Gun Policy News
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Clinton #2 Tim Caine: US Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis
1 November 2016
Time (USA)
In every elected office I have held over the past 20 years, gun violence has been a serious issue. When I was mayor of Richmond, Virginia, our city had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. When I was governor, our commonwealth experienced the worst campus shooting in U.S. history. And as I serve in the U.S. Senate and our country falls victim to one mass shooting after another, Congress has yet to pass any commonsense gun safety legislation. Like many... (GunPolicy.org)
Too Bad, NRA: Even Your Members Want Background Checks
31 October 2016
Las Vegas Sun (Nevada), Editorial
When you see a political ad that opens with a burly guy cleaning a pistol with a rack of rifles in the background, you'd be excused if you braced yourself for yet another blast of NRA paranoia.
The Second Amendment is under fire! Don't let the government infringe on your rights by _________ (fill in the blank with any action aimed at reducing gun violence, regardless of how pragmatic it might be.)
We've heard the NRA's over-the-top rhetoric for years, and the result... (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)
Four Gun Safety Initiatives to Watch in US Election 2016
23 May 2016
Mother Jones (USA)
After a bill to expand background checks for gun buyers stalled in the Washington state legislature in 2013, gun safety advocates tried a different path forward: collecting enough signatures to put the measure on the 2014 ballot. That November they landed a decisive victory, with 60 percent of voters approving the measure. Despite the longtime influence of the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun lobbyists in the nation's statehouses, background checks are... (GunPolicy.org)
10 August 2015
Economist
With one of the highest murder rates among OECD countries—second only to Mexico—America retains its reputation as a disproportionately dangerous country. The number of violent assaults in America is comparable to those of other western countries, yet murders are much more common. The prevalence of guns goes a long way toward explaining America's terrible record—they are used in two-thirds of all murders. Americans are five times as likely to be murdered as Brits... (GunPolicy.org)
Rebel Dealer Jailed, Lost Licence, Guns: Agrees Fight Was 'Foolhardy'
3 June 2014
Toronto Sun (Ontario)
Bruce Montague was a northern Ontario firearms dealer so opposed to Canada's licensing laws that he stopped registering his guns in protest and dared the government to come after him.
Be careful what you wish for. Ten years later, the 54-year-old's act of what he saw as "civil disobedience" has resulted in an 18-month jail sentence, a lifetime ban from operating his trade and now he's just been ordered to hand over his $100,000 gun collection — his life savings —... (GunPolicy.org)
US Doctor Funds Gun Injury Research with $1 Million of His Own Money
22 April 2014
ProPublica
Federal funding for research on gun violence has been restricted for nearly two decades. President Obama urged Congress to allocate $10 million for new research after the Newtown school shooting. But House Republicans say they won't approve it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget still lists zero dollars for research on gun violence prevention.
One of the researchers who lost funding in the political battle over studying firearms was Dr. Garen... (GunPolicy.org)
The 'Public Health Crisis' That Is US Gun Culture – Analysis
16 April 2014
CBC News (Canada), Opinion
Three days after Frazier Glenn Miller tried to kill some of the Jews he has spent his life despising (the self-styled paramilitary warrior actually wound up gunning down three Christians instead), the National Rifle Association's website remains silent about the attacks.
Instead, the site features, among other things, a Fox News appearance by the NRA's chief legislative lobbyist about the need to defeat Barack Obama's nominee for surgeon general.
The nominee, a doctor... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama Asks US Congress for Money to Prevent Mass Shootings
4 March 2014
Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama returned to the subject of mass shootings on Tuesday by proposing to spend millions of dollars more on gun safety programs, inspections of retailers and background checks for people buying firearms.
If enacted by a U.S. Congress that has been wary of gun control measures, the $182 million package would advance an issue that rose to the top of the national agenda after the December 2012 shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Newtown,... (GunPolicy.org)
US 'Gun Show Mafia' Trying to Put the Squeeze on Small Vendors
11 February 2014
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
They say the "gun show Mafia" never forgets those who violate Omertà, its code of silence.
Suncoast Gun Shows, one of Florida's largest gun show promoters, has threatened to ban any of their exhibitors who attend another promoter's show.
In a mass email sent to their exhibitors in August, an official at Suncoast, Erica Began, claimed that attendance and purchases were down at their six venues because "several small gun show promoters have popped up and are trying to... (GunPolicy.org)
Inside the NRA: Why US Gun Control Always Fails – NY Times Magazine
12 December 2013
New York Times
To get to Joe Manchin's private office in the Hart Senate Office Building, you first pass through a lobby where you encounter a small bronze statue of an Old West lawman holding a firearm — an award given to Manchin several years ago by a chapter of the National Rifle Association for his unswerving defense of gun rights. Then you turn down a hallway, past several framed photographs of children who were victims of the massacre a year ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School... (GunPolicy.org)
Opinion: US Senator Calls for Background Checks on Private Gun Sales
30 November 2013
San Jose Mercury News (California), Opinion
Twenty years ago Saturday, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act became the law of the land. This ground breaking gun-safety law requires background checks on all gun sales by licensed dealers.
Background checks on gun purchases work. The law has stopped more than 2 million convicted felons, domestic abusers and individuals with serious mental illnesses from purchasing firearms.
But the Brady Act has a big loophole: It does not require background checks on the... (GunPolicy.org)
How the NRA Tried to Stop a Member From Doing Gun-Control Research
25 September 2013
al Jazeera (America)
The National Rifle Association reportedly advised its members against participating in a study released this week that shows a majority of gun sellers want tougher background checks for gun buyers.
The NRA apparently was unaware that the University of California professor behind the study - himself an NRA member - received the email discrediting his research.
Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, conducted a survey of 1,601... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun-Control Advocates Losing Ground in the US Despite Mass Shootings
22 September 2013
Washington Post
Nine months after the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., advocates of stricter gun-control measures have had little luck in state legislatures across the country. In fact, if the gun debate is reignited after another massacre claimed 12 victims Monday at the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, it will take place in a country with fewer restrictions on firearms than were in place a year ago.
Gun-control advocates had hoped to pass new... (GunPolicy.org)
Editorial: New Report Shows Scourge of Online Gun Sales in US Clear
21 September 2013
Bloomberg (USA), Editorial
It's not difficult to grasp how a man with a history of gun arrests and mental instability obtained the necessary firepower to commit a massacre at the Washington Navy Yard earlier this week. Buying a gun, or even an arsenal, is exceptionally easy in the U.S.
Even so, there are some people who both fail to meet the minimal requirements for purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer and whose relevant personal details are known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since... (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)
Fear of Obama, Gun Control Panic Continue to Drive US Ammo Hoarders
8 September 2013
Maine Sun-Journal / Bangor Daily News
BANGOR — Ammunition and gun experts at the 36th annual Bangor Gun Show said there are a lot of rumors floating around about why there is an ammunition shortage, but they say it simply comes down to supply and demand.
"People are concerned they won't be able to get it, that our Second Amendment is under attack, so they're buying all they can," ammunitions dealer Jeff Holt, who with wife, Nancy, are the owners and operators of Farmington-based Appalachian Ammunition... (GunPolicy.org)
US State Expands Background Checks to All Gun Purchases, Transfers
18 August 2013
Reuters
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a gun-control measure into law on Sunday that expands background checks to cover all firearms purchases in the state, closing what he said was a loophole that exempted gun sales between private parties.
The new law also requires all gun owners to report any lost or stolen firearms to local police within 72 hours.
"Guns are a plague on too many of our communities," Quinn, a Democrat, said in a statement. "Making sure guns do not fall... (GunPolicy.org)
How Gun Law Loopholes Tripled Canada's Rifle Magazine Limits
11 June 2013
Global News (Canada)
After a gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle and 30-round magazine killed 14 women at Montreal's École Polytechnique in 1989, Canada's Parliament was plunged into a debate on how to stop it from recurring.
By the end of 1991, a package of gun legislation designed to respond to the massacre, backed by then-Justice Minister Kim Campbell, made it into law. One key part of the new law restricted the number of rounds rifle and pistol magazines were allowed to hold.... (GunPolicy.org)
New Gun Control Movement in America Making Real Strides
28 May 2013
New Republic
On April 17, the bill to expand background checks on gun buyers failed in the Senate, and the fatalistic shrugs in Washington were so numerous they were nearly audible. The legislation had been a modest bipartisan compromise, supported by 90 percent of the public and lobbied for hard by the president. A group backed by Michael Bloomberg had spent $12 million on ads pressuring senators to vote "yes." When the bill fell short — by just five votes — it seemed to... (GunPolicy.org)
Report Shows Drop in US Gun Violence but Most Killings Still With Guns
8 May 2013
Washington Post
Gun violence dropped dramatically nationwide over the past two decades, but nearly three-quarters of all homicides are still committed with a firearm, the Justice Department said in a report released Tuesday.
The report, by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, painted an encouraging picture of long-term trends at a time of divisive political debate over guns and legislation to regulate them. Firearms-related homicides declined 39 percent between 1993 and... (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)
Opinion: US Senate in the Gun Lobby's Grip
17 April 2013
New York Times, Opinion
Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada's Gun Show Dealers Unhappy Over Trigger Lock Law Enforcement
31 March 2013
CBC News (Canada)
Dealers at this year's Calgary Gun Show say that stricter rules on trigger locks go too far.
The province is starting to enforce a trigger-lock law designed to make handling and transporting guns safer. The law has been in place for 15 years but hasn't been enforced until now. Dealers say that the precaution is unnecessary.
"We don't look at them as a very safe device," says Hank Holm, president of the Alberta Arms and Cartridge Collectors' Association. "If you put... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Advocates Want Provincial Firearms Officers Scrapped
18 March 2013
CBC News (Canada), Canadian Press
A pro-gun advocacy group that has two representatives on a federal firearms advisory panel wants the Conservative government to eliminate all provincial firearms offices, saying they have "poked the lion" once too often.
The Canadian Sports Shooting Association has launched a national petition that asks Ottawa to establish a single "civilian agency" in place of provincial and territorial firearms officers that oversee licensing and other gun regulations.
The group is... (GunPolicy.org)
How the Gun-Control Movement in America Got Smart
7 February 2013
Atlantic (USA)
Here is how advocates of gun control used to talk about their cause: They openly disputed that the Second Amendment conferred the right to own a gun. Their major policy goals were to make handguns illegal and enroll all U.S. gun owners in a federal database. The group now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was once known as Handgun Control Inc.; a 2001 book by the executive director of the Violence Policy Center was entitled Every Handgun Is Aimed at... (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)
A Stale Claim: 40% of US Gun Sales Lack Background Checks
21 January 2013
Washington Post
"The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years that's kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun. But it's hard to enforce that law when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check."
--President Obama, remarks on gun violence, Jan. 16, 2013
"Studies estimate that nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are made by private sellers who are exempt from this... (GunPolicy.org)
5 People Shot at 3 Different Gun Shows on US Gun Appreciation Day
19 January 2013
Think Progress
If the gun advocates behind this year's inaugural Gun Appreciation Day had hoped to use the day's festivities to build support for their anti-regulation platform, they are going to have to wait another year.
Emergency personnel had to be called to the scene of the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina after a gun accidentally discharged and shot two people at the show's safety check-in booth just after 1 pm. Both victims were transported to an area... (GunPolicy.org)
Colombia,Paraguay,Brazil,United States
What the US Can Learn from Brazil's Epidemic of Gun Violence
18 January 2013
Latitude News
A man walks into an elementary school with two handguns. Within minutes, more than thirty children are dead or wounded.
This isn't Newtown, Connecticut, but Realengo, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On April 7th, 2011, Wellington Oliveira murdered twelve children and wounded twenty others. The tragedy sparked a national conversation on gun violence, a huge problem in Brazil.
On Wednesday, in reaction to a different massacre, President Obama proposed a series... (GunPolicy.org)
Interactive Display: US Gun Laws by State
16 January 2013
Guardian (UK)
President Obama has indicated a move towards strengthening federal gun control measures, but the reality is that the majority of gun legislation in the US is enacted at the state level. That has brought broad variations across the country, with states taking different approaches to issues ranging from sales, permits, licensing, self-defence and carry laws.
Carrying firearms: open and concealed
Open-carry and concealed-carry laws determine how public citizens can carry... (GunPolicy.org)
US School Shooting a Watershed: Think Pearl Harbour, 9/11 – Wintemute
4 January 2013
Sacramento Bee (California)
Gun violence has not been far from our collective minds since the nation was shocked Dec. 14 by the shooting of 20 first-graders in Newtown, Conn. Now a New Year's Eve shootout in Old Sacramento has left two people dead and three wounded in our own community, bringing the issue of public violence closer to home.
Perhaps no one in the Sacramento region is better known for his research on gun violence than Dr. Garen Wintemute, who as director of the UC Davis Violence... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun, Ammo, Bulletproof Gear Sales Rocket in US Due to Fears of Ban
28 December 2012
CBS News (USA) / Associated Press
The phones at Red's Trading Post wouldn't stop ringing. Would-be customers from as far away as New York wanted to know if the Twin Falls, Idaho gun shop had firearms in stock. Others clamored to find out if their orders had been shipped.
Overwhelmed, gun store manager Ryan Horsley had to do what no employee would ever think of doing just days before Christmas: He disconnected the phone lines for three whole days.
"We had to shut everything off," says Horsley, whose... (GunPolicy.org)
Fear That Canada Is Moving to Further Loosen Its Gun Control Laws
17 December 2012
Calgary Herald (Alberta)
As debate over stricter gun control ratchets up in the U.S. in the wake of last week's mass shooting in Connecticut, there is fear among gun-control advocates in Canada that the Conservative government is moving to further loosen some of this country's gun rules.
While Prime Minister Harper earlier this month threw cold water on a government committee's suggestion of reclassifying "prohibited" weapons as "restricted" ones, the government appears to be open to some of... (GunPolicy.org)
Puerto Rico,Mexico,Honduras,Barbados,United States,Colombia
US Man Breaks Silence on Pre-Fast and Furious Operation, 'Castaway'
8 October 2012
Kansas City Star (Missouri) / Miami Herald
A sensational election-season report into the botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation has cast new light on a simultaneous Florida firearms investigation linked to violence in Colombia, Honduras and Puerto Rico.
Called Operation Castaway, the Florida case has received far less attention than Fast and Furious. The latter became an embarrassing distraction for Obama's administration when it was implicated in the death of a federal agent and Mexico... (GunPolicy.org)
Court in Canada Rules Gun Registry Data Can't be Destroyed Yet
10 September 2012
Montreal Gazette (Québec)
According to Google Maps, it would take you 27 hours to drive the 2,224 kilometres from Steinbach, Manitoba, home of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, to Metropolis, the downtown Montreal nightclub, where Denis Blanchette was gunned down at a political rally a week ago.
It would be funny if the people in Steinbach and the people of downtown Montreal saw the world the same way.
They speak different languages, practice different religions and earn their livings in... (GunPolicy.org)
Despite Lack of Political Support, US Gun Control Isn't a Lost Cause
28 July 2012
Washington Post
Dozens of college students murdered in their classrooms; a member of Congress shot at point-blank range; innocents gunned down in a movie theater. Then, in the aftermath of a mass gun crime, the same ritual: national shock and anger, traumatized communities asking how this could happen, followed by . . . nothing. At least, no progress on gun safety.
In a speech to the Urban League on Wednesday, President Obama called for a conversation on youth violence and more... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Australia,Philippines
Gun Makers Tool Up Illegal Production Lines for Philippine Election
28 July 2012
Reuters
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - In the Philippines, they vote with their trigger fingers. Elections mean big business for illegal gunsmiths, who are looking forward to 2013 mid-term polls.
With election-related violence commonplace, the Philippines imposes a ban on the carrying of guns for six months, from campaigning to the proclamation of winners.
With legal access denied, Filipinos simply turn to the many illegal gunsmiths who ply their trade in back alleys and on the... (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)
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)
How America's Lax Gun Laws Enable Drug Cartel Killings in Mexico
5 February 2012
Washington Post, Editorial
Do America's failed gun policies contribute to the terrible violence in Mexico? Alejandro A. Poire Romero makes a compelling case that the answer is yes.
Law enforcement officials in both countries acknowledge that 70 to 80 percent of the traceable guns seized in Mexico can be tracked to the United States. Mr. Poire Romero, a top Mexican national security and criminal justice official, offers additional evidence that the United States has been an enabler of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Super Bowl TV Ad Makes New York Mayor Bloomberg US Gun Control King
4 February 2012
Christian Science Monitor
The gun control movement has faltered in recent years. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to spend his own fortune to buck that trend, most notably with a Super Bowl ad.
ATLANTA - With little political capital to lose and millions of his own cash to spend, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is determined to check the role of guns in American society.
A 30-second Super Bowl ad featuring Mr. Bloomberg on a couch with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will go a long way... (GunPolicy.org)
New York, Boston Mayors Lead Influential American Gun Control Group
4 February 2012
Reuters
NEW YORK - Among the slick, million-dollar ads for the likes of Pepsi and Honda during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in Washington will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control.
The two mayors, whose local teams face off in the big game, are making the pitch for Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), the organization they... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama, US Congress Share 'Abject Failure' to Repair Gun Control Laws
26 January 2012
New York Times, Editorial
House members were moved to tears on Wednesday when Representative Gabrielle Giffords handed in her resignation because, she said, she needed more time to heal from the grievous gunshot wound she suffered last year at the hands of a would-be assassin. The rarest of Congressional events — a display of genuinely bipartisan tributes — was the parting gift from her colleagues along with unanimous approval of Ms. Giffords's bill to fight drug trafficking along the... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Gun Sales Run Rampant on US Internet, Arm 'Craigslist Killers'
14 December 2011
Huffington Post (USA)
A New York City undercover investigation heralded as the first of its kind has found a "vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns" on the Internet, and the worst offender is a website that has gotten mixed up with the law before: Craigslist.
In the report released Wednesday, entitled, "Point, Click, Fire: An Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales," investigators found that sellers on Craigslist agreed 82 percent of the time to sell guns to a purchaser who... (GunPolicy.org)
Want an Illegal Gun? Go to a Gun Show, Says Tennessee Gun Show Promoter
5 December 2011
Tennessean (Nashville)
Let there be no doubt: Bob Pope is a gun-packing Republican. The sixth-generation Tennessean is a Newt Gingrich-supporting Second Amendment advocate who ran gun shows for 25 years.
But he said his buddies in the Tennessee Firearms Association are irritated by his one-man campaign to close the so-called "gun show loophole," which he claims allows murderers and thieves to buy stolen guns.
"If I was going to buy an illegal gun, I'd go to a gun show and buy it," said... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Founding Fathers, Towns Once Imposed Strict Gun Control
9 October 2011
New York Times, Book review
In "Gunfight," his provocative, highly uneven new book about the fight over gun control, the constitutional law professor Adam Winkler writes that "gun rights and gun control are not only compatible; they have lived together since the birth of America." He argues that "despite the controversy over the meaning of the Second Amendment, Americans have always had the right to keep and bear arms as a matter of state constitutional law. Today, nearly every state has such a... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida Law That Limited Doctors' Ability to Ask About Guns is Blocked
19 September 2011
Time (USA)
A federal court has blocked a new Florida law that limited the ability of doctors to ask patients if they had guns in the home. Judge Monica Cooke, a Republican appointee, rightly said that the law interfered with both doctors' right to free speech and patients' right to receive information.
The ruling, which came down last week, struck an important blow for freedom of expression. But it did something more: it dealt a rare setback to a gun-rights lobby that is... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Tries to Kill New Law on Reporting of Multiple Gun Sales
9 August 2011
USA Today, Editorial
Martin Johnson had a nice little business going in 2008 and 2009. He'd leave home in California and buy dozens of guns in Arizona, where the gun laws are much looser, using an Arizona driver's license to pretend that he still lived there. Back in California, Johnson sold the guns to his neighbor, a convicted felon who couldn't legally buy guns at all. The neighbor sold some of the guns to his buddies, none of whom was a legal buyer, either.
NRA: Gun form won't deter... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Show Loophole in Federal Laws, Hot Debate Continues in US
8 August 2011
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
DAYTON — Two years after a local gun show was a target of a New York City investigation highlighting a loophole in federal firearms laws, local authorities arrested four men Saturday on a variety of weapons violations.
The operation targeted "private" or "occasional" sellers and buyers at Bill Goodman's Gun & Knife Show at the Hara Arena on Saturday. Under federal laws, licensed firearms dealers must conduct background checks on those purchasing weapons. Private... (GunPolicy.org)
Dangerous Omissions, US Controversy over Mental Background Checks
10 July 2011
New York Times, Editorial
The gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre, Seung-Hui Cho, should never have been allowed to buy the weapons he used in the 2007 rampage. He had been found mentally ill and ordered into treatment by a court, yet that record never made it into the database of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System used for screening prospective gun purchasers.
Prompted by that tragedy, Congress approved a law, signed by President Bush in 2008, authorizing new grant money... (GunPolicy.org)
600 US Mayors Invoke Terrorism as an Argument for Stricter Gun Control
29 June 2011
Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba)
WASHINGTON -- America's love affair with guns is a passionate and enduring one, the bonds strengthening even further in recent years thanks to the country's powerful pro-gun lobby.
But could the prospect of al-Qaida terrorists exploiting U.S. gun loopholes to purchase weapons for sinister purposes change historic attitudes about the right to bear arms in America?
A group of more than 600 urban mayors is clearly hoping recent remarks by Adam Gadahn, an American-born... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Cripples US Agency in Charge of Tracking Down Illegal Guns
27 June 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
The gun rights lobby has spent considerable time and energy in pursuit of one goal: crippling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It has largely succeeded — and with dire consequences.
Concerned to the point of paranoia about the erosion of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, the National Rifle Association and far too many lawmakers have fought against virtually every proposal to empower the bureau to better track and crack down... (GunPolicy.org)
With Gun-running Scandal, Now's the Time to Target US Gun Control
24 June 2011
Guardian (UK)
When Republican chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, Representative Darrel Issa, called for the resignation of ATF acting director Kenneth Melson, few in American political circles found it controversial. Melson, after all, was responsible for overseeing the ATF's botched gun-tracking operations that led to the trafficking of thousands of weapons into Mexico and countless consequent deaths – including that of US customs agent Brian... (GunPolicy.org)
Badly Flawed US Background Check System Fails to Contain Gun Sales
23 June 2011
Center for Public Integrity / iWatch News (USA)
Like many states, Maine depends on the FBI to conduct background checks of people who want to acquire firearms from the state's federally licensed gun dealers.
And like many states, Maine is a slacker in supplying the records that the FBI depends on to run those checks.
That's how Raymond Geisel got his guns, including a Glock Model 17 pistol and a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle. Geisel had previously been committed to a psychiatric hospital in... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama Offers No Change, 'No Leadership to Combat Gun Violence' in US
20 June 2011
Associated Press
More than five months after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head, the White House has yet to take any new steps on gun violence, even though that's what President Barack Obama called for in the wake of the shooting.
The silence from the administration is drawing criticism from gun control activists and even some of Obama's Democratic allies. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., told the president in a letter last week that the administration "has not shown the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Al Qaeda New Message Revives the Debate over Gun Control Laws
8 June 2011
Al Arabiya News (UAE)
File it under "Fact is Stranger than Fiction." An American citizen working for Al Qaeda calls on Americans in the US to take advantage of their country's lax gun laws to better kill fellow Americans.
"What are you waiting for?" he asks in a video thought to have been produced somewhere in Pakistan.
The question came from Adam Yahiyeh Gadahn, who was born in Oregon, grew up in California, converted to Islam and became a spokesman for al Qaeda.
His message has the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Govt. Urged to Move on Legislation to Close the Gun Show Loophole
7 June 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
THERE MAY NEVER be a better spokesman for closing the gun show loophole than Adam Yahiye Gadahn.
A 32-year-old American and convert to Islam, Mr. Gadahn referred to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as "blessed raids" and called for additional "jihad against America." He has been on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list and faces criminal charges for treason and for providing material support to al-Qaeda. Mr. Gadahn is believed to have left his native Orange... (GunPolicy.org)
Al Qaeda Urges US Muslims to Take Advantage of the Easy Access to Firearms
4 June 2011
Fox News (USA)
Al Qaeda has released a video urging Muslims who live in the U.S. to take advantage of the easy access to firearms and buy guns to kill Americans.
In the two-hour video released Friday, Adam Gadahn, an American-born spokesman for the terror network, cited America as an example where Muslims in the West have tools at their disposal for a holy war against "the enemies of Islam."
"America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms," said Gadahn, who is known as... (GunPolicy.org)
New Al Qaeda Video Calls on US Muslims to Carry Out Terrorist Acts Using Guns
3 June 2011
ABC News (USA)
In a new video message released on the internet Friday, American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn calls on Muslims living in America to carry out deadly one-man terrorist acts using fully automatic weapons purchased at gun shows, and to target major institutions and public figures.
"What are you waiting for?" asks Gadahn in English, and then adds that jihadis shouldn't worry about getting caught, since so many have been released. "Over these past few years, I've... (GunPolicy.org)
The Campus Carry Movement Stutter-Steps Across US
10 May 2011
Atlantic (USA), Opinion
Last October, an email popped into my inbox from Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of gun rights networking hub OpenCarry.org, which boasts the motto, "A right un-exercised is a right lost." He was responding to a question I had about the possible re-tabling of a bill in the Texas legislature which would, if passed, allow students to carry handguns with them to college.
At the time, only Utah allowed the carrying of concealed weapons into the classrooms of public... (GunPolicy.org)
Boston Mayor Lobbies Senators to Support Gun Show Background Checks
4 May 2011
Boston Globe
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today called on US Senator Scott Brown to support a bill in Congress that would require background checks for sales at gun shows, in an attempt to slow the flow of illegal firearms into Massachusetts.
At a press conference flanked by people who lost family members to gun violence, Menino took direct aim at Brown, a Republican who maintains a surprisingly close relationship with the Democratic mayor.
"We haven't heard from Senator Brown,"... (GunPolicy.org)
Court Sides With California in Long-running Case to Defeat Gun Show Ban
3 May 2011
Los Angeles Times
Local governments have a legitimate purpose in keeping guns out of public places, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a gun-rights case that has been in dispute for a dozen years.
Gun show promoters Russell and Sallie Nordyke brought a lawsuit after Alameda County officials passed an ordinance in 1999 prohibiting firearms and ammunition from public property, including the county fairgrounds where the couple had displayed and sold guns for years.
The Nordykes... (GunPolicy.org)
Target of Gun Sting Says US Feds 'Scaring People Out of Gun Shows'
3 May 2011
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A day after news that a grand jury has indicted him and three others accused of illegal gun dealing, one man targeted claims the federal probe is a shot against Western Washington gun shows.
Belfair resident Mark Skiles was among the four men indicted late last week on charges of unlawful gun dealing. Two of the men were also accused of other more serious gun crimes.
Federal prosecutors contend Skiles, 46, and the others were essentially professional gun dealers who... (GunPolicy.org)
Former Washington Narcotics Detective Accused of Illegal Gun Show Sales
3 May 2011
Seattle Post-Intelligencer / Kitsap Sun (Washington)
BREMERTON, Washington — The lawyer for a former Bremerton police officer accused of illegally selling guns says it's a regulatory issue that could have been handled without accusing him of a crime.
Roy Alloway was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged Friday in federal court in Tacoma with unlawfully dealing in firearms at gun shows.
Attorney Bob Goldsmith says Alloway never thought he was breaking the law and it's largely a paperwork problem.
The Kitsap Sun... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Seattle Post-Intelligencer / Kitsap Sun (Washington)
Appeals Court Upholds California Gun Show Ban Following 12-year Battle
3 May 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
PLEASANTON - A federal appeals court panel ruled Monday that gun show promoters have failed to show that a ban on firearms at the Alameda County Fairgrounds violates their right to keep and bear arms.
Rather than dismissing the promoters' 12-year-old lawsuit, however, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco gave the plaintiffs another chance to produce evidence that the ban unreasonably restricts law-abiding citizens' ability to obtain guns for... (GunPolicy.org)
Appeals Court Upholds Gun Show Ban on Government Property in California
2 May 2011
San Francisco Chronicle / AP
SAN FRANCISCO, California - An appeals court has upheld Alameda County's ban on gun shows on government property.
But in issuing its decision Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave challengers of the ban a chance to rewrite their lawsuit in light of two significant U.S. Supreme Court rulings confirming gun ownership as a fundamental right.
Attorney Don Kilmer, who represents organizers of gun shows, said he and his clients are undecided over whether to... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Promising 'Acres of Guns' to All: Including Future Criminals
1 May 2011
Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh), Opinion
The National Rifle Association has been holding its annual meeting in Pittsburgh for the past few days, heralded with billboards promising "acres of guns and gear."
Here's a billboard you didn't see, but would have if the group was honest about its mission to paint even the most sensible gun laws as a step toward tyranny: "The NRA: Because if Richard Poplawski can't have an arsenal, neither can you."
Mr. Poplawski, of course, was one of those "law-abiding" citizens... (GunPolicy.org)
Pink Pistols, Fitted 'Girlie' Gear: US Gun Lobby Convention Courts Women
25 April 2011
Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh)
Dyanna Auston is the kind of woman the National Rifle Association looks for.
The single mom browsed Anthony Arms & Accessories in West Mifflin last week and bought a .38-caliber, pink-gripped Taurus pistol for personal protection. It's the first gun for Auston of Duquesne, and though she's not a member of the NRA, she said she'd consider joining and checking out this weekend's 2011 Annual Meetings & Exhibits in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Democratic National Party Boss Slams 'Outrageous' US Gun Sale Loophole
23 April 2011
New York Times, Editorial
Months after Al Gore's defeat in 2000, Terry McAuliffe, then the Democratic Party chief, urged Democrats to steer clear of gun control, warning of the "devastating impact on elections" wrought by the gun lobby's monied campaign attacks. Far too many Democratic politicians have since followed that cynical doctrine. The gun lobby's power has only grown while 30,000 Americans die each year by gun violence.
So it is heartening to hear an unwavering call for stronger... (GunPolicy.org)
Looking Down the Barrel of Debate - Oscar Winner's Take on Guns in USA
13 April 2011
New York Times, TV preview
Barbara Kopple's engrossing, frustrating documentary "Gun Fight" — it's not liable to inspire happy thoughts in people on either side of the gun-control debate — begins with eerie cellphone video footage taken during the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007, and the aftermath of that rampage provides the film's emotional ballast.
But events have rushed along since Virginia Tech, and Ms. Kopple has had to account for, among other developments, the Supreme Court... (GunPolicy.org)
Oscar Winner Launches 'Gun Fight' Documentary on US Armed Violence
13 April 2011
Daily Democrat (California), TV preview
Garen Wintemute, an emergency room physician and public health epidemiologist at UC Davis Medical Center, is among the featured experts in the documentary "Gun Fight," which premieres on HBO Wednesday.
The documentary, directed by two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, looks at the complex issues surrounding firearms and debate over how best to reduce gun violence in the U.S.
Kopple and her film team shadowed Wintemute and emergency department physicians and... (GunPolicy.org)
Shooting Tragedies Have Little Sway in Changing America's Gun Laws
11 April 2011
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
Emblazoned on the red billboard truck that motored through downtown Houston last week was this number: 2,995 — a tally of the people believed slain with guns since the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The truck started off in New York's Times Square and will traverse the U.S., keeping a running tab on gun deaths as part of an effort by 550 Mayors Against Illegal Guns to galvanize... (GunPolicy.org)
Drinking Gun Show Patron Loads .45cal Handgun, Injures 2 in Indiana
10 April 2011
Associated Press
EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Police say a man who'd been drinking accidentally fired his .45 caliber handgun at a gun and knife show inside the Evansville National Guard Armory, slightly injuring a 72-year-old man and 16-year-old boy.
It happened Saturday at the Tri-State Gun and Knife Show.
The Evansville Courier & Press says 30-year-old Joshua Wilkinson of Boonville is charged with criminal recklessness.
Police say he removed a round from the gun and applied a flex tie... (GunPolicy.org)
Alleged Tennessee Cop Killer May Have Bought Gun at Local Gun Show
7 April 2011
WRCB-TV News (Tennessee)
CHATTANOOGA - Eyewitness News has learned the gun used to kill Sergeant Tim Chapin may have been purchased at a gun show days before his death.
Channel 3 has confirmed an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is underway.
Acting on a tip, Channel 3 contacted R.K. Shows Inc., a traveling gun and knife show.
Its owner confirms he is cooperating with the ATF as they investigate whether 25-year-old Jesse Mathews purchased a firearm at,... (GunPolicy.org)
30 Years After Reagan Shooting, Jim, Sarah Brady Still Push Gun Control
1 April 2011
Christian Science Monitor, Opinion
Remember the Bradys? Not the bunch, but the dedicated couple that has pushed gun control for decades.
Thirty years ago, Jim Brady was shot in the head as part of the assassination attempt on President Reagan by John Hinckley. At the time, Mr. Brady was the president's press secretary. This week, Brady – in a wheelchair – and his wife, Sarah, visited the Capitol and White House to again advocate for restrictions on guns.
One marvels that they have not yet given up.... (GunPolicy.org)
Alberta Duo Charged with Buying at US Gun Shows, Smuggling to Canada
28 March 2011
Billings Gazette (Montana)
Two Canadians suspected of buying guns in Billings for resale in Canada in a smuggling operation face federal charges.
When the two were arrested in Billings on Sunday after attending a weekend gun show at the Holiday Inn's Montana Convention Center, federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations found 12 guns in the pair's vehicle.
The firearms included 9mm, .45- and .380-caliber handguns.
Harley Clifford Combres, 28, and... (GunPolicy.org)
30 Years After Reagan Shot, Outlook Looks Dim for American Gun Control
28 March 2011
Miami Herald
WASHINGTON - Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. Gun-control advocates, including Reagan's wounded press secretary, Jim Brady, will use the day to launch a renewed push for curbs on guns.
Once again, chances are they won't get very far.
The public remains sharply divided, largely along geographic lines, over gun rights vs. gun control. Gun-rights groups, led by the National Rifle Association, dramatically outspend... (GunPolicy.org)
Legal Gun Owners, Dealers, Gun Shows Fuel Minneapolis Gun Violence
22 March 2011
Minnesota Public Radio, Transcript
MINNEAPOLIS — In January 2010, three men were gunned down during an apparent robbery attempt at the Seward Market in south Minneapolis. One of the victims worked at the store. The second victim was the clerk's cousin who stopped by to chat. The third was a man who just happened to walk in at the wrong time.
The report from the police homicide investigation shows that five shell casings found at the crime scene likely match a test casing provided by the maker of a... (GunPolicy.org)
Thieves Lift 3 Guns from 3 Stalls in Same Day at North Carolina Gun Show
22 March 2011
Hickory Daily Record (North Carolina)
HICKORY - Thieves walked away with three stolen guns from last weekend's C&E Gun Show at the Hickory Metro Convention Center.
Two handguns were reported stolen Saturday at about 11:30 a.m.
One was a Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special model .38 special worth an estimated $575. A 72-year-old Hickory man was selling the gun from his private collection, according to the police report.
It was on display on his table. When he finished helping a customer, the revolver was... (GunPolicy.org)
In Op-Ed to Our Paper, Obama's Political Self Interest Trumps Public Safety
20 March 2011
Daily Star (Arizona), Editorial
Political self-interest must never trump public safety - and yet President Obama is dancing delicately around the fringes of life-and-death gun-control issues rather than facing them down. This is not leadership.
Obama's call in the Arizona Daily Star last week for better firearms enforcement fell far short of the kind of common-sense, middle-of-the-road reforms that are needed in this country - and that also, ironically, generally prevail in public opinion polls.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
In US Gun Control, 'NRA Has Shown, Once Again, That It Is the Problem'
17 March 2011
Huffington Post (USA)
President Obama has broken his silence on the gun issue. His opinion piece in Sunday's Arizona Daily Star is a meticulously worded effort to define a middle ground on the issue on the president's terms, and then to invite those serious about finding solutions to join him in that middle, where ultimate agreement is possible. Although one gets the distinct impression that the president would prefer not to receive a positive reaction from gun control advocates like myself,... (GunPolicy.org)
To 'Lingering Shame' of Gun Lobby, Obama, American Public Face Disdain
17 March 2011
New York Times, Editorial
More than two months after the killings in Tucson, Ariz., and some 2,400 American gun deaths later, President Obama has finally broken his silence on gun violence.
In an op-ed article on Sunday in The Arizona Daily Star, Mr. Obama called on gun control and gun rights advocates to set aside their broader differences for now and support a worthwhile goal: fixing gaps in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System so that it would be harder for dangerous people... (GunPolicy.org)
Why the US Gun Lobby Leader Won't Talk Gun Control With Obama
16 March 2011
CNN
WASHINGTON - The chief spokesman for the National Rifle Association is expected to get an invitation any day now to sit down at the Justice Department for talks aimed at reaching a consensus on new gun control legislation.
But don't put down NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre as a "yes."
In an interview with CNN, LaPierre accused the White House of trying to pull off a "political maneuver" aimed at weakening the Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control 'No Longer a Dormant Issue' Following Obama's Editorial
14 March 2011
The Hill (Washington DC)
President Obama's new call for tougher gun rules following the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman has energized gun-control advocates, but one leading Democrat isn't holding his breath for reform.
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and a long-time proponent of stronger gun laws, said it's unlikely any Second Amendment reforms will move through Congress while Republicans control the lower chamber. Obama's push for... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA Refuses to Meet Obama, 'Dooming' Gun Policy Talks from the Start?
13 March 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — More than two months after the Tucson shootings, the administration is calling together both the gun lobby and gun safety groups to find common ground. But President Obama has no plans to take the lead in proposing further gun control legislation, aides say, and the nation's major gun rights group is snubbing the invitation.
On Tuesday, officials at the Justice Department will meet with gun control advocates in the first of what will be a series of... (GunPolicy.org)
2,405 More Americans Have Been Shot Dead Since Tucson Mass Shooting
13 March 2011
Newsweek (USA)
On a snowy Wednesday evening in February, the main attraction on the marquee at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va., was True Grit, the Coen Brothers' bloody homage to the shoot-'em-up Westerns of Hollywood's Golden Age. But the movie playing inside had a very different message to send.
Four years ago, on April 16, 2007, Colin Goddard was one of 49 people shot by Seung-Hui Cho in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall, a mere 1,000 yards from the Lyric Theatre — and one of... (GunPolicy.org)
Rifle Bullet Hits Two Patrons, One Critically Injured at Illinois Gun Show
26 February 2011
Pantagraph (Illinois)
BLOOMINGTON — Two men were injured in an accidental shooting Saturday morning at the ECA Gun and Knife Show at Bloomington's Sale Barn.
An attendee at the show was handling a mini-14 semiautomatic rifle at about 11:15 a.m. As the patron was laying the rifle back on a vendor table, the gun accidentally discharged, said McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery.
"The round went through a post, through a person and then into another person," Emery said.
The sheriff described... (GunPolicy.org)
No US Gun Control Law Has Passed Since Obama: New Bill Said Doomed
23 February 2011
Reuters
U.S. states should turn over more records to a national list of people barred from buying guns or face rising penalties, Sen. Charles Schumer said in introducing new legislation to Congress on Wednesday.
The proposal is part of efforts to keep those who could not pass background checks from buying guns, spurred by the January 8 shootings in Tucson, Arizona which left six people dead and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others.
The U.S. maintains a database... (GunPolicy.org)
Once Again, US Gun Lobby Escapes Curbs on Arming Mexico Drug Cartels
22 February 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
Law-abifing gun dealers and gun owners have rights. So says the Second Amendment and so says the Supreme Court. But that doesn't make common-sense regulation unconstitutional.
Yet the gun industry continues to resist modest provisions that do not infringe on dealers' or gun owners' legitimate interests but that could significantly enhance public safety. And lawmakers - some perhaps acting as much out of fear of the powerful lobby as on principle - continue to enable... (GunPolicy.org)
US Should Follow Canadian Example of Tougher Gun Registration
21 February 2011
News-Press (Florida), Opinion
Taking on the gun lobby is an exercise in futility. No politician - Democrat or Republican - will risk having the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) campaign against them at election time. It would have been a losing battle especially in the face of the 2008 Supreme Court 5-4 majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller which held that the second amendment was not limited to a "well regulated Militia" but secures an individual's right to own firearms.
In... (GunPolicy.org)
Giant, Well-oiled National Gun Registry 'Exactly What We Need' in America
16 February 2011
Lake County News-Sun (Illinois), Column
I had all but forgotten about the Valentine's Day shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Three years to the day that five people were shot to death and 18 wounded in a murder/suicide, I sat at my dining room table, typing the FAFSA school code for NIU, a preliminary choice for the next kid off to college.
Steve Kazmierczak, the 27-year-old former NIU graduate student who shot up a geology lecture hall, had been treated for mental illness since high... (GunPolicy.org)
Congress Should Close Gun Show Loophole, Require Background Checks
8 February 2011
Boston Globe, Editorial
If New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg hadn't exposed disturbing violations of federal laws at gun shows in Arizona, who would have?
Under federal law, unlicensed "occasional sellers" of the sort who peddle firearms at gun shows — or, for that matter, out of their homes or car trunks — aren't required to do an instant federal background check on purchasers. They are, however, supposed to turn away potential customers if they have reason to believe that person would be... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Barack Obama's Silence, 'Passivity' on Gun Control Pleases No One
7 February 2011
Time (USA)
There are some issues Democratic Presidents can't seem to win, and gun control is one of them. As a legislator, Barack Obama backed tighter gun laws; as a presidential candidate, he pledged restraint. "I'm not going to take away your guns," he said at a Pennsylvania glass factory in September 2008. He hasn't. Last year the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, citing "extraordinary silence and passivity," graded Obama an F on gun control.
During his tenure, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Owners Make 'Ridiculous Claims,' Reason Fails in Virginia Gun Debate
7 February 2011
Virginian-Pilot (Virginia), Editorial
Why should anyone be allowed to buy a crate full of rifles at a gun show without submitting to a criminal background check?
Why should someone be allowed to drink alcohol while openly carrying a gun?
Why should a gunowner be allowed to buy a 20-round magazine?
It's hard to come up with rational arguments in favor of any of those positions, but the number and creativity of irrational arguments can't be appreciated without a visit to the legislative subcommittee that... (GunPolicy.org)
Video of Easy, Illegal US Gun Show Purchase Stokes Gun Control Debate
4 February 2011
Voice of America
Last month's shooting in Arizona of a local member of Congress and the killing of six people has again focused attention on the issue of regulating the purchase of firearms. A recent undercover investigation in that state show that guns can be easily purchased by suspicious individuals.
Nonetheless, gun control opponents remain adamant that stricter control would infringe upon the constitutional right Americans have to keep and bear arms.
Gun shows are common across... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Governor Slams New York Mayor for Phoenix Gun Show Sting
3 February 2011
Fox News (USA)
Michael Bloomberg's undercover investigation at a gun show in Arizona must be a result of the extra time the mayor has on his hands from running the well-oiled machine that is New York City, says Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.
The governor, appearing Tuesday night on Fox News' "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," said it's "interesting" that Bloomberg chose to launch a sting operation in the Grand Canyon state.
"He's out here in Arizona solving our problems. I guess he... (GunPolicy.org)
Republican Senator Promotes Bill to Close Gun Show Loophole in Arizona
2 February 2011
Arizona Capitol Times
A Democratic state lawmaker says it's time to close what he calls a gap in state law that allows people to purchase firearms at gun shows without the same background check required at shops.
Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, pointed to reports that at a Phoenix gun show New York City undercover officers recently were able to buy the same type of gun used to shoot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and kill six others even after one told a seller he probably couldn't... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Mayor Challenges Obama to Enforce, Toughen Gun Control Law
2 February 2011
Washington Post
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is demanding the Obama administration increase enforcement of the nation's gun laws, escalating his longtime push on the issue in the wake of the last month's shooting rampage in Arizona.
The mayor's office hired private investigators to buy guns at a gun show in Phoenix, and Bloomberg then played video of the sting at a press conference on Monday in New York. It depicts a man who is sold a gun even after he acknowledges that he would... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama Must Refuse to Further Gut America's Federal Gun Control Agency
2 February 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
Many Presidents, fearful of alienating the powerful gun lobby, have neglected the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Funding requests are often skimpy, making it that much more difficult for the emaciated agency to crack down on illegal sales and trafficking of firearms.
The Obama administration was headed in this direction in mid-December, just weeks before the Arizona shootings that took the lives of six people and injured 13 others, including... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Mayor Pleads with Obama to 'Stand Up' on Gun Control
1 February 2011
Politico (Washington DC)
New York Mayor Michael Michael Bloomberg talked tough on gun control, saying President Barack Obama should "stand up."
"The president should stand up and I will keep urging him to say so," Bloomberg told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Tuesday night. "We've got to stop all this carnage."
Bloomberg appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" to promote the quasi-sting operation where he sent undercover investigators to a Phoenix gun show, just 15 days after the Tuscon shooting that... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Republican Moves to Close 'Gun Show Loophole' Following Stings
1 February 2011
KSAZ-TV News (Arizona)
PHOENIX - It started with undercover video of an Arizona gun show from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Now an Arizona senator is trying to pass a law on gun show background checks.
State Sen. Steve Gallardo, who is proposing the bill, says chances of passing it in this state will be a problem -- but that didn't stop him, or victims of gun violence, from raising the issue with passion.
"It is very tragic when you lose a child. It's been five years and we still... (GunPolicy.org)
Ohio Gun Show Promoter Now Demands Background Checks on All Sales
1 February 2011
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
DAYTON — Bill Goodman Gun and Knife Shows have tightened rules governing who can buy guns at Hara Arena and other Goodman shows.
Background checks of buyers are required by licensed and non-licensed vendors selling guns at the shows promoted by Goodman, company officials confirmed Monday.
"All vendors who have any firearms on display must display a 'Background Checks Required' signage provided by the promoter," according to new guidelines posted online by... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Mayor's Undercover Gun Stings Get Results, Gripes from Arizona
1 February 2011
New York Daily News
More than three dozen gun shows have cleaned up their act after Mayor Bloomberg staged undercover sting operations exposing illegal sales.
Private detectives hired by the city in 2009 were able to buy guns at seven shows despite telling the sellers they probably couldn't pass a background check.
Since then, the mayor said Monday that four of the gun show operators have agreed to require all buyers to submit to background checks - and one has vowed changes at all 34 of... (GunPolicy.org)
NY Mayor Videos Arizona Gun Show Sales 'As Easy as Hamburger & Fries'
1 February 2011
Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wanted to illustrate that buying a gun like the one used in the recent Arizona shootings is as easy as buying "a hamburger and fries at a McDonald's." So he sent out undercover investigators to help him prove it.
But not in his own city. This time, the mayor sent New York investigators to Arizona.
So what do gun sales in Arizona have to do with life in New York?
Bloomberg has long campaigned for tougher federal gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Nevada Gun Show Tightens Rules After NY Mayor's Scofflaw Dealer Sting
1 February 2011
Reno Gazette-Journal (Nevada)
The Big Reno Show has toughened its rules on background checks after a 2009 investigation in Nevada revealed illegal sales at gun shows, the New York City mayor's office reported Monday.
Louis Fascio, the Reno show's promoter, signed an agreement in May stating that it would require background checks for all gun sales, develop a tag or bracelet system so security knows the check was done and kick out any vendors who violate the rules.
The agreement came as part of New... (GunPolicy.org)
New York City Sting Videotapes More Illegal Sales at Arizona Gun Show
31 January 2011
New York Times
PHOENIX — Weeks after a shooting left six dead and 13 injured in Tucson, New York City sent undercover investigators to an Arizona gun show and found instances in which private sellers sold semiautomatic pistols even after buyers said they probably could not pass background checks, city officials said.
The investigation, part of an effort by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration to crack down on illegal gun sales nationwide, took place Jan. 23 at the... (GunPolicy.org)
Undercover Agents Once Again Expose Gun Show Loophole in US Law
31 January 2011
Guardian (UK)
Undercover investigators have exposed the ease with which high-powered guns can be bought in the US, purchasing the same type of pistol used in the Tucson massacre just two weeks later in a neighbouring city – with no questions asked.
New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, sent a team of undercover agents to the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix, Arizona, just 120 miles away from the scene of the Tucson shooting. There, on 23 January, they bought a Glock 9mm... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama Under Increasing Pressure to At Least Mention US Gun Control
31 January 2011
National Public Radio (USA)
President Obama has been under increasing pressure to say something — anything — about whether he intends to push for stricter gun control measures in the wake of the Jan. 8 massacre in Tucson.
On Monday, gun control advocates intensified their push for a presidential weigh-in, after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that his investigators bought semi-automatic weapons at an Arizona gun show without undergoing criminal background checks.
When asked... (GunPolicy.org)
NY Mayor Once Again Films Dealers Selling Illegally at Arizona Gun Show
31 January 2011
Reuters
An undercover sting at a Phoenix gun show found dealers sold weapons like the one used in the Tucson shooting rampage to questionable buyers without conducting background checks, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday.
Investigators working for New York City, prompted by the Tucson shooting that killed six people and injured 13, bought 9mm handguns at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix and secretly videotaped the transactions, Bloomberg said.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
NY Mayor's New Sting Shows the Ease of Getting Illegal Guns in America
31 January 2011
Postmedia News (Canada)
NEW YORK — Undercover investigators have exposed how easy it is in the United States to buy high-powered weapons — even when the buyer admits to being unable to pass a background check.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday he sent the investigators to the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix, Arizona, two weeks after the Jan. 8 shootings in nearby Tucson, to highlight that the general rule remains "no questions asked" if the buyer has a simple ID... (GunPolicy.org)
After Yet Another Gun Show Sting, Arizona Defends Lax Law, Loopholes
31 January 2011
Daily Sun (Arizona)
PHOENIX - Gov. Jan Brewer is defending Arizona laws that allow the sale of firearms at gun shows without a background check and forbid cities from imposing such requirements.
"We believe our laws are fair and just in the state of Arizona," the governor said Monday.
Her comments come on the heels of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg releasing videos Monday taken by undercover agents at a Phoenix gun show just 15 days after the Tucson shootings. There, Arizona... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Gun Dealers Still Sell Semi-automatics Without Background Checks
30 January 2011
New York Daily News
The Tucson massacre that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others did not stop Arizona gun dealers from selling high-powered semiautomatics last week to buyers who said they couldn't pass background checks.
The sales were captured on undercover video by private detectives working for Mayor Bloomberg's crusade against illegal guns. The detectives went to the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix on Jan.23 to expose the deadly loopholes in America's gun... (GunPolicy.org)
What Obama Can Do Right Now About Lax Gun Laws - Without Congress
28 January 2011
Salon (USA)
The new line coming from the White House -- first from senior advisor David Plouffe, then from political advisor David Axelrod -- is that President Obama will "address" the issue of gun control at some point.
Exactly what Obama will do isn't clear, though Plouffe mentioned as an example the president's support for renewing the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004 and made it illegal to manufacture the type of high-capacity clip used in the Tucson, Ariz., mass... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Does Gun Control Better: More Stringent Background Checks
28 January 2011
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
Could the Tucson shooting rampage been avoided had Arizona made it harder for would-be gun owners to get a pistol permit? Maybe. Robert Spitzer, political scientist and author of "The Politics of Gun Control," joined Terry Gross for Thursday's episode of NPR's "Fresh Air" to explain.
"Mental health information is gathered on a state-by-state basis, and state practices vary widely. So in the state of Arizona, [accused killer] Jared Loughner didn't need to get a permit... (GunPolicy.org)
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Global Arms Import Case Implicates Gun Dealers in US, UK, Germany
27 January 2011
WHAM-TV (New York)
CHILI, New York - On Friday a German man will appear in Rochester's Federal Courthouse to answer to charges related to an international gun smuggling operation. Authorities claim 56 year-old Karl Kleber illegally sold AK-47 drum magazines to a Chili-based gun business; American Tactical Imports (ATI) and its sister-company AmChar.
The basis for the smuggling charge Kleber now faces is a shipment of 5,760 75-round AK-47 drum magazines that federal agents believe were... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control in US Congress: Lawmakers Must Shed Their Fear of the NRA
27 January 2011
Christian Science Monitor, Editorial
In the wake of the Tucson shootings, reasonable gun control legislation has made an appearance on Capitol Hill. It can survive and become law, but only if lawmakers find the courage to back it.
One proposal – introduced in both the House and Senate – would ban high-capacity ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets. Arizona shooter suspect Jared Loughner allegedly wielded a semiautomatic pistol with a clip containing 31 rounds. Nineteen people were hit (six... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama's Speech Didn't Mention Guns: 'Terror of NRA too Pervasive'
27 January 2011
New York Times, Opinion
This week in Washington, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey introduced three very modest gun regulation bills, including one making it more difficult to sell guns to people on the terror watch list.
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, the State Legislature is considering a bill to honor the Browning M1911 pistol by making it the official state firearm.
Guess which idea has the better chance of passage? Can I see a show of hands? Oh, you cynics, you!
Yes, a committee... (GunPolicy.org)
Democrats Launch Three New/Old Gun Control Bills in US Senate
25 January 2011
Star-Ledger (New Jersey)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three federal gun-control bills introduced Tuesday would help prevent such violence as the Tucson attack that left six dead and 14 injured, according to the New Jersey Democratic senators sponsoring the package.
One bill, called the "Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act," would prohibit the manufacture and sale of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Such a ban existed until 2004, when it was not renewed by Congress.
Two other... (GunPolicy.org)
Ex-Marine Smuggled 66 Guns from US to UK, Sold Them to Gangs - Police
25 January 2011
Press Association (UK)
A former Marine faces trial in the United States accused of smuggling more than 60 handguns into Britain in his luggage.
Steven Greenoe, 37, is alleged to have imported at least 66 weapons into the country from his home in North Carolina.
Police fear many of the guns, which included Glock and Ruger 9mm pistols, were sold to criminal gangs in north-west England.
One drive-by shooting in Wythenshawe, Manchester, last October, in which a man was hit in the leg,... (GunPolicy.org)
Can US Mayors Make Arizona Mass Killer the Poster Boy for Gun Control?
24 January 2011
Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK - As Congress begins its new session, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants it to add one more piece of legislation: a bill to tighten up the nation's background checks on people buying a gun.
Mayor Bloomberg, who is co-head of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, says the no-buy registry is not up-to-date, and there are still loopholes that allow guns to be purchased without a background check.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is made up of 550 mayors around the... (GunPolicy.org)
Every Day in America 34 People Are Murdered with Guns, Says NY Mayor
24 January 2011
Guardian (UK)
The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, today called for the imposition of universal background checks on anyone buying a gun in America, in an attempt to reduce the daily bloodletting that he said amounted to a national calamity.
Bloomberg invited a group of 34 gun victims or relatives of victims to New York's City Hall in a symbolic representation of the 34 people shot dead on a typical day in the US. He said that since 1968, when Martin Luther King and Robert... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control Faces Uphill Battle in Face of Well Organised US Gun Lobby
21 January 2011
US News & World Report
On January 7, a potential healthcare reform repeal and the unemployment rate were at the top of the national political agenda. But the January 8 shooting rampage that killed 6 and wounded 13, including Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, brought the topic of gun control to forefront of the national consciousness. Now, in the aftermath, Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and Republican Rep. Peter King, both of New York, have both proposed legislation to tighten... (GunPolicy.org)
World's Largest Gun Show Launches in Vegas Despite Arizona Shooting
20 January 2011
ABC News (Australia)
The SHOT Show, the world's largest gun trade show and conference, began this week in Las Vegas, 10 days after an assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in neighboring Arizona led to six deaths.
Gun control advocates criticized the timing of the show so soon after the shooting of Giffords, D-Ariz., and amid a resulting amplification of the country's ongoing gun debate.
This is the 33rd annual SHOT Show, which traditionally begins in the month of... (GunPolicy.org)
In an Ocean of Firearms at World's Largest Gun Show, Tucson Is Far Away
20 January 2011
New York Times
LAS VEGAS — In a sea of rifles, handguns, knives and ammunition, thousands of gun enthusiasts gathered here Wednesday for the annual Shot Show, the nation's largest gun trade show, where the convention's sponsors decried gun laws and said there was something else to blame for the Jan. 8 deadly shooting rampage in Tucson: the mental health system.
The Shot Show sponsors as well as several exhibitors and others attending the sprawling event rejected suggestions of a... (GunPolicy.org)
Surprise: The US Gun Lobby Has Actually Lost Influence on Gun Control
19 January 2011
Christian Science Monitor, Opinion
In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this month, the calls for gun-control legislation have already begun. But the National Rifle Association's traditional ability to shoot these bills down may be significantly reduced in the future.
ARLINGTON, Virginia - After the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, when 32 people were slaughtered by a mentally disturbed young man wielding two semi-automatic pistols, calls for enhanced gun control were met with... (GunPolicy.org)
Dick Cheney Opens Door to Tighter US Gun Restrictions, Magazine Ban
19 January 2011
NBC News (USA)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a staunch gun advocate, says tighter weapons regulations might be "appropriate" to prevent another tragedy like the Arizona mass shootings that left six people dead and a congresswoman seriously wounded.
Cheney, an avid hunter, said he is "willing to listen to ideas" on how to better control the purchase and use of firearms.
"Whether or not there's some measure there in terms of limiting the size of the magazine that you can buy to... (GunPolicy.org)
Even US Gun Owners Support Stricter Firearm Background Checks: Poll
19 January 2011
Reuters, Poll
An overwhelming majority of U.S. gun owners, and Americans in general, support tougher measures to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and others barred by law from possessing weapons, according to a new survey issued on Tuesday.
Eighty-one percent of gun owners, and 86 percent of all Americans, back requiring personal background checks for all firearms sales, regardless of whether the weapon is bought from a licensed dealer or from a private... (GunPolicy.org)
Surprise: America's NRA Has Actually Lost Influence on Gun Control
19 January 2011
Christian Science Monitor, Opinion
ARLINGTON, Virginia - After the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, when 32 people were slaughtered by a mentally disturbed young man wielding two semi-automatic pistols, calls for enhanced gun control were met with a warning from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Sen. Reid cautioned against a "rush to judgment" about new gun laws.
But after the Arizona shooting of last week, gun control measures are being discussed again, and Mr. Reid hasn't said anything... (GunPolicy.org)
Vegas Gun Show Patrons Say Firearm Limits Wrong Response to Tucson
19 January 2011
Washington Post
LAS VEGAS - Since the Jan. 8 shooting rampage in Tucson, gun-control advocates have called for greater restrictions on firearms. But here at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, where the world's largest annual gun trade show opened this week, firearms industry representatives say that would be a misguided response to the crime that killed six people and wounded 13 others.
The more than 55,000 attendees from the United States and 100 other countries are focused on... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Pro-gun Martyr Leaves Jail, Now 'Done Fighting for Lost Cause'
18 January 2011
Dryden Observer (Ontario)
Dryden area gunsmith Bruce Montague was released on parole from a Thunder Bay prison, Jan. 11, following a four-month stay.
Over six years since his arrest at a Dryden gun show, a costly court challenge of the Canadian Firearms Act and failed appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, Montague says he's done fighting.
"We're done like dinner," he said. "We've gone as far as the Supreme Court and they turned us down. I'm pretty disappointed in our justice system in many... (GunPolicy.org)
Charges Against 2 Remaining Defendants Dropped in US Uzi Death Case
18 January 2011
Associated Press
A Massachusetts prosecutor on Tuesday dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against two men in connection with the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with an Uzi at a 2008 gun show, citing last week's acquittal of a third defendant.
Prosecutor William Bennett filed "nolle prosequi" - not prosecuting - motions in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield in the cases of Domenico Spano of New Milford, Conn., and Carl Giuffre of West Hartford,... (GunPolicy.org)
At Richmond's Lobby Day, Virginians Take Stand on State's Gun Laws
17 January 2011
Washington Post
RICHMOND - Tucked into the Rev. John Hilton's shirt pocket was a miniature copy of the Gospel. Tucked into his belt was a 9mm handgun.
Hilton, whose clerical collar peeped out from a jacket showing a blaze-orange "Guns Save Lives" sticker, said there is no contradiction in carrying a Jimenez Arms semiautomatic and the New Testament, just as there is no contradiction in the idea that only by increasing access to firearms would society be a safer place.
"Even in the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Lawmakers Duck Gun Control: Democrat Bill Unlikely to Reach Obama
16 January 2011
Courier-Post (New Jersey)
Of the handful of legislative responses to this month's tragic mass shooting that killed six and nearly claimed one of Congress's own, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., is the toughest.
It is also unlikely to reach President Barack Obama's desk.
New Jersey's senior senator and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y. -- whose husband was slain by a gunman in 1993 -- plan to introduce a bill that would outlaw the manufacture and sale of high-capacity clips... (GunPolicy.org)
Close the US Gun Show Loophole, Writes Virginia Tech Shooting Survivor
15 January 2011
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), Opinion
On April 16, 2007, I was shot four times as I sat in my French class in Norris Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech. Despite the days I lay in a hospital bed recovering, despite the numerous operations I have had to endure since that day, and despite the pain of the bullet fragments that are still poisoning my body, I am one of the lucky ones. As we all know, for 32 of my fellow Hokies, including students in my class and my professor, their last breaths would come on... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Solution to Arizona Shootings: Hidden Handguns in Classrooms
15 January 2011
Wall Street Journal
The Arizona shooting has emboldened pro-gun groups that plan to lobby politicians for proposed laws that could expand the right to carry concealed weapons on the state's college campuses.
At least two bills are on the table in Arizona, which resumed its legislative session this week. One would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. The other would prevent colleges from stopping people with a valid permit, including students, from carrying them on... (GunPolicy.org)
Business Brisk at Tucson Gun Show Just a Week After Shooting Rampage
15 January 2011
Reuters
TUCSON, Arizona - Thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show in Tucson on Saturday, a week after a shooting rampage that killed six people and raised questions about permissive gun laws in the United States.
"People see it as either guns are going to get banned, or I'm going to get shot," said stall holder Randall Record, 27, explaining the mood at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on the outskirts of the city. "Either way, it drives sales."
The show was... (GunPolicy.org)
At a Gun Show and a Safeway, Tucson, Arizona Looks for 'Normalcy'
15 January 2011
New York Times
TUCSON — A week after a gunman killed six people and wounded 13 others here, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a gun show at the Pima County Fairgrounds went forward as planned on Saturday, and the Safeway supermarket where the shooting occurred reopened for business.
At both places, visitors observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims.
At the Safeway, Nancy Ostromencki, 56, said, "I decided I needed to come here again to start to reclaim... (GunPolicy.org)
US Legislators Tote Handguns, NRA Goes Quiet Amid Clamor for Gun Limits
13 January 2011
New York Times
TUCSON — The National Rifle Association has gone uncommonly dark since the weekend shootings here. A posting on its Web site expresses sympathies for the victims of the violence, and N.R.A. officials said they would have nothing to say until the funerals and memorial services were over.
In Washington, bills were being drafted to step up background checks, create no-gun zones around members of Congress and ban the big-volume magazines that allowed the Tucson gunman... (GunPolicy.org)
American Gun Control Advocates Disappointed with White House Silence
12 January 2011
The Hill (Washington DC)
The White House has disappointed gun-control advocates on and off Capitol Hill with its silence on the issue.
Although President Obama ran on campaign vows of reinstating the assault-weapons ban and closing the gun-show loophole, among other reforms, he's been all but mute on those issues since entering the White House two years ago — a silence that's continued in the wake of Saturday's shootings in Arizona.
Gun-control advocates, who are backing a series of reforms... (GunPolicy.org)
Weak Gun Laws Make Us Sitting Ducks for Lunatics: US Gun Control Boss
12 January 2011
Bloomberg (USA), Opinion
Gabe Zimmerman, John Roll and Christina Taylor Green, once a little ballerina, have something in common. They, along with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 16 others are now, very sadly, on the bloody roll of the almost 1 million people who have been shot over the past 10 years in America; more than 300,000 of them, like Gabe, John and 9-year- old Christina, were killed.
And yet, too many of our leaders in Washington have ignored the wishes and pleas of the majority... (GunPolicy.org)
Will Tucson Tragedy Shift Gun Control Debate? Gun Control Chief Says Yes
12 January 2011
CBS News (USA)
In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson Saturday, pundits have spent countless hours debating the role of Sarah Palin in the story - despite the fact that there is no evidence that alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner is a Palin supporter or had ever seen or heard her rhetoric.
What they have spent less time discussing are the tools that allowed Loughner to allegedly carry out the attack - the high powered weapon and ammunition that helped him do so much damage so... (GunPolicy.org)
Utah Gun Show Patrons Lament Mass Shooting, Fear/Decry Gun Control
9 January 2011
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
SANDY - They came to the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on Sunday carrying rifles and pistols and many a heavy heart over the shooting Saturday in Tucson.
Like most Americans, Utah's firearm enthusiasts were quick to condemn the senseless rampage that left six people dead and 14 people wounded including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who now is fighting for her life.
Yet for a number of the gun owners who wandered among the hundreds of displays of shotguns,... (GunPolicy.org)
Father Testifies in US Submachine Gun Shooting That Killed His 8-year-old
6 January 2011
Boston Globe
A chilling video shown in Hampden Superior Court today captured the moment an 8-year-old boy from Connecticut fatally shot himself with an Uzi submachine gun at a 2008 gun show in western Massachusetts.
The video, which showed the boy squeezing the trigger and the automatic weapon suddenly tilting upward and then backward in his small hands before he apparently shot himself, elicited shrieks from shocked spectators in the courtroom and the jury box.
Christopher... (GunPolicy.org)
Elderly Gun Collectors Charged After Illegal Weapons Bust in Manitoba
4 January 2011
CBC News (Canada)
Two northwestern Ontario men have been formally charged following a weapons bust in Manitoba last month.
Police said the men, aged 70 and 71, were selling spring-loaded knives, which are prohibited in Canada, as well as improperly registered guns and other items at the Brandon Gun and Hobby Show on Dec. 12.
The men were arrested at the gun show and police later searched a home in Dryden, Ont.
In all, some 150 weapons were seized as well as an undisclosed amount of... (GunPolicy.org)
Virginia Tech Survivor Is 'Living for 32' Dead in War to Tighten Gun Laws
31 December 2010
AOL News
WASHINGTON - Surviving the deadliest shooting massacre in U.S. history wasn't enough to make Colin Goddard an advocate for stricter gun laws. Only when he watched another rampage play out on TV two years later did the Virginia Tech graduate realize he had to speak out.
"That took me back to the day like none other," Goddard said of another troubled gunman who killed 14 at an immigration center in Binghamton, N.Y. "I was watching the body count rise and I was like, this... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA-led Gun Lobby Wields Powerful Influence Over Feds, US Politics
15 December 2010
Washington Post
Behind the scenes, federal agents in charge of stopping gun trafficking to Mexico have quietly advanced a plan to help stem the smuggling of high-powered AK-47s and AR-15s to the bloody drug war south of the border.
The controversial proposal by officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives calls for a measure strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association: requiring gun dealers to report multiple sales of rifles and shotguns to ATF.
The gun... (GunPolicy.org)
16 Guns Stolen from Michigan Gun Owner 10yrs Ago Still Surface in Crime
15 December 2010
Grand Rapids Press (Michigan)
KENT COUNTY — Nearly 10 years ago, burglars smashed a window at Johnnie Jones' Rockford-area business. As burglaries go, they hit the jackpot.
Sixteen guns were taken, including a couple of .357-caliber Rugers, a .44-caliber Magnum Smith & Wesson, and a 12-shot .380-caliber Grendel semi-automatic.
One turned up in 2005, when a Mason County man who bought the firearm at a gun show near Saginaw tried to register the weapon. Two years ago, another of the guns was found... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Shows, Dealers Supplied Weapons to Vancouver Crime Boss
14 December 2010
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
Three of four loaded guns found in a vehicle driven by Jamie Bacon in April 2007 were bought in Washington state and later resold at gun shows or traded for other guns, a document filed in Surrey Provincial Court says.
Two Glocks and the Sig Arms semi-automatic pistols were all purchased legally and then resold, said the report, prepared by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) for the RCMP.
The first Glock was bought from the Cascadia Armament Corp on... (GunPolicy.org)
Legal US Pistol Purchases, Gun Runners Armed Vancouver Crime Boss
13 December 2010
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
METRO VANCOUVER — Three of four loaded guns found in a vehicle driven by Jamie Bacon in April 2007 were bought in Washington state and later resold at gun shows or traded for other guns, a document filed in Surrey Provincial Court says.
Two Glocks and the Sig Arms semi-automatic pistols were all purchased legally and then resold, said the report, prepared by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) for the RCMP.
The first Glock was bought from the Cascadia... (GunPolicy.org)
Michigan Gun Dealer Acquitted on Federal Charge 'Linked to Extremists'
13 December 2010
Daily Telegram (Michigan)
ADRIAN, Michigan — A federal jury has acquitted firearms dealer Walter L. Priest of Adrian of a felony rifle charge that Priest said he believes resulted from legal sales to members of a local militia group involved in federal raids earlier this year.
Priest's attorney said the jury in Detroit took less than three hours to return its verdict on Thursday.
Priest, 53, had been accused of illegally possessing a rifle with an altered or obliterated serial number.... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Dealers With the Most Crime Guns Traced Over the Past 4 Years
12 December 2010
Washington Post
A decade ago, politicians and the press routinely reported on gun stores across the nation that had the most traces for firearms recovered by police. In 2003, under pressure from the gun lobby, Congress passed a law that hid from public view the government database that contained the gun tracing information.
The Washington Post has obtained the names of the gun dealers nationwide with the most traces over the past four years. In addition, The Post has uncovered the... (GunPolicy.org)
Maine Should Follow Law, Require Background Checks on All Gun Sales
8 December 2010
Portland Press Herald (Maine), Opinion
PORTLAND — Since before "Bert and I," Mainers have been proud of their common sense and common decency.
But when the subject is guns, this respect for community often gives way to more self-centered views.
Making safer our food, water, air or job sites is fine, but making gun ownership safer for us all is widely perceived as an assault on inalienable and absolute personal rights.
The social cost of this somewhat paranoid attitude has been detailed graphically in... (GunPolicy.org)
Ex Police Chief's Sudden Illness Delays Trial in Uzi Death of 8yr-old US Boy
8 December 2010
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The manslaughter trial of a former Massachusetts police chief charged in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with an Uzi submachine gun at a fair has been postponed indefinitely after the defendant fell ill.
Edward Fleury's lawyer, Rosemary Curran Scapiccio, said Wednesday that he is hospitalized with an illness she did not have permission to publicly disclose.
The Republican of Springfield reports that Scapiccio... (GunPolicy.org)
Judge Will Let Jurors See Video of 8yr-old Being Killed by Uzi at Gun Show
8 December 2010
New York Times
BOSTON — A judge ruled Tuesday that jurors can be shown video of an 8-year-old boy accidentally shooting himself in the head with a submachine gun at a gun show, setting up an unusually grisly courtroom scene in the manslaughter trial of a former police chief who organized the event.
Judge Peter A. Velis of Hampden Superior Court in Springfield, Mass., is still deciding whether audio from after the shooting — in which the boy can be heard screaming and his father... (GunPolicy.org)
Feds Target US Gun Show Trafficking, Seize 100s of Guns, Charge Ex Cop
7 December 2010
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Federal agents have seized hundreds of guns in a series of raids against suspected gun dealers, including a retired cop and another man thought to have sold the gun used to kill a Seattle police officer.
According to recently unsealed court documents, federal agents last month conducted a series of stings against four men thought to be illegally dealing firearms at Western Washington gun shows. Court documents suggest that several of the men were sold hundreds of... (GunPolicy.org)
Trial Begins in Case of 8yr-old Killed Firing Uzi at Massachusetts Gun Show
5 December 2010
Associated Press
BOSTON - Eight-year-old Christopher Bizilj — 4-foot-3 and 66 pounds — stepped up to the firing range to shoot an Uzi as his father and 11-year-old brother watched from a few feet away.
As Christopher fired the 9mm micro submachine gun at a pumpkin, the weapon flipped backward and shot him in the head. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Prosecutors brought manslaughter charges against the gun club where the machine gun shoot took place, two men who supplied... (GunPolicy.org)
Bid to Block Father's Video of Boy Being Killed with Uzi at US Gun Fun Fair
3 December 2010
Associated Press
As a former Massachusetts police chief heads to trial on manslaughter charges in the accidental shooting death of an eight-year-old boy at a gun fair, prosecutors and defence lawyers are wrangling over a horrific piece of evidence: a videotape of the shooting taken by the boy's father.
Former Pelham police Chief Edward Fleury is scheduled to go on trial next week in the 2008 death of Christopher Bizilj, who was killed when he lost control of an Uzi at a gun fair and... (GunPolicy.org)
Who's Arming Mexican Drug Cartels? Joe Average America, Even US Cop
21 November 2010
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
When a former Oklahoma Narcotics Bureau agent, Frank Reyes, pleaded guilty not long ago to running guns, it opened a window on the way Mexican drug cartels fill their arsenals.
The Americans buying guns for Mexican gangsters as part of Reyes' ring are a gamut of college students, jobless men, gun-show employees, city workers -- in short, the guy next door.
The "iron river of guns," as the flow of assault rifles into Mexico has been called, is an irritant in... (GunPolicy.org)
Most Cop-killer Guns Were Legally Purchased: Major 341-gun US Study
21 November 2010
Washington Post
Hattie Louise James was sitting on her front porch in Charlotte when two police detectives emerged from their car. There had been a shooting, they said. Two officers were dead. The gun had been traced back to her.
"I liked to had another heart attack," said the 72-year-old James, a retired hospital worker.
The .32-caliber revolver used to kill Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton in April 2007 started out as a legally owned weapon. James... (GunPolicy.org)
Seattle Cop Killer Bought Assault Rifle from Unlicensed Gun Show Dealer
19 November 2010
Seattle Times
David Devenny was getting out of the gun-selling business and planning a three-week trip to the Philippines when he was arrested Friday on suspicion of selling firearms to people prohibited from owning them, according to a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
Devenny, a 68-year-old Olympia man, was not licensed to sell firearms but apparently "made good money" during eight years of unlawful dealings, the complaint said.
In January, Devenny... (GunPolicy.org)
Microstamping Crime Busting Tool Gains Political Allies in New York State
18 November 2010
Capitol (New York)
In June, State Sen. Eric Schneiderman's attempt to pass a bill requiring semi-automatic weapons to be equipped with microstamping technology came up two votes short, thanks to strong opposition from the gun lobby.
That may be about to change: Not only is Schneiderman about to become the attorney general, but the man he is succeeding, Andrew Cuomo, has come out strongly in favor of microstamping as well, calling it "a common sense and low-cost method of expanding the... (GunPolicy.org)
Living at Gunpoint: Chicago Counts 22 Shooting Victims in a Single Day
5 November 2010
Harvard Crimson (USA)
This summer, Robert Freeman was shot dead in his neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. He was 13 years old and riding his bike at the time. Sources say that after shooting him off of his bicycle, the masked gunman proceeded to stand over his wounded body and fire round after round — 22 in total. Tragic stories like Freeman's are too common these days in my hometown.
If one wants more proof of Chicago's descent into gun-related horror, the evidence is too easy to... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Mayors Pays for Gun Control Ads to Oppose Virginia Republican
28 October 2010
Washington Post
The debates over gun control and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre are making a late entry into the heated contest between Rep. Gerald Connolly (D) and Oakton businessman Keith Fimian (R) in Virginia's 11th district.
A group called Americans United for Safe Streets is on the air with an ad -- funded by donations from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) -- featuring Omar Samaha, the brother of Virginia Tech victim Reema Samaha. The spot shows Omar Samaha castigating... (GunPolicy.org)
Pennsylvania Gun Dealers, NRA Predict Defeat for 'Idiot, Puppet' Obama
26 October 2010
ABC News (Australia)
The final week of campaigning has begun in the US mid-term elections and Republicans appear confident of victory.
The fallout from the United States recession appears to be tipping the race against the Democrats.
At a gun show in Allentown, there are dozens of dealers, and hundreds of weapons for sale. A Glock 9mm costs $US499, and a Smith and Wesson 9mm is $US340, but dealer Dave Zeller says business has been slow.
"This past year, I think the bad economy finally... (GunPolicy.org)
Stop Surge of Illicit Guns from States with Weak Laws, Say 500 US Mayors
12 October 2010
CNN, Opinion
NEW YORK - A handful of states with weak gun laws are the largest contributors to the U.S. market for illegally trafficked guns. That's the alarming finding of "Trace the Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking," a new groundbreaking report issued by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of more than 500 mayors that I co-chair with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
"Trace the Guns" examines troves of new data released to Mayors Against Illegal Guns... (GunPolicy.org)
Colorado Gun Show Boasts 700 Tables of Weapons, Mainly Handguns
10 October 2010
Pueblo Chieftain (Colorado)
The place was loaded.
The Tanner Gun Show, the oldest and largest of its kind in the state, opened Saturday at the Colorado State Fairgrounds.
The Agricultural Palace was wall-to-wall with every weapon imaginable — handguns, rifles, military surplus, knives, ammunition — all which will be on display again today.
The Tanner Gun Show in Denver features 700 tables of weapons and normally draws about 7,500 people. In Pueblo, with 500 tables of weapons on display,... (GunPolicy.org)
Baltimore 'Awash in Illicit Guns' Trafficked from States with Lax Gun Laws
5 October 2010
Baltimore Sun, Editorial
Getting illegal guns off the streets has been a priority for Baltimore City police in recent years, and the success of that effort is reflected in significantly lower homicide rates. But despite Maryland's enforcement of tough gun control laws, keeping guns out of the hands of criminals is an uphill battle so long as neighboring states allow virtually anyone who has the money to buy a gun, with no questions asked.
As The Sun's Justin Fenton reported this week, a recent... (GunPolicy.org)
Thief Targets Hunting Gun Show in Serbia, Gets Away with 32 Handguns
1 October 2010
SEESAC (Belgrade)
An unknown perpetrator has stolen an undisclosed amount of weapons exhibited at Novi Sad's Hunting and Fishing Fair.
A local police spokeswoman confirmed this, and said the weapons were stolen at around 05:00 CET on Friday.
Unofficially, some 40 pistols and other arms were missing, mostly from the stands of Zastava Arms and the Belgrade-based Sniper company.
Zastava Director Rade Gromović did not wish to comment on the robbery before Serbian police (MUP) made their... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida Ranks 2nd as Source of Illegal Guns Traced to US Crimes - Study
29 September 2010
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
Guns bought in one state often end up being used in crimes in another state, and a coalition of the nation's mayors thinks tougher laws could reverse that trend.
More than 2,600 of those guns traced to crimes last year originated in Florida. That's second only to Georgia.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns has singled out 10 laws that, if passed, will deter gun trafficking.
"Our report reveals that states with weak gun laws are the top sources of guns recovered in... (GunPolicy.org)
Study Finds Guns Bought in Virginia Are Often Used in Out-of-state Crimes
28 September 2010
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)
RICHMOND, Virginia - In the past four years, Virginia has ranked second or third in the country as the source for recovered firearms used in crimes in other states, a new study shows.
A report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns also found that just 10 states, among them Virginia, account for nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines before being used in crimes last year.
The data show that of the 43,254 such firearms recovered in the U.S. in 2009, 2,557 were from... (GunPolicy.org)
Texas Gun Show Dealer Gets 6mths for Selling Gun to Illegal Immigrant
31 August 2010
KLBJ Radio News (Texas)
AUSTIN, Texas -- One of the gun dealers of Austin's Gun Show is sentenced to 6-months at a federal work camp for selling a weapon to an undocumented immigrant.
Independent firearms dealer-Paul Copeland says for years he has commonly sold handguns and antique weapons with no problems and prior to his arrest the illegal immigrant showed him what appeared to be a valid Texas driver's license.
In January 2009, the ATF along with the Austin police department set up a... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Dealers Try to Guess Which Buyers Will Be 'Agents of Destruction'
23 August 2010
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
Give Mark Koscielski the slightest indication that the gun you want to buy from him may not be for you, and the sale's over.
"Say a couple comes in, and the male is looking at guns while the female doesn't do anything, and finally he says, 'I will take this gun,'" said the owner of Koscielski's Guns and Ammo in south Minneapolis. "We hand him the federal form, and he will hand it to his girlfriend or wife. Can't do that."
That's how federal authorities want gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Philippine Gun Lovers Celebrate Newly Elected President as 'One of Us'
31 July 2010
Agence France Presse
MANILA — Standing amid an array of foreign assault rifles and local shotguns at one of the Philippines' largest shopping malls, firearms aficionados celebrated the rise of the nation's new president.
Benigno Aquino, who took office on June 30, is an avid sports shooter and clips on YouTube show him using a semi-automatic pistol with great skill at a target shooting competition.
"The feeling is that he is one of us. He also inhales gunpowder," said Johnmuel Mendoza,... (GunPolicy.org)
North Carolina Gun Owner Charged with Smuggling 70 Firearms to Britain
29 July 2010
WRAL-TV News (North Carolina)
RALEIGH, North Carolina — Federal authorities have charged a former Raleigh man with buying a cache of weapons in North Carolina and illegally taking them to England aboard commercial flights, according to warrants unsealed Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate William Webb ordered that Steven Neal Greenoe be detained, ruling that he posed a flight risk and a danger to the community. Greenoe, who grew up in Raleigh, is a former Marine who now lives in England.
British... (GunPolicy.org)
Handgun Battle in Seattle Park, 2 Deaths Underline Need for Gun Control
28 July 2010
Seattle Times, Opinion
The recent tragic shooting at Lake Sammamish State Park once again illustrates that where there are guns, particularly when accompanied by alcohol, there is a much greater chance of death and violence. Contrary to the claims of the gun-rights groups, guns do kill people, and they do it very efficiently.
The tragedy at Lake Sammamish began with fisticuffs and escalated when someone fired shots in the air in an attempt to quell the fighting. In the span of a minute or... (GunPolicy.org)
Oklahoma Gun Show Customer Pulls Trigger, Shoots Stall Owner's Son
25 July 2010
Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
A teen was accidentally shot in the leg when a handgun discharged at the Metcalf Gun Show at the state fairgrounds Sunday morning.
The victim, whose name was not released, is the teen son of a gun show vendor. He was shot once in the leg about 11:45 a.m., Oklahoma City police Sgt. Charles Phillips said.
The teen's father produced a personally-owned weapon for sale, but a bullet was still in the chamber when it was handed to a potential buyer, Phillips said.
He said... (GunPolicy.org)
Patron Fires Semi-auto Colt .45 Into Floor at Florida Gun Show, Injures 2
6 July 2010
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
Two vendors at the Florida Gun Show were injured over the weekend by another vendor who fired a shot into the concrete floor, Orlando police reported today.
Neither man was seriously hurt, nor struck directly by the bullet.
According to the incident report, an Orlando police officer who was working off-duty at the gun show Saturday heard a gunshot about 100 feet from where he was walking about 1:40 p.m.
He then saw two men, identified as Mark Morrison of Cape... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Dealer Intimidates Collector, So Wyoming Suspends Gun Show Tax
4 July 2010
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Revenue has suspended sales tax collections from gun shows because of increasing animosity toward the state's field tax agents.
Dan Noble, director of the department's excise tax division, said Friday that an incident at a gun show triggered the decision.
He added, however, that resistance from gun show sponsors and participants has been a recurring problem statewide.
"I have 10 field reps throughout the state, and every one of... (GunPolicy.org)
Easy Access Makes US Guns Available to Criminals, Mexican Drug Lords
4 July 2010
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul), Opinion
The Star Tribune's June 21 editorial, "Gunrunning leaves a long trail of bodies," suggested that the cause of gun violence is drugs.
Sorry, but the cause of gun violence is guns. You can't mow down police officers with drugs, or even with bathtubs, knives or bottles. But you can make society much safer by adopting effective gun violence prevention laws and enforcing them.
The editorial states that in the case of one gunrunner, Paul Giovanni de la Rosa, the "system... (GunPolicy.org)
Private Gun Sales, Gun Shows, Regulation and Public Safety in America
30 June 2010
New England Journal of Medicine, Opinion
In 2007, a total of 12,632 people in the United States were murdered with firearms, and it is estimated that another 48,676 were treated in hospitals for gunshot wounds received in assaults. Guns are frequently used to commit crimes in the United States, partly because they are so easy to get. This ease of access, in turn, is partially attributable to the fact that there are two systems of retail gun commerce in this country, one involving licensed gun retailers and the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control Law Snares Fugitive Felon Buying Weapon in Pennsylvania
28 June 2010
York Dispatch (Pennsylvania)
A convicted felony drug dealer and wanted fugitive is in York County Prison, charged with illegally trying to buy a handgun at the York Expo Center.
Joseph Vieira, 41, of 217 S. Hartley St. in York City, was arrested Saturday afternoon in the Toyota Arena, where the Tri County Gun Show was being held.
West Manchester Township Police said they were called to the arena by Rolf Rodtang, owner of RJR Sales and Service, who was operating a booth at the gun show. Rodtang... (GunPolicy.org)
Reporter Tests for Gun Show Loopholes, Describes Scene in Minnesota
3 June 2010
City Pages (Minneapolis)
"If there's an unequivocal opposite to growing up around guns," says Andrew Rothman, "it's being raised by New York Jews." He puts down his glass of water and wipes his dark goatee with a napkin. It would be quite the outlandish statement were he not talking about himself.
"I grew up believing guns were bad," he continues. "That's what my parents taught me. But they also taught me to read. That was their first mistake."
Rothman is the executive director of the... (GunPolicy.org)
County Moves to Oppose Range of New Gun Controls for New York State
29 May 2010
Valley News (New York)
The Ontario County Board of Supervisors has asked the Oswego County Legislature to support a resolution in opposition of various proposed state legislation that targets Second Amendment rights.
No action was taken, however, by the legislature's Strategic Planning and Government Committee. The committee bypassed any action during its meeting Monday because too many proposed bills were noted.
"We need more time to get more information about all bills that were in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Pro-gun Lawmakers Stall Bill to Restrict Machine Guns in Massachusetts
10 May 2010
Boston Herald
Machine gun ownership in the Bay State is booming, while a bill to tighten ownership and outlaw full-auto free-for-alls like the one that killed an 8-year-old boy two years ago is jammed on Beacon Hill.
Gov. Deval Patrick's bill, "An Act to Reduce Firearm Violence," is a controversial overhaul of the state's gun laws that would limit firearm purchases to one per month and ban anyone who is not a cop or the licensed owner from holding a machine gun.
The Bay State may... (GunPolicy.org)
Mass Shooting Victims' Families Campaign to Close Gun Show Loophole
27 April 2010
New York Times, Editorial
There are two tragic anniversaries this month. It is 11 years since two Colorado students gunned down 12 of their fellow classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School and three years since 32 students and faculty members were gunned down at Virginia Tech.
Those horrors haven't slowed the gun lobby's relentless push to weaken the nation's already far too weak gun laws — or Congress's eagerness to do the gun lobby's bidding. Last week, House Democrats had to pull... (GunPolicy.org)
Kopel: New York Mayor Pushes an Aggressive Nationwide Gun-Control Bill
24 April 2010
Denver Post (Colorado), Opinion
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York City, has been funding a national advertising campaign to promote his congressional gun-control bill. Monday's Denver Post featured a full-page ad urging Sen. Mark Udall to support the Bloomberg bill; Colorado's other senator, Michael Bennett, is already a co-sponsor.
According to the ad, the Bloomberg bill would nationalize Colorado's rule about background checks at gun shows. But in fact, only a small fraction of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Show Loophole Enabled US Mass Shootings, Needs Closing Now
23 April 2010
Toledo Blade (Ohio), Editorial
What do John Bedell, Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold have in common? The gun Bedell used to kill two Pentagon police officers in March and the weapons Harris and Klebold used to kill a dozen students and a teacher at Columbine High School in 1999 all were bought at gun shows without background checks.
Congress can close the loophole that allows criminals and people with serious mental health problems to buy weapons at gun shows. But for that to happen, lawmakers such as... (GunPolicy.org)
US Mayors Launch Gun Control Blitz in DC to Close Gun Show Loophole
20 April 2010
Roll Call (Washington DC)
Gun-control proponents, outspent and outmaneuvered on Capitol Hill, are pushing back this week using the anniversaries of two high-profile tragedies to make the case for legislation that would close gun show loopholes.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D), is expected today to unveil a lobbying blitz to prod Congress to approve legislation that would require background checks on all... (GunPolicy.org)
Columbine Anniversary Highlights Failure to Close US Gun Show Loophole
20 April 2010
Christian Science Monitor
When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on their shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, three of the four guns they used were purchased at a gun show by a friend who wasn't subjected to a background check.
Now, on the 11th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting where Harris and Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher and injured 23 others before shooting themselves, gun-control activists are focusing on the so-called "gun... (GunPolicy.org)
California Law Stopped Pentagon Shooter Buying Gun, Nevada's Didn't
19 April 2010
Southern California Public Radio
Last month, security officers shot and killed a gunman who'd opened fire on them outside the Pentagon. The shooter — armed with two handguns — wounded two officers before they were able to stop him. The gunman was John Patrick Bedell — a former Irvine resident with a history of mental illness. That made it tougher for him to buy a gun — but not impossible.
Look into Bedell's background and you'll find a former San Jose State engineering major, a skilled... (GunPolicy.org)
A Few Gun Owners Strut Their Weapons, US Ignores Gun Show Loophole
17 April 2010
New York Times, Editorial
Two rallies by gun rights celebrants and anti-government polemicists are planned Monday on both sides of Washington's Potomac River. They will invoke the Second Amendment and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. A more apt, and tragic, anniversary to keep in mind is the Columbine school massacre of 1999. Eleven years later, and Congress has failed to close the gun show loophole that made the carnage possible.
Two Columbine students had a friend obtain four... (GunPolicy.org)
Virginia Lawmakers Push for 'Loophole' Background Checks at Gun Shows
15 April 2010
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Virginia - Three Virginia congressmen are asking their colleagues to support closing the so-called gun-show loophole.
Democrats Jim Moran, Bobby Scott and Gerald Connolly sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives Thursday asking them to support a bill to require private sellers to perform background checks on buyers at gun shows.
The letter went out a day before the third anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student gunman... (GunPolicy.org)
Weapon Show 'Glamourises Guns,' Has No Place in His City, Says NZ Mayor
12 April 2010
New Zealand Herald
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey is planning to run gunslingers out of the West.
Mr Harvey no longer wants Waitakere City to host the Auckland Arms Fair, which held its 26th annual show at the council-owned West Wave Recreation Centre in Henderson three weeks ago.
He said complaints about the show, rising violence and recent shootings in Nelson and Hokitika which left four people dead had led to his decision.
"There's growing unrest in this country about the escalation of... (GunPolicy.org)
Kentucky Machine Gun Shoot Always Fascinates, Alarms Foreign Reporters
10 April 2010
New Zealand Herald
Every six months, 8000 Americans gather for three days in the hills of Kentucky with machine guns, sniper rifles and cannons to blast away a million rounds. Jonathan Franklin buys earplugs and ventures to the edge of the American psyche.
Anyone can attend the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot.
Once you arrive it feels more like a pilgrimage for white American men and their kin.
Entire white families attend the event, including babies with earplugs and 10-year-olds with... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Owner Left Pistols, Revolvers in Truck, Lost 15 Handguns
9 April 2010
Regina Leader-Post (Saskatchewan)
The RCMP is concerned that 15 hand guns stolen from a truck over the weekend could end up in the hands of criminals.
The owner of the weapons bought the firearms at a gun show in Calgary and was transporting the hand guns back to Melfort. The firearms, with trigger guards, were stored in lock boxes inside the locked compartment of a 2008 Chevy three-quarter-ton.
On Saturday, at approximately 1:30 p.m., the truck broke down just west of Drumheller and was left... (GunPolicy.org)
Historian Reunites Stolen Abolitionist's Revolver with Chicago Museum
31 March 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Robert Hassinger bid farewell on Tuesday to an old friend, a revolver whose craftsmanship, hallmarks and engraving led him on a fascinating quest and fed his lifelong passion for American history.
"I like to do research," said the retired insurance investigator, who returned an 1851 Colt "Navy" revolver to the Chicago museum from which it was stolen 62 years ago.
Inside the third-floor board room of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland, he donned a... (GunPolicy.org)
Barack Obama Hasn't Followed Through on One Promise - Gun Control
29 March 2010
Boston Globe / Crime and Punishment, Blog
Earlier this month, I was interviewed by a reporter from Politico regarding Barack Obama's recent White House chat with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted. During their tet-a-tet video-op, the President endorsed the notion of expanding the federal DNA data base to include biological samples from all persons arrested, regardless of offense and regardless of subsequent findings of guilt or innocence.
As an aside, I expressed my disappointment that the President had not... (GunPolicy.org)
Well-known Colorado Gun Show Chalks Up Another Shooting Incident
21 March 2010
Fox News (USA)
A man was accidentally shot in the chest at a gun show in Denver, Colorado, Saturday according local media reports. The shooting happened at the monthly Tanner Gun Show about 2pm Saturday at the Denver Merchandise Mart, FOX 31 reported.
The victim is recovering at Denver Health Medical Center. A witness told FOX 31 he was shot in the chest.
"I heard the gunshot. Nobody panicked or anything, so I didn't think too much about it," said visitor Russ Huntley.
Signs... (GunPolicy.org)
The Obama Administration, Missing In Action on Gun Control
20 March 2010
Washington Post, Editorial
Apparently, one of the weapons John Patrick Bedell used to shoot two Pentagon police officers this month was sold to a Georgia gun dealer by the Memphis Police Department, which had confiscated the weapon during a drug bust. The gun was sold several times more, including at a gun show in Nevada last year. Little is known about that gun-show purchaser because of giant loopholes in the law that allow unlicensed private vendors, or "hobbyists," to dispense with federally... (GunPolicy.org)