Gun Policy News
Assault rifles, machine pistols in the news
The Shoddy Conclusions of the Man Shaping the Gun-Rights Debate
3 November 2022
New Yorker / The Trace
In 1957, the small-arms manufacturer Armalite created the AR-15—short for Armalite Rifle—at the invitation of the U.S. Army, which was seeking an effective lightweight combat weapon. When the Department of Defense reviewed a version of the rifle in 1962, during the early stages of the Vietnam War, its report stated that the gun's "lethality" and "reliability" were "particularly impressive." From forty-nine feet away, it noted, an Army Ranger fired a round into a... (GunPolicy.org)
2 August 2022
Small Arms Review
Its society beset by civil wars in the last fifty years, Yemen is awash in small arms. Nearly every Yemeni male over the age of ten carries some form of weapon, from the traditional jambiya (curved dagger) to assault rifles, as personal apparel and icons of masculinity. In the remote mountains and wadis, open carry of an assault rifle is not only common and widely accepted, but is considered de rigueur. Even heavy weapons such as the DsHk 12.7 machine guns and RPG-7s... (GunPolicy.org)
3D-printed Guns Becoming More Accessible
31 July 2021
Al Jazeera
There are mounting concerns over the proliferation of 3D-printed weapons amid growing arrests across Europe of people downloading and or trying to build their own guns.
"All you need is a weekend's worth of time and $50 for the materials".
That was the advice of Stephan Balliet, a German Neo-Nazi who has been sentenced to life in prison for killing two people after attempting to attack a synagogue in the city of Halle on October 9, 2019.
Balliet, 27, was referring to... (GunPolicy.org)
What the Overturning of California's Assault Weapons Ban Means for America
8 June 2021
Guardian
In a polarizing decision on Friday night, a federal judge struck down California's 32-year-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it violated Americans' constitutional right to own guns for self protection. In the 94-page decision, Judge Roger Benitez compared an AR-15 rifle to a "Swiss army knife" and falsely claimed that more Californians had died from the Covid-19 vaccine than from mass shootings. [See footnote]
Although the decision has sparked outrage in... (GunPolicy.org)
At least 20 Dead in Thai Mall Mass Shooting
8 February 2020
Washington Post
BANGKOK — A Thai soldier rampaged through a bustling shopping mall and a nearby army camp on Saturday afternoon, killing at least 20 people, authorities said, in a shooting he partly live-streamed on Facebook.
The chaotic violence triggered a tense standoff with the gunman, who was holed up in the mall into the early morning darkness. The alleged shooter, toting an assault rifle and clad in camouflage and a helmet, was identified by authorities as 32-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)
Bygone US Assault Weapon Ban Was Effective
4 September 2019
New York Times, Blog
Recent mass shootings have revived demands for meaningful gun control. But many opponents of a renewed federal ban on assault weapons, led by the National Rifle Association, say the earlier ban, from 1994 to 2004, made no difference. Our new research shows otherwise.
We found that public mass shootings — which we defined as incidents in which a gunman killed at least six people in public — dropped during the decade of the federal ban. Yet, in the 15 years since the... (GunPolicy.org)
South Australia Police Seize Over 238 Firearms in One Haul
5 August 2019
ABC News (Australia)
Police say a three-day search of secret rooms in an Adelaide Hills property has uncovered more than 200 illegal weapons, including an assault rifle "very similar" to the one used in the Texas mass shooting.
SA Police said officers from the Firearms Branch and Eastern Adelaide detectives searched the property just after 5:30 pm on Friday.
They said they found illegal reloading equipment, throwing knives, daggers, bayonets and military ammunition.
Some of the guns and... (GunPolicy.org)
Hundreds of Guns Handed in During Scottish Amnesty
3 July 2018
BBC News
Hundreds of illegal firearms and air weapons have been handed in to police during a two-week amnesty campaign.
A total of 474 firearms, 690 air weapons and 337 lots of ammunition were received at police stations around Scotland.
These included a machine gun, an AK47 assault rifle, and a pistol dating back to World War One.
Supt Ronnie Megaughin said getting the weapons off the streets 'lowers the risk of harm within our communities'.
He said: "Although the surrender... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida Shooting Survivors Are Fighting Back
21 February 2018
Guardian
The students who survived a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school are aiming to reshape America's gun control debate.
"You're either with us or against us," senior Emma González told politicians on Sunday, following a viral speech to gun control advocates the day before when she promised, "We are going to be the last mass shooting."
Many people see the American gun control debate as a helpless stalemate dominated by the intransigence of the National Rifle... (GunPolicy.org)
Mechanic Smuggled Thureon 'AR-15s' from US to Australia
14 July 2017
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
A black market weapons dealer who imported lethal US machine guns police say are designed for killing people is staring down the barrel of a lengthy jail term.
Paul Munro, 63, pleaded guilty to importing Thureon fully automatic rifles — which can fire 1000 rounds per minute — and firearms parts and frames into Australia in the two years to March 2015.
The County Court heard on Friday that the weapons the former mechanic imported landed in the hands of violent... (GunPolicy.org)
29 December 2016
Deutsche Welle
"What do you mean, 'Where did I get the gun?'" Mladen can't really understand why I would ask that question. He is almost 30 and the pistol has been among the household effects of his Belgrade apartment since he can remember. It is an old Yugoslavian version of the famous Soviet Tokarev TT- 33, with a communist star engraved in the grip. "The pistol is from the front. My old man was in the army and got it as a present. He didn't have a gun permit, but who had something... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Owners' Addresses Revealed in Simple Privacy Blunder
28 December 2016
Sydney Morning Herald
Dozens of home addresses of gun owners have been easily obtained in a simple privacy blunder that a veteran police officer fears may be utilised by thieves.
The treasure trove of addresses has been discovered by simple online searches of publicly available information. It has prompted a warning from NSW Police's Firearms Squad to "use common sense when providing personal details in conjunction with information about firearms".
A gun owner and veteran police officer,... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Man Charged With Smuggling Handgun Parts by Mail
17 November 2016
Sydney Morning Herald
A Mildura man has been charged with importing handgun parts in the mail.
Australian Border Force officers intercepted seven packages from the US and Hong Kong addressed to 34-year-old Hanh Truong between November 6 to November 9.
The packages were labelled as toys or model parts, but X-rays at the Australia Post gateway facility in Tullamarine revealed they actually contained firearm parts and handgun frames, a Border Force spokesman said.
Border Force and police... (GunPolicy.org)
Sudden Spike in US Gun Sales Down to 'Fear of Clinton Victory'
2 November 2016
Independent (UK)
One of the biggest manufacturers of hand guns and assault rifles in the United States is reporting soaring sales in the run-up to the presidential election as enthusiasts fear that a Hillary Clinton victory over Donald Trump could lead to restrictive new gun-control measures.
Sturm, Ruger, maker of AR-type assault rifles as well as an array of other rifles and pistols, said in an earnings call that sales rose by one third, to $161.4 million, in the quarter that ended 1... (GunPolicy.org)
What Conservatives Get Right About Guns - Guardian US Expert
28 October 2016
GQ (US)
I grew up in Connecticut, firmly on one side of the gun culture war. My parents thought it was wrong even to let kids play with toy guns. But I made a vow to myself when I started covering this debate: I would not be one one of those New York City journalists who writes ignorant, condescending stories about "gun nuts."
As it expanded into the United States, the liberal British newspaper The Guardian did something most media outlets haven't done: it assigned a reporter... (GunPolicy.org)
Support for Assault Weapon Ban at Record Low in US - Gallup
26 October 2016
Gallup (US)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The fewest Americans in 20 years favor making it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess semi-automatic guns known as assault rifles. Thirty-six percent now want an assault weapons ban, down from 44% in 2012 and 57% when Gallup first asked the question in 1996.
Assault rifles have been a contentious issue in American life for decades. Two years after President Bill Clinton signed a federal assault weapons ban in 1994, Gallup found that a solid... (GunPolicy.org)
California on Brink of US Election Upset Over Gun Control
24 October 2016
Los Angeles Times
Proposition 63 would enact the toughest gun controls in the United States. But it also would do something else: represent an astonishing historical milestone.
And if passed as expected, the ballot measure would illustrate a textbook example of how public policy can be radically changed in a democracy laden with competing checks and balances.
How is that? Through the long, slow process of taking incremental steps over decades. By pushing hard and steadily, but with... (GunPolicy.org)
Italy,Russia,Moldova,Libya,Ukraine
Jihadi Tomb Raiders, Italian Mafia Sell Antiquities for ISIS Guns
18 October 2016
Daily Beast (USA)
A fuzzy photo shows the decapitated marble head of an ancient Roman statue; the grainy image is standing in for the gilded sales bills usually displayed in the world's finest auction houses. There are no certificates of authenticity or patrimony for these artifacts either, just maps with red markings.
This is no ordinary art show.
The maps in question show ancient Roman and Greek tombs that have been pillaged in Libya. These artifacts have been put on the market by... (GunPolicy.org)
Landmark US Mass Shooting Gun Maker Law Suit Dismissed
14 October 2016
New York Times
A Connecticut judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack, delivering a blow to an ambitious effort to hold accountable the makers of the assault rifle used in the 2012 massacre before the case ever went to trial.
The judge, Barbara N. Bellis of State Superior Court, had surprised even some of the plaintiffs by allowing the case to move toward trial this year, despite a 2005 federal law that offers firearm... (GunPolicy.org)
Indian Army Renews Hunt for New-Generation Assault Rifle
28 September 2016
Economic Times (India)
India re-launched on Tuesday its global hunt for new-generation assault rifles after similar attempts over the last decade failed due to unrealistic technical requirements and whiff of corruption, interspersed by debates on whether the gun should "kill" or merely "wound" adversaries.
The project is going to be a mega one, with the Army looking to induct 65,000 rifles in the first go, with another 1,20,000 to be manufactured in India. This, of course, would be just the... (GunPolicy.org)
Equality Florida Endorses Gun Policies Reforms
25 September 2016
LGBT Weekly
Equality Florida made a significant policy announcement to formally endorse common sense gun violence prevention policies in response to the hate-fueled attack in Orlando this past June, targeting the LGBTQ community at Pulse nightclub's Latin night.
The announcement includes a position paper detailing the deep history of hate violence against the LGBTQ people and Equality Florida's desire to partner with other marginalized communities to make all of our families... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Dismantle Massive Online Gun Market in Thailand
18 September 2016
Bangkok Post
Police have cracked a massive online market in firearms, including high-powered war weapons and assault equipment, in a series of lightning raids across the country.
In early morning action on Saturday on 76 locations in many provinces, a combined taskforce of officers from three police divisions detained 20 suspects and seized 141 firearms.
The raids were launched after it emerged that teenage students were buying firearms through social media and then committing... (GunPolicy.org)
Young, Dumb & Armed: How Melbourne Became a Gun City (1)
12 September 2016
Age (Melbourne)
Sunday at the south-side club is gangster night. The blokes in streetwear - G Star Raw, Adidas, Louis Vuitton man-bags - the women in not much.
It's an exhibition of murky trades: drug dealers, bikies, standover men, the underworld's rising stars and wannabes.
They come from across the city to party and be seen, sweeping into the sprawling neon-lit club like royalty.
The ones flush with cash can spend big to get a VIP booth above the action, while the up-and-comers... (GunPolicy.org)
More 'Assault Rifle' Firearm Models Join Police Guns in Canada
3 September 2016
Guns (USA)
Canadian police are integrating the controversial AR-15 into the hands of patrol officers as firearm related crimes more than triple in some provinces.
According to several Canadian news outlets, the cities of Winnipeg, Regina and Toronto steadily added the carbine to their arsenal for use in high risk vehicle stops and home entries this year.
"We're seeing stuff we haven't seen before," Sgt. Derek Lamer told the Regina Leader-Post. "We've gone to gun calls and (the... (GunPolicy.org)
Police in Australia Seize Guns Linked to US Crime Syndicate
2 September 2016
ABC News (Australia)
Police in Victoria and New South Wales have seized 300 weapons and gun parts in a haul they say has cracked down on a major crime syndicate importing weapons from the United States.
The international operation has led to firearms charges being laid against two men.
Police said there might be further arrests as their investigations continue.
The joint federal, state and international operation was sparked 15 months ago in Victoria when a military-style assault rifle... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Seizure in US Prevented Illegal Trafficking to #Australia
2 September 2016
Age (Melbourne)
A cache of illegal guns has been seized by state, federal and US authorities as part of an investigation to tackle an international weapons operation.
Investigations began after an armed robbery at a western suburbs McDonald's 15 months ago, where a Thureon AR-15 assault rifle was used.
That weapon was then "backtracked" by police, which helped prevent a large consignment of weapons being imported to Australia.
In June, US officials seized six fully automatic assault... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada Border Post Seizes 11 American Guns in 1 Day [FR]
1 September 2016
La Presse (Montréal)
[Translated summary: Canada Border Services Agency has seized 11 American undeclared weapons, one of them an assault rifle, in only one day and at one inspection post. Three travellers had to appear in court in relation to these seizures. Last year, the Agency seized 297 undeclared guns, most of them coming from or going to Alaska.]
L'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada (ASFC) a saisi en moins de 24 heures, à un seul poste-frontière albertain, onze armes à... (GunPolicy.org)
Even Trump Backers Favour More Gun Sale Background Checks
27 August 2016
Guardian
Even as the partisan divide on gun rights widens in the US, an overwhelming majority of both Clinton and Trump supporters say they support several of the gun control reform proposals that have failed to pass Congress over the past few years, according to a new national survey from the Pew Research Center.
Seventy-five percent of Trump supporters said they favor background checks on private gun sales and sales at gun shows, as did 90% of Clinton supporters. And 82% of... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Iraq
US Lost Hundreds of Thousands of Guns In Iraq, Afghanistan
24 August 2016
New York Times
Early this year, a Facebook user in Baghdad using the name Hussein Mahyawi posted a photograph of a slightly worn M4 assault rifle he was offering for sale. Veterans of the latest war in Iraq immediately recognized it. It was a standard American carbine equipped with a holographic sight, a foregrip that was military-issue during the occupation and a sticker bearing a digital QR code used by American forces for inventory control. Except for one detail — an aftermarket... (GunPolicy.org)
The AR-15 Will Remain a Restricted Weapon in Canada [FR]
18 August 2016
Ici Radio Canada
[Translated summary: The Trudeau government has officially said no to a petition signed by 25,249 Canadians and sponsored by a conservative party member. The petition demanded the declassification of the AR-15 assault rifle rifle as a restricted weapon in order to be able to use it legally for hunting.]
Le gouvernement Trudeau a officiellement dit non aux signataires d'une pétition qui réclamait la déclassification d'un fusil d'assaut semblable à celui qui a été... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Maker Gains Recognition for Indonesian Assault Rifle
8 August 2016
Jakarta Post
The Pindad SS1-V1 left not only a definite hole in the US Marine Corps' body armor, but also a big impression on participants of the recent Rim of Pacific joint military training in the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base, Hawaii.
Admiration for the Indonesian-made assault rifle was sparked during a zeroing test on July 10. A zeroing test, conducted at a range of 25 meters, measures the power of each participating corps before the joint training begins.
Major Indra Fauzi... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Ranges Legally Rent Machine Guns to Customers
5 August 2016
Miami Herald
The instructor's face wore a frown, and I was worried that I'd committed some safety violation that was going to get me kicked out of the rifle range. When you're firing the same kind of machine gun that killed Osama bin Laden, a weapon that can spit out 900 bullets a minute, the rules are many, and strictly observed.
The instructor leaned closer. "Stop firing little bursts," he urged me. "You're not getting the real fun of the gun. This time, when you pull the... (GunPolicy.org)
How the AK-47, AR-15 Became Guns of Choice for Mass Killers
5 August 2016
New York Times
Part 1
Time and again it's the same. A lone gunman or a small group of killers with rifles commits spectacular crimes that seize the attention of the world.
The list reaches back decades: the killing of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972; the school takeover in Beslan, Russia, in 2004; the attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008; the mall assault in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013; the killing of more than 100 people in Paris in 2015.
Often the rifles are variants of... (GunPolicy.org)
Smith & Wesson Gives $500,000 to Fight Assault Rifle Ban
4 August 2016
Guardian
Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has donated $500,000 to the US's largest gun industry trade body to help its fightback against the Massachusetts attorney general's ban on the sale of assault rifles to civilians.
Smith & Wesson, whose shares this week hit a record high on the back of increasing demand for its assault rifles and other guns, said it had donated the money to the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) battle against "arbitrary government action that... (GunPolicy.org)
Correlation Between Illicit Firearms and Violence in Serbia
13 July 2016
SEESAC (Belgrade)
"I am deeply saddened to see Serbia go through one of its most tragic weeks, following another mass shooting with five dead and twenty injured. The events in Zitiste a few days ago brought to light once again three major but often ignored problems – the large scale availability of illicit firearms, its impact on public safety and most specifically its impact on intimate partner and domestic violence.
As the rest of the Western Balkans, Serbia is awash with firearms.... (GunPolicy.org)
Dallas Police Hampered, Not Helped by 'Good Guys With Guns'
11 July 2016
Los Angeles Times
Remember this drivel?
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
Well, that gun lobby rubbish was again disproved in Dallas.
Twelve good guys — law enforcement men and women trained to shoot — were stopped by one bad guy. Five officers were killed and seven wounded. Two civilians also were injured before the bad guy was finally stopped by a bomb-carrying robot.
How many good guys with guns were there trying to subdue this bad... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gunworks Now Makes, Sells Pioneering Nazi Assault Rifle
29 June 2016
CNN
Working replicas of the Nazis' storm rifle, widely considered to be the world's first assault rifle, are now being produced in the U.S.
"It's been a surprise hit with us," said Mac Steil, co-owner of Hill & Mac Gunworks in Georgia, which has taken orders for 2,000 rifles since the product launch in January. "We sold more rifles the first day than we thought we'd sell all year."
Hill & Mac Gunworks, a startup in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, is reproducing the STG... (GunPolicy.org)
US Firearm Owners Defend Right to Use AR-15 Style Guns
27 June 2016
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Karen Butler still remembers the first time she picked up an AR-15-style rifle a decade ago.
"Quite honestly, I was scared of it," she recalls.
But as soon as she fired it, she became a fan.
"You know some of these people that are fearful, it's just because they don't have knowledge," she said. "We call it furniture — it's got all the accessories on it that make it look a little intimidating. But once you shoot it you realize it's so much fun."
Butler, of... (GunPolicy.org)
Fear, Loathing and Guns: Sensory Overload at NRA Death Mall
25 June 2016
Guardian
"A frightened population is obedient."
– Hunter S Thompson
"I'm not scared about going to jail. Somebody's got to do something to knock the fear out of these negroes."
– Muhammad Ali
At the 145th National Rifle Association annual meetings and exhibits, you could see and purchase replica flintlock muskets like the kind Daniel Boone used, "wardrobe" handguns the size of a cellphone, a carriage-mounted 1883 Gatling gun, historic firearms from the Renaissance down... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia Took Action to Prevent Gun Deaths. What Happened?
22 June 2016
Washington Post
In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the Senate failed to pass four bills to shore up background checks, despite public support for the measures hovering around 90 percent. The status quo is deeply unpopular, but it remains the law.
The American mass shooting experience, which tends to follow a predictable cycle of tragedy -> outrage -> finger-pointing -> inaction, stands in sharp contrast to what happened in Australia in 1996. There, a horrified... (GunPolicy.org)
US Shop Sells 30,000 AR-15 Assault Rifles in Just One Week
22 June 2016
News (Australia)
Just when you thought you couldn't be any more dismayed by America's gun crisis, comes this depressing nugget of information.
Despite the fight for gun control making waves across the world in the week since a terrorist attack in an Orlando nightclub that left 49 dead and 53 wounded, one online gun shop has sold a whopping 30,000 AR-15 rifles.
Let me repeat that: 30,000 guns sold in ONE WEEK.
Hunter's Warehouse owner Tom Engle told Fox Business' Stuart Varney that... (GunPolicy.org)
Assault Rifles, Handguns Transform US Firearm Industry
21 June 2016
New York Times
At one time, military-style assault rifles like the ones used at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and in other mass shootings represented a relatively small segment of sales for gun manufacturers.
But in recent decades, such guns serve as one of the two financial pillars of the firearms industry, along with smaller handguns that are designed to be concealed, which have been the biggest driver of sales.
Together, the popularity of the assault rifles and small handguns... (GunPolicy.org)
Chicago Police Have Seized One Gun Per Hour This Year
21 June 2016
CBS News (USA)
CHICAGO — In the wake of another bloody weekend in Chicago, police said they have seized more than 4,200 guns this year – more than one per hour.
Police said nearly 100 guns were taken off the streets on Father's Day weekend alone. At least 13 people were killed and more than 40 others were wounded in shootings over the same weekend.
"With the help of community organizations and gun buy-back events, CPD has been able to confiscate these guns and potentially help... (GunPolicy.org)
Seven Reasons It's So Easy to Buy a Gun In the US
20 June 2016
Teen Vogue
The monstrous shooting at Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, two Sundays ago has brought America's lax gun laws back into tragic focus.
The killer, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, used a 9mm Glock 17 and a Sig Sauer MCX assault rifle that he purchased legally — despite investigations in 2013 and 2014 by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for his potential ties to terrorism.
The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, according to data... (GunPolicy.org)
More Than 250,000 Illegal Guns Put Australia at Risk of Attack
15 June 2016
Australian (Sydney)
Australia is at risk of an Orlando-style attack despite tougher gun control laws because of the more than 250,000 illegal firearms in the community, according to gun expert Philip Alpers.
The University of Sydney professor noted yesterday that the gun used in Orlando was similar to the weapon Martin Bryant used in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, an AR-15 assault rifle.
He said many of the illegal weapons in the community were potentially deadly.
The Howard government... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Injuries Are Now More Often Lethal Due Number, Severity
14 June 2016
Health Day (USA)
Injuries from senseless gun violence -- like those witnessed in Orlando on Sunday morning -- may be increasing in severity in ERs across the United States, a new study suggests.
"Americans mourn firearm-related fatalities every day," said lead researcher Dr. Angela Sauaia, a professor of public health and surgery at the University of Colorado, in Denver. "Mass shootings are just the tip of the iceberg of the daily tragedy witnessed by trauma surgeons in emergency... (GunPolicy.org)
US Debate: Would an Assault Weapon Ban Make a Difference?
13 June 2016
Guardian
In preparation for what would become the deadliest mass shooting in American history, Omar Mateen bought an .223 caliber AR-15-style assault rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, law enforcement officials said.
The shooters in December's San Bernardino terror attack also used AR-15-style rifles. So did the shooters in the 2012 attacks at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Critics call AR-15-style rifles the weapon of... (GunPolicy.org)
AR-15, the Most 'Domestic' Weapon of War in America [ES]
13 June 2016
El Mundo (Spain)
[Translated summary: After a mass shooting, fear causes Americans to acquire more and more firearms for "self-defense". Some seem even more deadly, like the AR-15, an assault rifle. It is estimated than in the last five years, civilians have bought more than 1.5 millions guns. Prices start at 500 dollars.]
Cualquier vendedor de armas en EEUU sabe que un tiroteo masivo es una buena noticia para el negocio. Y más si es la mayor matanza en la historia del país. Lejos de... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Calls Orlando Assault Weapon 'America's Rifle'
13 June 2016
New York Times
In recent years, the AR-15 has become, simultaneously, one of most beloved and most vilified rifles in the country.
It is no surprise why the gun is so reviled by gun control advocates. Omar Mateen, the gunman in the attack this weekend on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., used a spinoff of the rifle produced by SIG Sauer to kill nearly 50 people.
The military-style weapon has also been the gun of choice in several other mass shootings: at an elementary school in... (GunPolicy.org)
Assault Rifle the Weapon of Choice in US Mass Shootings
13 June 2016
Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur)
WASHINGTON — When Omar Mateen entered an Orlando, Florida, nightclub yesterday to carry out the deadliest mass shooting in US history, he wielded a weapon that has been used in massacres from California to Connecticut: a military-inspired semi-automatic rifle.
Though so-called assault rifles account for a small fraction of the United States' 30,000 annual gun deaths, they have been used in at least 10 mass shootings since 2011, according to a database compiled by... (GunPolicy.org)
Easier to Buy Gun in US Than For a Gay Man to Donate Blood
13 June 2016
Huffington Post (USA)
America's gun laws are being challenged once more in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting.
More than 50 people were injured and 49 died after Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Mateen, who was killed in a shootout with police, was armed with an AR-15 assault type rifle, a handgun and an explosive device.
The 29-year-old purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so, said Trevor Velinor of... (GunPolicy.org)
What We Know About the Pulse Nightclub Shooting in Orlando
12 June 2016
Everytown for Gun Safety
In the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, a gunman shot and killed at least 49 people and shot and injured at least 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL. According to a law enforcement source, the gunman had been a person of interest in two FBI investigations in 2013 and 2014 and at the time was placed on a terrorist watch list. Due to a loophole in federal law, the government is unable to block gun sales to people who have been investigated for... (GunPolicy.org)
AR-15 Assault Rifle the 'Signature Weapon of Mass Killers'
12 June 2016
Telegraph (UK)
Gunman Omar Mateen was armed with an AR-15-type assault rifle, which has become the signature weapon of mass killers in the US.
Known as "America's gun," it is owned by around 3.7 million American households, making it the country's most popular rifle.
The military-grade weapon was used by Adam Lanza in December 2012 to shoot dead 26 people at Sandy Hook in Newtown, while the San Bernardino terrorists used AR-15s when they killed 14 people in December 2015.
It was... (GunPolicy.org)
Czechs Plan to Vote Against Europe's New Gun Control Laws
10 June 2016
Breitbart News Network
VISNOVA/LUXEMBOURG – European Union governments should agree tighter gun control laws on Friday in the wake of Islamist shooting attacks in France and Belgium, despite opposition from some states which say they will hurt only law-abiding enthusiasts.
The Czech Republic is among the loudest critics of rules that EU officials expect to secure comfortable majority backing when the 28 interior ministers meet in Luxembourg on Friday. It argues the measures will not... (GunPolicy.org)
Navy SEAL Emblum Rifle Found Near Shooter's Home in Israel
30 May 2016
Israel National News
Border Police officers located a semi-automatic M-16 assault rifle on Monday in a home in the Arab Israeli village of Ain al-Sahla in the Wadi Ara region in the north.
Making the finding of the M-16 all the more unusual was that the lethal weapon was inscribed with the logo of the US Navy SEALs, though the insignia appears likely to have been faked.
Adding another troubling aspect to the find is the fact that Wadi Ara was the hometown of the terrorist Nashat Milhem,... (GunPolicy.org)
Poland Buys 26,000 Beryl Assault Rifles and Carbines
27 May 2016
IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
The Polish Armed Forces has placed its largest ever order for small arms, ordering over 26,000 Beryl rifles from Fabryka Broni Lucznik Radom.
Worth PLN156 million (USD39.4 million), the contract includes the delivery of 17,621 wz. 96C Beryl assault rifles and 8,400 wz. 96C Mini Beryl carbines between 2016 and 2019.
The order is the largest single firearms contract signed by Poland since 1990 and the biggest since Fabryka Broni Lucznik Radom was founded in 2000.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Namibian Farmers With Illegal Guns a Safety Concern - Police
17 May 2016
New Era (Namibia)
WINDHOEK — Farmers in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition are causing a national safety scare, says police chief Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga.
Ndeitunga says it is not only of concern to the police, but citizens alike are concerned about reports of people hiding arsenals of unlicensed firearms and discarded uniforms belonging to the former South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) and the feared Koevoet insurgency unit.
"What are their... (GunPolicy.org)
Tonga Urged to Sign Arms Trade Treaty
28 April 2016
Matangi Tonga Online
Tonga could be used as a transfer point for the illegal trade of arms if its government doesn't sign the International Arms Trade Treaty, warns Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).
Peter Barcroft, the New York based Director of Peace & Democracy Programme for PGA, said this week that the illicit trade in arms and weapons respects no borders and has no frontiers and he urged Tonga to sign the treaty.
"It is in Tonga's best interests to be party to a Treaty which... (GunPolicy.org)
Could Australia's Gun Control Laws Be Weakening?
28 April 2016
The Conversation
Gun violence has halved in Australia since laws were changed under the National Firearms Agreement adopted in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
Before the killing of 35 people by 28-year-old Martin Bryant at Port Arthur in Tasmania, each state and territory had different gun laws. Western Australia had the strongest laws and lowest rates of gun violence; Queensland had the weakest laws and gun violence was high.
In 1987, five people in the Northern Territory... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia's Kalashnikov Concern to Increase Gun Sales in 2017
27 April 2016
Sputnik News (Russia)
IZHEVSK — Russia's famed small arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern plans to increase its firearms sales twofold in 2017 to reach 5.8 billion rubles (some $88.6 million), as well as to begin the mass production of 10 new types of weapons, Kalashnikov CEO Alexei Krivoruchko said Wednesday.
"In addition to the development of new products, by 2017 we plan to double [our] sales of small arms to 5.8 billion rubles [165,000 pieces] and to start the mass production of not... (GunPolicy.org)
Asia,United States,Africa,Libya,Yemen,Iraq,Syria
Middle East: Militias Use Facebook Groups to Sell Weapons
6 April 2016
New York Times
A terrorist hoping to buy an antiaircraft weapon in recent years needed to look no further than Facebook, which has been hosting sprawling online arms bazaars, offering weapons ranging from handguns and grenades to heavy machine guns and guided missiles.
The Facebook posts suggest evidence of large-scale efforts to sell military weapons coveted by terrorists and militants. The weapons include many distributed by the United States to security forces and their proxies in... (GunPolicy.org)
The Right to Sue the US Gun Industry - NY Times
4 March 2016
New York Times, Editorial
The world recoiled in horror in 2012 when 20 Connecticut schoolchildren and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a deranged teenager using a military-style assault rifle to fire 154 rounds in less than five minutes. The weapon was a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle adapted from its original role as a battlefield weapon. The AR-15, which is designed to inflict maximum casualties with rapid bursts, should never have been available for purchase by... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Soldiers Forget Assault Rifles, Leave Them on Trains
1 February 2016
Local (Switzerland)
Safety concerns have been raised after a report revealed that Swiss soldiers left behind 18 firearms on trains in the first nine months of 2015.
The soldiers of Switzerland's conscript army apparently forgot them in different carriages of Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) trains, according to an article in ASMZ, a review for Swiss army officers.
The finding was acknowledged by Christophe Schalbetter, interim commander of the military police in his annual report.
Soldiers... (GunPolicy.org)
Most Guns in US Mass Shootings Were Legally Obtained
5 December 2015
NBC News (USA)
The weapons used in this week's massacre in San Bernardino, California, were purchased legally, raising questions about how preventable gun violence is under current U.S. firearm laws.
Eighty-two percent of weapons involved in mass shootings over the last three decades have been bought legally, according to a database compiled by Mother Jones magazine that defines a mass shooting as taking the lives of at least four people in a public place. Using that criteria, Mother... (GunPolicy.org)
Military-Style AR-15 Rifles: 'The Market is Saturated' in USA
3 December 2014
USA Today
ASHEVILLE — Two years ago, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in which a mentally unstable man killed 20 students and six adults with a military-style rifle, such weapons seemed to be in deep trouble.
After the Dec. 14, 2012, tragedy, President Obama and Congress called for reform and restrictions on the guns and their high-capacity magazines. Fearing an outright ban, gun buyers stampeded stores, cleaning out shelves and driving prices up to nearly... (GunPolicy.org)
US Man Jailed for Posting Handgun, Assault Weapons to Australia in Xbox
12 August 2014
Australian Associated Press
A US man who hid an assault rifle in a DVD player and a 9mm pistol in an Xbox console, and posted them to customers in Australia, has been jailed for two years.
Adam Joseph Bunger, 34, wept in a Bowling Green, Kentucky, court when he explained he did it to pay for his girlfriend's college education.
"Maybe you should have gotten two extra jobs instead of doing this," replied US District Judge Joseph McKinley, radio station WKU reported.
Bunger had pleaded guilty to... (GunPolicy.org)
Big Demand for Crime Guns in Canada
22 June 2014
Windsor Star (Ontario), Blog
The men hugging each other in a Windsor bar looked like old friends catching up, but the police trailing them knew better.
Investigators say they were at Rack n' Roll Club on Forest Glade Drive for a gun sale, one of many that supplied Toronto gangsters with firepower as they peddled drugs, settled scores and waged a bloody power struggle.
The salesman was Windsor's Lamar Porter, who already had more than 20 criminal convictions. The buyers were Siyadin Abdi, also... (GunPolicy.org)
Three Dead After Estranged Greek Husband Shoots Family, Self
19 June 2014
Xinhua
NICOSIA - A 40-year-old Cypriot man shot his estranged wife and two under-aged children and then turned the gun on himself, the police said on Wednesday.
A police source said the man had called his estranged wife to talk and they met on mid-afternoon Wednesday in a busy Nicosia suburb, but he started shooting with an army-issued assault rifle when the meeting developed into a shouting argument.
He then took his own life by shooting himself in the head, the police... (GunPolicy.org)
Indian Police Shocked to Find 'Sophisticated' Locally Made AK-47, Handguns
7 June 2014
Times of India
NEW DELHI - Had he been still alive, Mikhail Kalashnikov may have been surprised to witness such informal transfer of technology from Russia to a small town in Bihar. Even sleuths of Delhi Police's special cell were taken back when their operation to bust a gunrunning racket in northeast Delhi led them to recover an AK-47 made in Munger.
Though police first thought an international arms dealer was involved, a brief interrogation of the three suspects arrested along... (GunPolicy.org)
Austrian Poacher's Assault Rifle Found, Months After Shooting Police
26 May 2014
Local (Austria)
Eight months after poacher Alois Huber's deadly shooting spree in the Lower Austrian town of Annaberg, a semi-automatic assault rifle has been discovered in nearby Lassingbach stream.
Regional police spokesman, Johann Baumschlager, confirmed to Kronen Zeitung that police "are almost absolutely certain" the weapon found was that used by Huber, who shot and killed two policemen, a paramedic, and a member of Austria's counter terrorism special operations unit, known as... (GunPolicy.org)
Smart Guns Are a Smart Choice for Consumers
19 May 2014
Washington Post, Opinion
I have spent my entire life designing and developing firearms. My designs and patents, which include the USP family of pistols, the HK416 assault rifle, G36 assault rifle and XM25 grenade machine gun, are currently in use by multiple branches of the U.S. armed forces and numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the militaries of Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, among many others. I am the first non-U.S. citizen to win the Chinn Award... (GunPolicy.org)
Untraceable Homemade Assault Rifles Exploit US Gun Law Loophole
16 May 2014
Portland Press Herald (Maine) / Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — It was John Zawahri's failure to pass a background check that prevented him from buying a firearm in California several years ago.
So the 23-year-old obtained an "unfinished receiver," the metal piece that holds the critical mechanisms that allow guns to fire, and built an assault rifle himself. Last summer, he went on a rampage at a college in Southern California, firing about 100 rounds and killing five people before police fatally shot... (GunPolicy.org)
Spitting, Stalking, Rape Threats: How Gun Extremists Target Women
15 May 2014
Mother Jones (USA)
As Jennifer Longdon steered her wheelchair through the Indianapolis airport on April 25, she thought the roughest part of her trip was over. Earlier that day she'd participated in an emotional press conference with the new group Everytown for Gun Safety, against the backdrop of the National Rifle Association's annual meeting. A mom, gun owner, and Second Amendment supporter, Longdon was paralyzed in 2004 after being shot in her car by unknown assailants, and has since... (GunPolicy.org)
Congo (DRC),Africa,Sudan,South Sudan,Bulgaria,Iran
Chasing Bullets, Firearms in the Democratic Republic of Congo
13 May 2014
IRIN (UN News)
Virunga National Park — Her job is to track and trace small arms and ammunition in Africa's conflict zones.
Each bullet, assault rifle, mortar, rocket or other item of military hardware she documents forms a piece of a huge jigsaw being created by the UK-based NGO Conflict Armaments Research (CAR) to map the precise flows of conflict weaponry in Africa.
Moving within the ebb and flow of the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) conflict, the investigator, who asked... (GunPolicy.org)
Republicans Say No to CDC Gun Violence Research
21 April 2014
ProPublica
After the Sandy Hook school shooting, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) was one of a few congressional Republicans who expressed a willingness to reconsider the need for gun control laws.
"Put guns on the table, also put video games on the table, put mental health on the table," he said less than a week after the Newtown shootings. He told a local TV station that he wanted to see more research done to understand mass shootings. "Let's let the data lead rather than our... (GunPolicy.org)
Two Days of Gunfights Leave 24 Dead in Mexico's North
8 April 2014
New Straits Times (Malaysia)
MEXICO CITY - The death toll from two days of gunfights in Mexico's northern state of Tamaulipas rose to 24 on Monday after authorities reported six more slayings in the drug violence-plagued region.
Authorities said 15 men and two women were killed on Sunday in a series of shootings between criminal groups in the towns of Tampico and Ciudad Madero, on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
A man's body was found on a bench and two others on a street in Tampico early Monday,... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Musician Charged Over Alleged Assault Weapons Sales
1 April 2014
Guardian (UK)
Rose Tattoo drummer Paul DeMarco has been charged over a gun sales syndicate in NSW.
Former bikie boss Sam Ibrahim and his younger sister Maha Sayour were also arrested over the alleged syndicate during a series of dawn raids in Sydney and the Illawarra region on Tuesday morning.
DeMarco, 55, was arrested by officers from NSW's heavily armed tactical operations unit at Windsor about 6.15am.
He is due to appear at Blacktown local court on Tuesday afternoon, with... (GunPolicy.org)
Africa,North Africa,Russia,Syria,Mali,Qatar,Turkey,Libya,Egypt,Chad,Somalia,Nigeria,Niger
Libya's Guns Free-For-All Fuels Region's Turmoil
22 March 2014
St Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
TRIPOLI — At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it's Tripoli's biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars.
Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of... (GunPolicy.org)
South African Athlete Accused of Murder had 'Great Love' for Guns
17 March 2014
CBS News (USA)
PRETORIA, South Africa - Months before he killed his girlfriend, Oscar Pistorius said he drew his gun and went into "combat mode" after thinking he heard the noise of an intruder at his home, which turned out to be a washing machine, a South African gun expert testified Monday at the athlete's murder trial.
Sean Rens also said Pistorius wanted to buy seven more guns in 2012 - to add to the 9 mm pistol he already owned for self-defense - and asked the firearm trainer to... (GunPolicy.org)
UK Teen Jailed After Ordering Assault Weapon Online, Delivered to Home
14 March 2014
Telegraph (UK)
A teenager who bought a machine gun online and had it delivered to his family home, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and nunchucks, has been jailed for six years.
Reza Khalilzada, 18, was caught hiding an assault rifle under his bed which he had ordered from a US website.
Police were alerted after suspicious customs officials in the US examined a heavy box destined for Khalilzada's address in Pinner, Middlesex, in August last year.
Instead of the ceramic... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Assault Rifle Fuss: Gun Lobby Aims to 'Americanise' Canada
9 March 2014
CBC News (Canada)
Both gun owners and gun control advocates say they're confused by the government's handling of a ban on a class of military-style rifles.
Gun owners say they don't know what the government's five-year amnesty on the Swiss Arms Classic Greens means.
The guns are semi-automatic rifles called Classic Greens and they've been available in Canada for about a dozen years.
Last week the RCMP changed the guns' classification from "non-restricted" to "prohibited" on its... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Move to Curb Swiss Assault Rifle, Canada Grants Instant Amnesty
3 March 2014
CBC News (Canada)
The federal government has granted a five-year amnesty to owners of Swiss Arms Classic Green semi-automatic rifles, who will be able to continue to possess their guns "without threat of criminal charges," according to a statement from the public safety minister's office.
Although the guns have been sold in Canada for a dozen years, the RCMP had been investigating a small group of rifles similar to the Classic Greens that were brought into Canada from the small arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Rumoured Ban of Swiss Assault Rifle Reignites Gun Debate in Canada
27 February 2014
CBC News (Canada), Video
The gun debate may be flaring up again over what appears to be the imminent ban of a semi-automatic military-style weapon that has been legal in Canada for a dozen years.
Gun enthusiasts got word of the ban Wednesday evening, although the RCMP has made no official announcement.
According to Solomon Friedman, a lawyer for the National Firearms Association, the PE-90 rifle, made by SAN Swiss Arms AG, a Switzerland-based small arms manufacturer, is about to be... (GunPolicy.org)
After Decades With Few Guns, Almost Every Libyan Household Has One
25 February 2014
PolicyMic
In a country where civilian gun ownership was rare for decades, a sudden inundation of small arms means plenty of people will likely get shot.
One recent afternoon, Ahmed, 26, was driving around Tripoli with his brother Bashir, 24. Without warning, the driver in the car in front of them slammed his brakes. Ahmed, who nearly rear-ended the offending vehicle, honked his horn. The other driver got out of his car. A shouting match became physical and the man went back to... (GunPolicy.org)
Germany,Africa,Americas,Europe,Asia,Mexico
Oberndorf: The Tiny German Town that Armed the World
25 February 2014
Guardian (UK)
The town of Oberndorf should look a lot nicer. Nature offered plenty of blessings. Its 14,000 inhabitants live sheltered in the green and rocky Neckar valley, where the narrow, sparkling river Neckar grooves its way through the Black Forest in one of Germany's most picturesque corners. This is the heart of Baden-Württemberg: tranquil and prosperous, the sunniest and warmest part of Germany. Yet Oberndorf's town centre doesn't include the cobbled square lined with... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada: Buying a Gun Like Buying a Fridge, Gun Lobby Linked Academic Says
12 February 2014
Maple Ridge News (Canada)
A Maple Ridge gun shop claims to be the first in Canada to offer selling firearms on yearly financial terms.
"Take your dream gun home today and pay it off in six or 12 months," is the advertisement from Wanstalls, noting that a Core 15 assault rifle can be had for $118 per month.
Matthew Mendel, a spokesman for the store on the Lougheed Highway in downtown Maple Ridge, said gun stores have offered layaway plans for a long time. However, customers might have had to... (GunPolicy.org)
Kalashnikov Eyes Indian Partners for Firearms Production
6 February 2014
RIA Novosti (Russia)
NEW DELHI – Russia's Kalashnikov Concern is in talks with several Indian companies on setting up joint ventures to produce small arms and high-precision weaponry, a company official said Thursday.
"India for us is a market with high potential…and we are marketing here all weapons on our production list, including assault rifles, sniper rifles and high-precision weapons," Andrei Baryshnikov, Kalashnikov exports director, said at the DEFEXPO INDIA-2014 exhibition in... (GunPolicy.org)
Iran,Syria,Lebanon,Russia,Iraq
Profit Trumps Principle On Syria Weapons Black Market
5 February 2014
Christian Science Monitor / Alaska Dispatch
A glut of small arms in Syria and high weapons prices in neighboring Lebanon, where growing instability supports a thriving black market, have encouraged both Syrian soldiers and rebels to sell their surplus stock, sometimes to their battlefield enemies.
The trade in illegal weaponry in Lebanon has all the characteristics of a stock market, with prices increasing and decreasing according to the security climate and the mood on the Lebanese street. The savvy dealers buy... (GunPolicy.org)
Swiss Gun Maker 'Fighting for Survival': Money, Corruption [DE]
3 February 2014
20 Minutes (Geneva)
[Translated summary: Swiss gun maker SAN Swiss Arms, supplier of the standard Swiss military assault rifle, faces money woes, staff layoffs and allegations of corruption. SAN's German parent company SIG-Sauer has been raided by police over unauthorised gun deliveries to Kazakhstan, possibly routed via the US to avoid sanctions.]
Die SAN Swiss Arms aus Neuhausen SH produziert als Nachfolgerin der SIG das Sturmgewehr 90 der Schweizer Armee und hat derzeit Probleme an... (GunPolicy.org)
US: Meth-Smoking White Supremacist Amassed Assault Rifles Despite Felonies
30 January 2014
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Nobody is going to call John Christian Parks a master criminal.
Not him, certainly. Not his attorneys. Not the federal prosecutors who, having won a conviction against the eight-time felon following a jury trial, asked that he spend a decade in prison for gun crimes.
Last spring, U.S. Forest Service police caught Parks and a gaggle of others smoking meth and shooting semi-automatic assault rifles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Searching the 38-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)
Federal Judge Upholds US State's Ban on Semi-Automatic Weapons
30 January 2014
Wall Street Journal, Blog
A federal judge has upheld Connecticut's ban on many semi-automatic weapons as constitutional, a win for gun-control advocates who pushed for tighter firearm restrictions following the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford ruled that Connecticut's 2013 prohibition, which expanded the definition of "assault weapon" under a 1993 law, does not violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The law currently... (GunPolicy.org)
Russian Cops Searching for Owner of Assault Weapon Left at IKEA
28 January 2014
RIA Novosti (Russia)
MOSCOW – A visit to Moscow's popular and crowded IKEA furniture stores can often be a trying experience, but somebody appears to have courted temptation by taking along their Kalashnikov.
Russian online media reported Tuesday that police are looking for somebody who left an assault rifle in a coatroom at an outlet of the Swedish retailer in the Moscow suburb of Khimki.
The 1974 Kalashnikov and more than 100 rounds of ammunition were discovered Tuesday morning at the... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Gun Dealer Linked to Gangs, Breaches of Gun Permits
9 January 2014
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
EXCLUSIVE - An arms dealer who supplies high-powered guns to the Australian Defence Force has been questioned over weapons permit breaches and suspected underworld connections.
The dealer, who has been allowed to import lethal weapons for more than a decade, has links with a group of ex-soldiers whose associates include underworld figures and bikies.
For six years, the dealer's firm has been the subject of multiple probes by state and federal authorities, including... (GunPolicy.org)
The Year in Guns: In Wake of Tragedy, More American Government Inaction
22 December 2013
al Jazeera
In the United States, the pendulum swings wide bearing the weight of a gun.
Just one year ago, the nation found itself grappling with fresh grief following a mass shooting in which a gunman killed 20 children and six teachers in Newtown, Conn. It was another stroke in the drumbeat of tragedy ingraining a national vernacular centered on dateline — Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora. All were places where the semi-automatic weapon's innate purpose to briskly slaughter... (GunPolicy.org)
When the Right to Bear Arms Includes the Mentally Ill
21 December 2013
New York Times, Series
Last April, workers at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut called the police to report that a psychiatric patient named Mark Russo had threatened to shoot his mother if officers tried to take the 18 rifles and shotguns he kept at her house. Mr. Russo, who was off his medication for paranoid schizophrenia, also talked about the recent elementary school massacre in Newtown and told a nurse that he "could take a chair and kill you or bash your head in between the eyes,"... (GunPolicy.org)
More Than Half of Americans Now Have Tougher Gun Laws
12 December 2013
Mother Jones (USA)
An unthinkable massacre ignites an intense national debate. Then, Congress does nothing. The powerful gun lobby wins again. End of story.
[Interactive charts of US state gun laws are displayed in the original]
So went the popular narrative last spring with the collapse of gun control legislation on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, scores of people have been wounded or killed in five new mass shootings and other gun rampages around the country, and an estimated 30,000 have... (GunPolicy.org)
St Lucia Police Seize Military Assault Rifle From Civilian
3 December 2013
What's Up Caribbean (Barbados)
Police in St. Lucia are startled as to how a civilian was able to acquire an SLR assault rifle - given that the weapon is a combat infantry weapon with a large calibre round.
Officers attached to the Richmond and Dennery Police Stations successfully confiscated the rifle along with two bales of compressed marijuana from the hands of a civilian.
The police department made the startling discovery Saturday November 30, 2013 during the execution of a search warrant at a... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Syria,Israel,India,Ireland,Togo,Canada,United States,Afghanistan,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Sri Lanka,Germany,Russia
Growing Number of Personalised Firearms to Boost Safety Available
30 November 2013
Economist
To help push Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave Afghan fighters shoulder-launched Stinger anti-aircraft missiles (pictured). Accurate and easy-to-use, the Stingers caused grievous losses. But after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the CIA wanted to discourage the use of the leftover missiles. It got hold of some of those circulating on the black market and booby-trapped them, so that anyone who tried to fire one... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Police Find 'Staggering Collection' of Guns After Customs Tip-Off
14 November 2013
Times-Colonist (British Columbia)
Police unveiled a "staggering collection" of firearms Wednesday, seized from a Prince George home following an investigation that began when border guards came across two suspicious packages.
Karl Haus, 53, now faces 17 charges in relation to the haul from a Prospect Point home in the Hart Highlands where police uncovered nine rifles — a fully-automatic M-16 and a fully-automatic AK-47 among them — as well as three handguns, two of which were loaded, and two... (GunPolicy.org)
US Olympic Runner Calls for Assault Rifle and Handgun Ban
5 November 2013
Runner's World (USA)
I love my Second Amendment right. I was raised in Boise, Idaho, and have been hunting the Treasure Valley for upland game and waterfowl since I was strong enough to carry a gun. I come from a long line of hunters who take pride in the time-honored tradition of stalking game, killing it ethically, and providing food for their families. I was raised to appreciate the awesome power of firearms and to treat all guns as if they are loaded. I own several guns and would be sad... (GunPolicy.org)
South Sudan,Somalia,Burundi,Liberia,Ghana,United States,Europe,Zimbabwe,Uganda,Tanzania,Sudan,Nigeria,Namibia,Kenya,Ethiopia,Africa
How Disarmament in Africa Got More Complicated
5 November 2013
IPI Global Observatory
Africa is ground zero in the international debate on controlling the small arms and light weapons trade. For more than a decade, diplomatic activity to contain arms and ammunition transfers has been animated by a concern with instability and contagion generated by the continent's many wars. Leading think tanks, research groups, and advocacy organizations have repeatedly drawn attention to the way the burden of armed violence in Africa is a product of low-tech assault... (GunPolicy.org)
How the Gun Lobby Made it Easier to Bring Guns into US Airports
3 November 2013
ThinkProgress (USA)
On Friday, a gunman "pulled a Smith & Wesson .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag" and opened fire on an airport. Officials have arrested the alleged shooter, 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, who killed a TSA agent and wounded six others at a security checkpoint. The incident is the second airport shooting in six months.
The National Rifle Association has not yet said a word on the tragedy (the day before, the NRA tweeted a story about the so-called "exploitation"... (GunPolicy.org)
'Cottage Industry' Feeds Illegal Gun Trade in Canada
24 October 2013
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
Some B.C. residents are capitalizing on the illicit gun trade by making gun parts and even firearms to sell to local criminals.
Cpl. Frank Grosspietsch of the RCMP's National Weapons Enforcement Support Team said a "cottage industry" has sprung up in B.C. in recent years among people willing to arm gangsters and other criminals.
B.C.-made noise suppressors - which muffle gunshots and are commonly and inaccurately called silencers - have been used in recent murders,... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Sweden,Germany,United States,Australia
US Man Charged Over Internet Gun Sales to Australians
18 October 2013
Australian (Sydney) / AAP
A Kentucky man accused of selling an assault rifle and a 9mm pistol to buyers in Australia via an encrypted "deep web" website has been indicted by a grand jury in the US.
Adam Joseph Bunger, 33, will be arraigned on October 30 in the District Court in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after the jury was presented with evidence collected by Australian Federal Police and US authorities.
Bunger is accused of using the German-based website Black Market Reloaded to find buyers in... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian Gun Owner with Assault Weapon Kills 2, Self
18 October 2013
CBC News (Canada)
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary says that Brian Dawe was wearing body armour and had an AK-47 assault rifle when he used a handgun to shoot two people dead in Conception Bay South earlier this week before he killed himself.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the RNC said Dawe also had hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a 9-mm handgun on him when they found his body at a cemetery in Mount Pearl.
According to the RNC, Dawe was in possession of the firearms legally,... (GunPolicy.org)
US Firearm Owners Push Their Right to Bear Arms Anywhere, Anytime
11 October 2013
Newsweek (USA)
The weapon he was carrying, an AK-74 assault rifle, measures three feet long, with a barrel of about 16 inches, and is capable of firing several dozen rounds per minute. Brian McCauley says he never meant to scare anyone. The state of Texas disagrees, and his upcoming trial has become a focal point in a dangerous new battle in the national debate over gun laws.
By the time McCauley walked into a San Antonio Starbucks in August, tensions had been building for years. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Mozambique Cops Jailed for Renting Out Guns to Criminals
2 October 2013
Agência de Informação de Moçambique
MAPUTO — The Sofala Provincial Court in central Mozambique on Monday sentenced two policemen to 12 year jail terms for hiring out police firearms to criminals.
The two policemen were Celestino Cacaue and Lazaro Saene. The latter will not be serving his jail sentence because he was shot dead last Thursday while trying to escape from Beira central prison.
According to a report in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily 'Noticias', the two police were in the dock... (GunPolicy.org)
Man Brings Assault Rifle Into US State Capitol Building to Prove Point
25 September 2013
KOB Eyewitness News 4 (New Mexico)
A YouTube video of a man carrying a loaded rifle into the New Mexico Capitol is getting plenty of attention online. Not because he did anything wrong, but because he was making a point about his rights.
And his message certainly got state lawmakers' attention.
"I'm gonna go inside the state Capitol and see if I can educate a few people," the man says in the video, only identified by his YouTube account name of "martinrps13."
He walked into the east entrance lobby of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control Prevented US Navy Yard Shooter from Buying Assault Rifle
17 September 2013
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.
Instead, the suspect, Aaron Alexis of Texas, bought a law-enforcement-style shotgun — an 870 Remington pump-action — and used it on Monday as... (GunPolicy.org)
US Navy Yard Mass Shooting: AR-15, The Weapon Of Choice - Again
17 September 2013
CNN
It has been called the most popular rifle in America, and it's back in the spotlight after Monday's shooting at the Navy Yard: The AR-15.
Authorities said when Aaron Alexis unleashed a barrage of bullets Monday, he was carrying a rifle and a handgun. But he did most of the shooting with the weapon used in so many other rampages that shocked the nation:
- Sandy Hook: Adam Lanza killed 26 people at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, with the AR-15... (GunPolicy.org)
Australians Caught Smuggling Guns from Israel, USA
13 September 2013
ABC News (Australia)
Guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been seized in Sorrento and Waikiki after joint operations between Customs and WA Police.
Guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been seized in Sorrento and Waikiki after joint operations between the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) and WA Police.
Investigations into the Sorrento incident began when Customs officers at the Sydney International Mail Facility accepted an accessory for a... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia,United States,Sweden,England & Wales,Germany
US Man Charged With Shipping Guns Internationally, Including Australia
12 September 2013
Courier-Journal (Kentucky) / Associated Press
In a secretive corner of the Internet, buyers and sellers can meet up in a marketplace where virtually anything is available.
That's where federal investigators say that 33-year-old Adam Joseph Bunger used various aliases to sell weapons to buyers overseas — including to people in countries with strict firearm purchasing and ownership laws.
Bunger is charged in federal court in Kentucky with shipping a firearm in foreign commerce, delivering a firearm to an... (GunPolicy.org)
Mexican Drug Cartel Leader's Assault Rifle Traced to US Felon Gun Seller
12 September 2013
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
An assault rifle seized during the July arrest of one of Mexico's most violent drug lords — Miguel Angel "Z-40" Treviño Morales — has been traced to a shady gun seller whose Spring Branch home was searched last week and netted what authorities said was a "small arsenal."
More than 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 76 guns and $15,000 in cash were seized from Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez, 65, who was sentenced in 2002 to 47 months in the federal penitentiary after being... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian Gun Owner Caught Selling Assault Weapons to Gangs
10 September 2013
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times (Canda)
It's a major cache of weapons that police believe was destined to fall into the hands of criminals in the Lower Mainland and beyond.
On Tuesday, Mounties showed off the major haul of guns and ammunition seized by Coquitlam RCMP's street enforcement team during a raid back in June.
And as a result, Marc Wisdom, 41, of Maple Ridge is facing 50 criminal charges including 26 counts related to firearms and ammunition, 20 counts for possession of prohibited devices, and... (GunPolicy.org)
California Aims to Lead US, Control Rapid-Fire Guns, Ammunition
4 September 2013
Sacramento Bee (California), Opinion
The California Legislature is considering a series of groundbreaking proposals, collectively known as the LIFE Act, to prevent firearm-related crime and violence. Many of those proposals are supported by the recommendations of a nationwide panel of experts in the field, and those recommendations in turn are supported by a large body of research evidence. This column summarizes that evidence for four of the LIFE Act proposals.
Senate Bill 374, by Senate Pro Tem Darrell... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Seize 183 Guns from Licensed Canadian Owner 'Supplying Gangs'
30 August 2013
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
Police have seized a 183-gun arsenal in a remote area of the B.C. Interior and arrested a man who investigators allege was purchasing assault rifles and other weapons legally and then selling them to the highest bidder, possibly to gang members and other criminals.
The province's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit - an RCMP-led team that targets organized crime - announced the seizure.
Thursday, almost a week after raiding the home of a 63-year-old man in Tatla... (GunPolicy.org)
US Convicted Murderer's Case For Gun Control
21 August 2013
Atlantic (USA)
It was swift and cowardly.
Defenseless, distracted by music, Alex sat in the passenger seat of the rental as I made my way to the trunk. I remembered Frankie's words: "It's loaded, cocked, and the safety is off. All you have to do is pull the trigger."
At that point in our lives, Alex and I, both in our early twenties, were gun-toting thugs immersed in gangster culture. We were out on bail for separate gun charges. A few years before, Alex had been acquitted of murder... (GunPolicy.org)
New York's 254-Gun Bust: All Smuggled from Lax Gun Law States
19 August 2013
BBC News
New York City police have arrested 19 people in what authorities are calling the city's largest-ever guns bust.
Police recovered 254 firearms, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The guns were brought to the city from the US states of North and South Carolina by traffickers travelling on buses, authorities said.
Mr Bloomberg is one of the most prominent proponents of strict gun control in the US, criticising the easy availability of firearms.
"Year after year guns flow... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Permit Applications Increase in Newtown Since Sandy Hook Massacre
14 August 2013
New York Daily News
There has been a run on guns in the Connecticut town where a madman armed with a Bushmaster assault rifle turned a grade school into a slaughterhouse.
Requests for gun permits are on track to double this year over last year in heartbroken Newtown, where 20 first-graders and six staffers were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Dec. 14, police said.
And the surge appears to be fueled by worried residents like 66-year-old Nancy Ellis, a soon-to-be gun-toting... (GunPolicy.org)
In Thailand: Gun Laws Strict But Ownership High
8 August 2013
Straits Times (Singapore)
"Call me Dev," he said.
He looked straight out of a Bollywood film - stocky, confident, with a shaven head and a pink open-necked shirt. Dev is a salesman at a shop on Thailand's gun row, Wang Burapha road, which features a string of shops selling a range of guns and accessories.
The guns are two to three times more expensive than those in the United States. "Only rich people buy guns here," said Dev.
Rich people, and The Royal Thai Police. In what has long been a... (GunPolicy.org)
In the Philippines: Gun Culture is Deep-Rooted, More Gun Control Wanted
8 August 2013
Straits Times (Singapore)
Visitors to the Philippines often do a double take at the signs outside restaurants, shops and office buildings requesting that firearms be deposited before entering.
It is a vivid reflection of this country's deep-rooted gun culture. Although there is no constitutional right to bear arms, civilians may own firearms, and even assault rifles.
There are 1.2 million registered firearms in the Philippines and 600,000 more with expired licences, according to police... (GunPolicy.org)
'Pillar Of The Community' Lived Double Life as UK Gangland Gun Dealer
6 August 2013
Daily Mail (UK)
A Tory candidate has been jailed for 16 years for selling submachine guns he smuggled from Serbia to drugs gangs in Britain.
Marcus Simpson, who narrowly missed out on being elected to his local council, offered gangsters a 'menu' of weapons that included a Scorpion submachine gun, a laser-sighted assault rifle and Walther PPKs, plus silencers and ammunition.
Simpson, 42, was a Conservative candidate for Corby, Northamptonshire, in the 2011 local elections. He lost by... (GunPolicy.org)
Armed Groups Impose 'Gun Law' in Eastern DRC
1 August 2013
Voice of America
GOMA — People who have fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern conflict zone say the armed groups that control their villages have imposed a new rule: each family must buy a firearm from the local armed group, or face unpleasant consequences.
There are many firearms in Masisi territory, the part of eastern Congo that saw the country's worst inter-ethnic violence last year. Now, according to people who fled the territory, gun ownership has been made... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Man Charged After Gun Shopping Online Delivers M4 Rifle
24 July 2013
Herald Sun (Melbourne) / Courier-Mail (Brisbane)
Police have charged a chef at a resort island off Cairns who allegedly took delivery of an M4 rifle, a gun barrel extension and laser pointer ordered on the internet.
Officers are puzzled over how a military-style assault rifle bypassed strict Australian Customs screening and landed in the hands of a chef working on Green Island.
Detectives raided the 52-year-old's Green Island Resort room and uncovered the banned M4 carbine rifle, a gun barrel extension and laser... (GunPolicy.org)
US Reporter Purchases 'War Guns' from Online Seller Within Hours
16 July 2013
ABC News (USA) / National Geographic
To explore how criminals might easily get a gun, without background checks, from sellers who don't ask too many questions, an undercover team from National Geographic found private sellers online who, at separate meet-ups, were willing to sell them an assault rifle and a sniper rifle with enough ammunition to "start your own war."
The United States is the most heavily armed nation in the world, but despite gun regulations, weapons continue to fall into criminal... (GunPolicy.org)
Fighting Guns With Graffiti in Honduras
13 June 2013
al Jazeera
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - It's almost sundown and a small sport utility vehicle glides through one of the most dangerous cities in the world which has been overrun by rival gangs and organised crime.
During the drive, dozens of Hondurans are seen making their way home, wary of the time to ensure they get there before dark. The SUV crosses a bridge and parks on the sidewalk, just two blocks away from the capital Tegucigalpa's red-light district.
It is here where Urban... (GunPolicy.org)
Saudi Arabia,Libya,Mexico,Germany
Weapons Exports Reveal Faults in German System
30 May 2013
Deutsche Welle
Germany prides itself on having "strict, even restrictive regulations" for the export of weapons of war. All the same, German weapons regularly show up in regions they should not be in.
For years, every single government coalition in Germany has stated that the country has particularly strict regulations for sales of weapons of war to foreign countries. Regularly, however, weapons used abroad but "made in Germany" get into the news. People are outraged when assault... (GunPolicy.org)
Massive Cache of Guns Seized in West Australia
27 May 2013
Australian (Sydney) / AAP
An anonymous tip-off has led to the seizure of a massive cache of guns and ammunition, including a Chinese assault rifle and a laser-sighted Magnum handgun, in Western Australia.
After last week's launch of the nationwide Operation Unification, designed to crack down on illicit firearms, WA detectives raided a hotel in Fremantle where they seized an unlicensed double-barrel shotgun.
Further inquiries then led to raids on three properties in Caversham, 14km northeast... (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)
Police Confirm 1 Million Illegal Guns in Nigeria
9 May 2013
Daily Newswatch (Nigeria)
Against the backdrop of mounting security challenges in Nigeria arising from the Boko Haram insurgency and ethno-religious crisis in the north as well as armed robbery and kidnapping in the south, it has been estimated that there are about one million illegally held guns in the country in civilian hands. The market price for most popular of them all, the AK-47 pattern of assault weapon, goes for $180 (about N27,000). While the total number of guns in the hands of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gunman Kills Three with Assault Weapon in 'Random' French Shooting
25 April 2013
Local (France)
Three people were killed in the south of France on Thursday when a gunman opened fire apparently at random in the southern town of Istres. French President François Hollande has sent his Interior Minister to the scene of the shooting.
A gunman opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle in the southern French town of Istres on Thursday killing three people.
A 55-year-old woman was also left slightly injured after a bullet grazed her ear and police found a Kalashnikov... (GunPolicy.org)
Officials say US Gun Checks Would Stop Illegal Guns Getting to Bahamas
18 April 2013
Tribune (Bahamas)
Officials in the Bahamas had hoped that the now failed proposed measure to expand gun background checks in the United States would have assisted law enforcement here to stem the tide of illegal firearms into the country.
Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, speaking to reporters yesterday, said any legislation that would have made it more difficult to traffic in firearms would have had a significant impact in the Bahamas.
"Very early on in our administration, the... (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)
Tanzania Police Seize Assault Weapon, Pistols
10 April 2013
Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
DAR ES SALAAM - Police in the city have recovered three guns and 33 bullets from different locations. The weapons were reportedly to be used by suspected bandits in commiting robberies.
The firearms were recovered in a special round up carried out by police after receiving intelligence information from citizens, according to Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova.
He said that one sub machine gun (SMG) was recovered at Kimbangulile area in... (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)
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)
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)
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)
United States,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
US Gun Lobby Stepping Up Its Opposition to UN Arms Trade Treaty
17 March 2013
Guardian (UK)
The National Rifle Association is stepping up its opposition to a UN treaty aimed at halting the illicit trade of guns into conflict zones, after months of silence on the issue believed to be due to its focus on domestic gun control.
Human rights campaigners said that the resurgence of the NRA's campaign was designed to "stir up anti-UN panic" ahead of the UN conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which opens on Monday in New York. The Obama administration indicated in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia,China,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States
NRA Opposes UN Arms Trade Treaty
16 March 2013
Washington Post
The National Rifle Association, which is battling a raft of gun control measures on Capitol Hill, also has an international fight on its hand as it gears up to oppose a U.N. treaty designed to restrict the flow of arms to conflict zones.
Negotiations open Monday in New York on the Arms Trade Treaty, which would require countries to determine whether weapons they sell would be used to commit serious human rights violations, terrorism or transnational organized... (GunPolicy.org)
US Senate Panel Backs Tougher Penalties for Illegal Gun Trafficking
7 March 2013
Bloomberg (USA)
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved tougher penalties for illegal gun-trafficking in the first congressional vote on gun restrictions since the December shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
Still, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein said her proposed assault-weapon ban is on a "very hard road."
The 11-7, almost party-line vote on the trafficking measure today emphasized the hurdles to passing gun legislation even after the Dec. 14 mass killing of 20 children... (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)
Growing Rate of 'Suicide by Cop' Shootings in Canada
27 February 2013
CBC News (Canada)
On the evening of Jul. 17, 2010, the RCMP in Okotoks, Alta., received a report of a domestic assault, and about six hours after the initial call, with the emergency response team deployed around his house, 39-year-old Corey Lewis stepped out the door.
"He took up a kneeling stance and raised an object to his shoulder and pointed it at the loudspeaker. The object he was holding appeared to have a silver tip and was dark in colour," according to Cliff Purvis, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Ghana Officials say Guns from Cote D'Ivoire, Offer Rewards
21 February 2013
Ghanaian Chronicle
The Bawku Divisional Police Commander, ACP Kweku Buadu-Pepra, says most the sophisticated weapons in Bawku came from neighbouring Cote d' Ivoire during the election conflict that erupted in that country in 2002.
The Bawku Municipal Security Committee (MUSEC) recently announced a monetary reward package of GHA¢3,000 for anyone with credible information that could lead to the security agencies retrieving weapons from civilians in the area.
The package also included... (GunPolicy.org)
US Vice President Recommends a Shotgun for Protection
20 February 2013
Guardian (UK), Video
Joe Biden, the US vice-president, has said Americans should buy a shotgun rather than an assault rifle if they want to protect their homes.
Biden, who is spearheading a push for President Barack Obama's gun control proposals, made the remark during a question-and-answer session on Facebook on Tuesday.
The vice-president has not one but two shotguns that he says he keeps in a locked cabinet at his house in his home state of Delaware, and he has given his wife, Jill,... (GunPolicy.org)
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius Applied for Six Restricted Guns
19 February 2013
Independent (South Africa)
Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius applied for six separate firearm licences in January. Less than a month later, he stands accused of fatally shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The killing took place during the early hours of Thursday at his luxury home in Pretoria.
On Tuesday, as the Paralympian prepares to show compelling reasons why he should be released on bail, The Star can reveal that Pistorius applied for licences for the following firearms:
- A Maverick... (GunPolicy.org)
Proposed US Assault Weapon Ban Leaves Out Over 2,200 Guns
18 February 2013
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Congress' latest crack at a new assault weapons ban would protect more than 2,200 specific firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle that is nearly identical to one of the guns used in the bloodiest shootout in FBI history.
One model of that firearm, the Ruger .223 caliber Mini-14, is on the proposed list to be banned, while a different model of the same gun is on a list of exempted firearms in legislation the Senate is considering. The gun that would... (GunPolicy.org)
UK Soldier with PTSD Steals Gun, Plans Suicide
18 February 2013
BBC News
A soldier who stole ammunition and a gun from his barracks has been told he may escape jail because he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Harry Killick, 36, from Brighton, had returned to Britain from Afghanistan seven months before the thefts from a Territorial Army barracks in the city.
Lewes Crown Court judge Anthony Scott-Gall adjourned sentencing.
The court heard Killick was planning to kill himself when he stole the items.
He pleaded guilty last month... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia,Norway,United States
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)
Switzerland,United States,France,Yemen
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)
United States,Estonia,Finland,Colombia,South Africa,Sudan,Western Europe
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)
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)
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)
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)
US Gun Lobby Uses Cable TV to Promote Gun Rights, Raise Money
20 January 2013
Yahoo! (America) / Reuters
LOS ANGELES - When President Barack Obama announced a raft of proposals in the biggest U.S. gun-control push in decades, Cam Edwards, host of Sportsman Channel's "Cam & Company" talk show, wasted no time siding with the National Rifle Association.
"Assault weapon is a made-up name for a gun I can ban," said Edwards, an avowed Second Amendment advocate, who later in the program read, word for word, the NRA's statement in response to Obama's announcement.
Edwards, whose... (GunPolicy.org)
Former Australian PM on Passing Tough Gun Controls - NYT Op-Ed
16 January 2013
New York Times, Opinion
SYDNEY, Australia - It is for Americans and their elected representatives to determine the right response to President Obama's proposals on gun control. I wouldn't presume to lecture Americans on the subject. I can, however, describe what I, as prime minister of Australia, did to curb gun violence following a horrific massacre 17 years ago in the hope that it will contribute constructively to the debate in the United States.
I was elected prime minister in early 1996,... (GunPolicy.org)
9 US States Gave Millions in Tax Breaks to Support Assault Rifle Makers
2 January 2013
Pine Tree Watchdog (Maine)
Taxpayers across the country are subsidizing the manufacturers of assault rifles used in multiple mass killings, including the massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. last month.
A Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting examination of tax records shows that five companies that make semi-automatic rifles have received more than $19 million in tax breaks, most within with the past five years.
"I feel horrified at the power of... (GunPolicy.org)
US Teachers Flock to Gun Class, Aim to Carry Hidden Handguns in School
28 December 2012
ABC News (Australia) / Agence France Presse
Several US states are considering allowing school teachers to carry weapons, and educators, determined not to allow a repeat of the Newtown massacre, are flocking to training sessions.
Gun control advocates are trying to outlaw military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, while Los Angeles yesterday held a no-questions-asked gun buyback.
But gun enthusiasts, backed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), are taking a different approach.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
We Know Several Ways to Reduce, Prevent Gun Violence - Wintemute
26 December 2012
New England Journal of Medicine
We are learning how to watch the news through tears. All those children, and the adults protecting them. With an assault rifle. Up close. The survivors, eyes averted, are led to safety in daisy chains. Ambulances rush to the scene, but nearly all return empty. Loved ones go home empty, too.
We pore over the details, searching for the clues that will bring order to chaos and help us predict and prevent the next one. But these catastrophes are all different. We have... (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)
Yemen,Norway,Switzerland,Canada,Germany,Spain,Finland,United States,United Kingdom,Australia
Homicides Down after Tougher Gun Laws Adopted Abroad
19 December 2012
Los Angeles Times
Twelve days after the worst mass murder in Australian history, when 35 people were shot to death at Tasmania state's Port Arthur tourist mecca in 1996, the government issued sweeping reforms of the country's gun laws. There hasn't been a mass shooting since, and suicides, deaths by firearms and robberies at gunpoint have plummeted.
The results of toughened gun rules in Britain after the massacre in the Scottish town of Dunblane that same year weren't so immediate or... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Australia,United Kingdom
When Massacres Force Change: Lessons for America from UK, Australia
17 December 2012
Time (USA)
Gun-control advocates in the U.S. are hoping 2012 marks a turning point in the country's struggle with gun violence. The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary — where most of the 26 victims were killed with an assault rifle similar to the M-16 rifle issued to U.S. soldiers — might spur Washington lawmakers into action following a year of grisly, tragic mass shootings. There are now calls to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons; the weeks ahead may see a heated... (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)
Congo (DRC),United States,Burkina Faso,Tanzania
US Entrepreneurs Turning Thousands of African AK-47s into Jewellery
26 November 2012
New York Times
NEW YORK — As icons go, few things communicate global menace more effectively than the stark silhouette of an AK-47. Designed more than six decades ago by Mikhail Kalashnikov, a former Soviet tank commander, the assault rifle boasts the dubious distinction of being the most abundant and reliable killing device in history.
"In much of the world they are everyman's gun," the New York Times foreign correspondent C.J. Chivers wrote in "The Gun," his 2010 social history... (GunPolicy.org)
Trinidad Police Seize Ammo, Assault Weapon from Alleged Gun Dealer
18 November 2012
Guardian (Trinidad and Tobago)
Arouca Police yesterday seized more than 300 rounds of ammunition, a mini AK-47 rifle and a quantity of drugs at a house in Bon Air. The seizure was followed by the arrest of a 36-year-old man said to be a firearms dealer. Assistant Commissioner of Police Wayne Dick of the Northern Division sent a stern warning to the criminals that they would have to bow to the police as they try to rid the streets of illegal guns and drugs.
"Keep out of Trinidad and Tobago," Dick... (GunPolicy.org)
Three Mozambique Soldiers Arrested for Gun Thefts, Selling to Criminals
14 November 2012
Agência de Informação de Moçambique (Mozambique)
MAPUTO — Three members of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) have been arrested for stealing and selling firearms.
According to Orlando Mudumane, spokesperson for the Maputo City Police Command, cited in Wednesday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias", the men, named as 29 year old A.
Francisco, M. Kuamende (42) and I Naveta (29), are stationed at different FADM units in Maputo City and Province. Also arrested was 28 year old F, Joao, who purchased one of the stolen... (GunPolicy.org)
Authorities Identify US Networks Trafficking Guns to Colombia
13 November 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
US and Colombian police say that they have uncovered evidence of two Florida-based networks which smuggled arms into Colombia, evidence of the role US gun traffickers play in arming criminal groups in the country.
El Tiempo reported that the discovery of an illegal arms shipment in Bogota's international airport resulted in Colombian and US authorities identifying two separate family-run arms trafficking networks which sent weapons from central and south Florida to... (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)
PNG Govt to Address Illegal Gun Issue, Assault Weapon Ban Considered
24 October 2012
Post-Courier (Port Moresby)
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has assured the people of Papua New Guinea that the government will act on recommendations of a public inquiry to outlaw firearms in the country.
Mr O'Neill said this when responding to questions during Question Time in Parliament yesterday by Enga Governor Peter Ipatas about law and order problems and the use of illegal firearms.
Governor Ipatas said law and order had become a serious problem in the country and asked why Parliament should... (GunPolicy.org)
Candidates Avoid Gun Questions Ahead of American Election
19 October 2012
New York Times, Opinion
Let's give a cheer for Nina Gonzalez, the woman who asked Mitt Romney and Barack Obama about gun control at the presidential debate.
People, have you noticed how regularly this topic fails to come up? We have been having this campaign since the dawn of the ice age. Why wasn't there a gun control moment before now?
True, the candidates were asked about it after the horrific blood baths last summer in Colorado and Wisconsin. But there have been 43 American mass... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama May Push for Ban on Assault Weapons if Re-Elected
17 October 2012
Indian Express
Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney engaged in a rare tussle over gun control on Tuesday, and Obama opened the door to pushing for a ban on assault weapons if he wins a second term.
During their second election debate, both men largely danced around a gun-control question, a reflection of how they are wary of offending voters who support gun rights.
However, Obama did say that he would back an assault-weapons ban like... (GunPolicy.org)
US Police Sting Catches Gun Traffickers, Seize 100 Guns in NYC
12 October 2012
Daily News (New York)
A "Mickey Mouse Trap" caught a crew of gun-peddling rats in upper Manhattan, authorities said Friday.
The joint operation by the NYPD's Firearms Investigations Unit and the Manhattan district attorney's office yielded 16 busts on gun-trafficking charges. Three suspects were still at large.
One part of the sting — dubbed Mickey Mouse Trap — focused on ex-con Mitchell (Mickey) Collins, 64, who with three much younger suspects sold about 88 firearms to undercover... (GunPolicy.org)
India's Criminals Prefer 'Brand' Guns, Extortion Rates Rise to Fund Them
24 September 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
GUWAHATI - If the brand craze rules the average Indian, can the insurgent be far behind?
The old guard might have settled for cheap Chinese copies of Kalashnikovs, but the new age rebel prefers to flaunt Glocks, Berettas and Heckler and Kochs. And to fund the jazzy arsenal, the extortion rate has gone up by nearly 30%.
Officials engaged in counterinsurgency say in Meghalaya, the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) is replacing its Kalashnikovs with the Germanmade... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Suspect Armed Gang Link to Shooting of British Family in France
6 September 2012
Telegraph (UK)
Police investigating the slaying of a British family on holiday near Chevaline in the French Alps are looking at links between the shooting and two attempted carjackings by an armed gang last night.
Four masked attackers tried to steal two cars in the Isere region, 50 miles away from the scene where a mother, father and grandmother were gunned down in a BMW.
Two young girls, thought to be their daughters, survived the attack with the younger, a four-year-old, hiding... (GunPolicy.org)
Police in Canada Say Airguns are Dangerously Realistic
5 September 2012
National Post (Toronto)
When a Newmarket, Ontario, man looked out his window one day last week and saw a young male carrying an assault rifle, he wasted little time calling police.
A short time later, three teenagers were under arrest, suspected to [be] carrying dangerous weapons.
But York Regional Police soon realized the weapons were air guns, not real firearms. The incident, described in a media release Tuesday, is one of several that police have responded to involving look-a-like guns... (GunPolicy.org)
Legal Loophole Allows Felons, High-risk Americans Easy Access to Guns
27 August 2012
Chicago Sun-Times
Presidential candidate Barack Obama was resting in his Kenwood home on the morning of Sept. 23, 2008, after a fund-raiser the night before in Chicago.
Outside, a drama was unfolding as police stopped a BMW at the security barriers protecting his house. Officers found a Fabrique Nationale Herstal .40-caliber handgun and a bulletproof vest in the car.
They learned the man behind the wheel was a felon barred from owning a firearm. And when federal agents conducted an... (GunPolicy.org)
German Man Jailed for Largest Cache of Guns, Explosives Since War
21 August 2012
Local (Germany)
A German man who collected so much explosive and weapons that his neighbourhood was evacuated when police moved in to remove it, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
"Something could have very easily happened and that could have been terrible," said the judge at the Bad Kreuznach court on Tuesday.
The 64-year-old who has been nick-named "Powder Kurt" for his love of gunpowder, collected 40 kilos of explosive and dozens of weapons, keeping them in his house and... (GunPolicy.org)
UK Police Seize Assault Weapons Smuggled from Iraq by Ex-Soldier
20 August 2012
Daily Mail (UK)
A former soldier has been jailed for 10 years after smuggling a cache of guns and ammunition from Iraq into the UK in a tank.
Ricardo McKenzie joined the Army in April 2001 as a private in the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, 1st Battalion, but sneaked the weapons into the UK in 2006.
The 35-year-old served in Iraq before being discharged from duty in September 2008, but was arrested on October 28, 2011, after a police raid on two homes in south London.
Inner... (GunPolicy.org)
Gangs Can 'Hire' Assault Weapons in Ivory Coast
7 August 2012
Radio Netherlands
Keen to hire a Kalashnikov for the day? In a dangerous legacy of years of conflict, Ivory Coast's economic capital is now the hub of a thriving trade in automatic weapons for the criminal underworld.
"The 'Kalash' rules the streets in Abidjan," a police officer who is part of a task force charged with fighting gangland crime told AFP.
Criminals bent on a heist can rent an assault rifle for 30 euros ($37).
In one working-class district, a dealer who calls himself... (GunPolicy.org)
Former Caribbean Diplomat Calls for Continued Arms Treaty Support
3 August 2012
Caribbean 360, Opinion
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries joined dozens of other nations in fighting for a robust and comprehensive Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) during negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 2 to 27 July, but their efforts were frustrated by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign team.
The Caribbean countries have very good reason for wanting a strong ATT. In recent years, these countries have become the hapless victims... (GunPolicy.org)
US Man Creates Assault Weapon on $1,000 3D Printer, Fires 200 Bullets
1 August 2012
New York Daily News
Could a gun be made at home?
An engineer claims to have taken the first steps toward doing so using a 3D printer.
Michael Guslick said last week in an online forum that he "printed" and fired the world's first home-made, 3D-impressed gun more than 200 times. Guslick granted an exclusive interview to the Daily News, revealing just how easy it is to create a firearm at home at a time when gun control is back on the minds of millions of Americans following last month's... (GunPolicy.org)
US Needs to Get Rid of Its Guns - John Howard, Former Australian PM
1 August 2012
Sydney Morning Herald, Opinion
Early in 2008 Janette and I were guests of the former president, George H. W. Bush or "41", as he is affectionately known, at his Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. I spoke to a warm and friendly audience of more than 300 who enthusiastically reacted until, in answer to a request to nominate the proudest actions of the Australian government I had led for almost 12 years, I included the national gun control laws enacted after the Port Arthur massacre in... (GunPolicy.org)
Dan Morain: American Gun Lobby Blocks Violence Studies
29 July 2012
Sacramento Bee (California)
There was nothing unusual about the University of Colorado's grant to its once-promising student, James E. Holmes.
If Holmes weren't accused of killing a dozen people and wounding 58, we'd never know that he received $21,600 for living costs while he pursued his doctorate in neuroscience. Nor was there anything odd about how the university paid for the stipend. The money came from an annual grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health.
But if the National... (GunPolicy.org)
US Presidential Candidates Cower on Gun Control - New York Times
26 July 2012
New York Times, Editorial
At a moment when the country needs resolve and fearlessness to reduce the affliction of gun violence that kills more than 80 people a day, both presidential candidates have kicked away the opportunity for leadership. On Wednesday, reacting to the mass murder in Colorado last week, Mitt Romney and President Obama paid lip service to the problem but ducked when the chance arose to stand up for their former principles.
That's not terribly surprising in the case of Mitt... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada,United States,Australia
Australian Academic Says Gun Culture a Risk Factor for Shooting Sprees
25 July 2012
Sydney Morning Herald, Opinion
The number of victims in the Colorado cinema shooting would undoubtedly have been much higher than 12 killed and 58 wounded had the AR-15 assault rifle used by the alleged offender, James Holmes, not jammed. According to police, the jammed weapon was capable of firing 50-60 rounds a minute. Police say Holmes also had two Glock pistols, a shotgun and 6000 rounds of ammunition.
Shock, dismay and surprise are always expressed after such killings - and questioning of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Firearm Statistics in Somalia at a Glance
24 July 2012
Somaliland Sun (Somalia)
Using data from several weapons policy and prevention surveys we were able to extract key information about weapons policy and proliferation in Somalia. We hope it is of use to those looking to get general information about small arms throughout Somalia and if there are policies regulating their usage.
The surveys were taken between 2002 and 2011.
Numbers
- There are between 550,000 to 750,000 privately-owned firearms in Somalia
- 9.1 out of every 100 Somalis own a... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence: The Public Health Issue Politicians Want to Ignore
24 July 2012
Forbes (USA)
On the morning a 24-year old man armed with two Glock automatic handguns, a shotgun, an AR-15 assault rifle and chemical gas went on a shooting rampage at a midnight screening of a Batman movie, the National Rifle Association sent out a tweet to its 6,000 followers: "Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?"
Perhaps we can excuse the horrible timing and chalk up the insensitivity of the tweet to a clueless social media coordinator who didn't quite notice... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Gun Laws Prevent Purchase of US Mass Shooting Guns
24 July 2012
ABC News (Australia)
The awful shooting tragedy in Colorado last week happened in Aurora, 30kms from Bega's sister city of Littleton, in turn adjacent to the scene of the 1999 Columbine school massacre. The Bega-Littleton Exchange was the first Australia-US sister city relationship, developed from the two communities recognising shared characteristics and values. Over the fifty years of the relationship many things have changed, particularly in Denver's satellite communities like Littleton... (GunPolicy.org)
Mass Murder and Powerful Firearms: Put Public Health, Safety First
23 July 2012
CNN, Opinion
Scenes from the mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater are horrific, but are all too familiar in the United States.
Some have argued that gun control is irrelevant to mass shootings because the perpetrators are typically so determined that they will overcome any legal hurdle to acquiring firearms. However, mass murderers often use assault weapons or guns with large ammunition capacity. …
One of the guns James Eagan Holmes allegedly used to shoot 70... (GunPolicy.org)
America Resigned to No Change in Gun Laws Despite Mass Shooting
23 July 2012
Agence France Presse
WASHINGTON — The alleged Colorado gunman legally purchased four guns, including a military-style assault rifle and a special magazine that meant he could fire off 50 to 60 deadly bullets a minute.
Over eight weeks he stocked up over the Internet on 6,300 rounds of ammunition: 3,000 for his .233 semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, another 3,000 for his two .22 Glocks, and 300 cartridges for his pump-action shotgun.
When the gun dealers performed the minimal background checks... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Control Advocates 'Sputter at Own Impotence,' Gun Lobby Wins
21 July 2012
US News & World Report / AP
WASHINGTON — Gun control advocates sputter at their own impotence. The National Rifle Association is politically ascendant. And Barack Obama's White House pledges to safeguard the Second Amendment in its first official response to the deaths of at least 12 people in a mass shooting at a new Batman movie screening in suburban Denver.
Once, every highly publicized outbreak of gun violence produced strong calls from Democrats and a few Republicans for tougher controls... (GunPolicy.org)
US Killer Bought Assault Rifle, Pistols, Shotgun, 6000 Bullets Quite Legally
21 July 2012
CNN
Authorities in the Colorado movie theater massacre found an AR-15 rifle drum magazine Friday capable of carrying 100 rounds, and the police chief said thousands of rounds of ammunition for various weapons had been bought online in the weeks prior to the shooting.
Police took suspect James Holmes, 24, into custody Friday after they say he set off two devices and sprayed the theater with bullets from an AR-15, a 12-gauge shotgun and at least one of two .40-caliber... (GunPolicy.org)
Sloggers for Gun Control Are My American Heroes - Gail Collins, NY Times
20 July 2012
New York Times, Opinion
My favorite American heroes are the ones who went for the long slog, even when their cause appeared to be hopeless to the point of ridiculous. Civil rights activists in the 1950s. Generations' worth of suffragists who trudged around the country collecting signatures on petitions to give women the right to vote.
Also, anybody who works on gun control.
"We do just seem to slog along, from one tragedy to the next," said Tom Mauser of Colorado Ceasefire.
The gun control... (GunPolicy.org)
Colorado Gun Laws Remain Lax, Despite Small Changes After Columbine
20 July 2012
New York Times
The news of the horrifying armed assault in Aurora, Colorado — just a half-hour drive from the site of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 — has a freakish resonance in a state that has long played an unsought role in the national debate over gun laws and firearm rights.
As a mountain state, Colorado has a history of broad support for Second Amendment rights. But in the years since the Columbine tragedy, the state's lawmakers and voters passed some gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Colombia Police Allege Gang Guns Come from Venezuela Military
18 July 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Colombia police have seized weapons from criminal gang the Rastrojos which include guns reportedly traced to the Venezuelan military, hinting at a connection between the neo-paramilitary group and elements of Venezuela's army.
During the operation, which took place just a few miles from Colombia's border with Venezuela, police seized 55 firearms, including M-16, AK-47, and FAL rifles, among others, said Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon. According to a report by El... (GunPolicy.org)
The Increasing Cost of Black Market Guns in Syria
17 July 2012
New York Times, Blog
ISLAHIYE, Turkey — Abu Hamed, a former Syrian Army captain who is now a guerrilla commander fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, sat cross-legged in a tent in a refugee camp this week, echoing one of the Syrian opposition's most common complaints. "We need weapons," he said. "All kinds of weapons."
And then, as the conversation deepened and tea flowed, he spoke of prices. Mr. Hamed leads a battalion near Aleppo. The demand for weapons on his turf is so... (GunPolicy.org)
Trinidad Police Seize Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Drugs in Raids
13 July 2012
Trinidad and Tobago Express
Four firearms, including a Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle and a shot gun were seized and 43 people including a member of the regiment were arrested following two exercises in the Diego Martin and Laventille areas.
In addition to the weapons, officers also found bullet-proof vests, ammunition, handcuffs, wireless radios and camouflage kits.
Police said during the period 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, members of the Western Division Criminal Investigations... (GunPolicy.org)
Hong Kong,Italy,Germany,Israel,Austria,Bulgaria,Russia,India
Over 29,000 Russian AK-47s Imported by Indian Paramilitary Forces
20 May 2012
Times of India
NEW DELHI - AK-47s continue to be the preferred assault weapon for the country's paramilitary forces deployed to neutralise terrorists and Maoists at the frontiers and in the hinterland.
Over 29,000 pieces of this Russian-origin rifle were imported by forces like CRPF, BSF and NSG over the last three years, leaving behind, by a large margin, other sophisticated assault weapons procured from the US and Israel.
The inventory of the assault weapons procured for security... (GunPolicy.org)