Common Crime
15 January 2011
Wall Street Journal
Mass killings make for lurid news coverage — and human tragedy — but they aren't the real problem when it comes to gun violence. We can't hope to stop utterly unique crimes, and crimes that unfold in bizarre ways are rarely repeated.
Sensible gun-control policies have to respond to the kinds of crime that occur relatively frequently, in familiar patterns of behavior. The more narrowly we try to tailor policies to atypical crimes like mass shootings, the less... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona's Virtually Non-existent Gun Laws 'Appalling' to Canadians
15 January 2011
Calgary Herald (Alberta), Editorial
The American gun lobby will no doubt question a Canadian newspaper for daring to poke its nose where they think it doesn't belong, commenting on Arizona gun laws. With Canadians, including many from Alberta, helping to drive Arizona's housing recovery, we think it is very much our business.
Even this paper, which has opposed Canada's long-gun registry, is appalled at Arizona's virtually non-existent gun laws, which allowed a deeply disturbed Jared Lee Loughner, 22, to... (GunPolicy.org)
Ex-police Chief Acquitted in Machine Gun Shooting Death of 8yr-old Boy
15 January 2011
Boston Globe
The emotionally racked trial of a former Pelham police chief charged in connection with the accidental shooting death of an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair came to an end yesterday with a jury acquitting Edward Fleury, who cried at the verdict.
Fleury, 53, was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., lost control of an Uzi submachine gun and shot himself in the head in... (GunPolicy.org)
Experts: US Gun Purchase Background Checks Have Big Gaps, Errors
15 January 2011
National Public Radio (USA)
When Jared Loughner walked into the Tucson gun store where authorities allege he put down his money for a Glock 19 in November, the store owner sent a request to run Loughner's name through the FBI's database of criminals, fugitives, illegal immigrants and mentally ill to see if Loughner was among them.
Loughner had had several run-ins with police for possessing drugs and had been told to leave his community college for erratic behavior. But the arrests never became... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Solution to Arizona Shootings: Hidden Handguns in Classrooms
15 January 2011
Wall Street Journal
The Arizona shooting has emboldened pro-gun groups that plan to lobby politicians for proposed laws that could expand the right to carry concealed weapons on the state's college campuses.
At least two bills are on the table in Arizona, which resumed its legislative session this week. One would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. The other would prevent colleges from stopping people with a valid permit, including students, from carrying them on... (GunPolicy.org)
Appeal of Glock Pistol Unabated, Dealers Claim Soaring Sales After Tucson
15 January 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
What do Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, football player Plaxico Burress and two-thirds of America's cops have in common? They've all used Glock handguns, the firearm used to deadly effect in the Tucson killings.
The semiautomatic is treasured by thugs, gun enthusiasts and police departments. Add this sad oddity: Giffords, now badly wounded by one, remarked last year, "I have a Glock 9mm, and I'm a pretty good shot."
Made in a small Austrian town, Glocks are reliable,... (GunPolicy.org)
Close the US Gun Show Loophole, Writes Virginia Tech Shooting Survivor
15 January 2011
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), Opinion
On April 16, 2007, I was shot four times as I sat in my French class in Norris Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech. Despite the days I lay in a hospital bed recovering, despite the numerous operations I have had to endure since that day, and despite the pain of the bullet fragments that are still poisoning my body, I am one of the lucky ones. As we all know, for 32 of my fellow Hokies, including students in my class and my professor, their last breaths would come on... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida's Latest Dumb Idea: Make It a Crime for Doctors to Ask About Guns
15 January 2011
Orlando Sentinel (Florida), Opinion
Here in Florida, we see so many outlandish political ploys that it's hard anymore to get too worked up about any particular one.
We do stupid like Nebraska does corn.
Still, one Central Florida legislator's proposal for a new law is so box-of-rocks awful that it's worth highlighting.
Freshman state Rep. Jason Brodeur wants to tell doctors what they can say — in their own offices.
Specifically, he wants to criminalize questions about guns.
Right now, many... (GunPolicy.org)
Two Generations of Research Suggest New Paradigm for US Gun Control
15 January 2011
Salon (USA), Opinion
The public debate over gun policy has fallen into a somewhat predictable pattern. A tragic shooting -- like Jared Loughner's rampage in Tucson, Ariz., a week ago -- prompts outrage from across the political spectrum. After an immediate cathartic and emotional response, the two sides in the gun debate fall into their familiar postures. Proposals for new gun regulation are made, prompting push-back from gun rights advocates, who circle their wagons, issue warnings about... (GunPolicy.org)