Breast Cancer Foundation, US Gun Dealer Team Up to Sell Pink Pistol
2 February 2012 - 1:00pmSEATTLE – The Susan G. Komen Foundation is teaming up with Seattle gun distributor Discount Gun Sales, LLC, to sell a pink handgun to help raise money for the breast cancer organization. The gun, a Walther P-22, is already available for purchase at $429.99. "Discount Gun Sales is proud to team up with the Susan B. Koman [sic] Foundation to offer the Walther P-22 Hope Edition in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month," the page reads. "A portion of each P-22... [CBS News (USA) / AP, via GunPolicy.org]
Uganda Opposition Party Asks Govt to Strengthen Gun Laws after Shooting
23 January 2012 - 1:00pmThe Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has asked government to explain the Sunday shooting incident at Port Bell, Luzira that left two people dead and one injured. During the eviction exercise by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials, a guard to George Agaba, the authority's director of planning, went on a shooting spree when the exercise was met with resistance from the locals and shot dead two men and injured a woman in the arm. Addressing journalists... [New Vision (Kampala), via GunPolicy.org]
South Sudan Disarmament Condemned by Civilians, Resulted in Insecurity
20 January 2012 - 1:00pmIt is extremely appalling to continually see the killing going on unabated in Duk Padiet for two consecutive weeks. The media puts death toll at 89. All these deaths are due to orchestrated violence by human action. It seems there is no immediate government gangbuster amelioration in sight for the people of Dukein who have been rendered defenceless through the disarmament process that took place in the area prior to independence. One thought such a bold move by the... [Sudan Tribune (France), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]
Turkish Charity Tells Battered Women How to Save their Lives - With a Gun
17 January 2012 - 1:00pmISTANBUL — When the police showed up at the home of Muzeyyen Yanik in Istanbul in October in response to her request for protection from an abusive former husband, she had been dead and buried for three months — shot four times in the head. He is now on trial for murder. Another woman, Ferdane Col of Izmir, had actually succeeded in obtaining a restraining order against her husband before being stabbed to death in October. He has been arrested. Then there was... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]
South Africa Law Enforcement: 'Armed and Dangerous' Police - Analysis
11 January 2012 - 1:00pmPeople who possess firearms in South Africa can generally be separated into three categories. The first group consists of individuals in possession of duly registered firearms. The next group is of greater concern. They are the people who are in illegal possession of firearms. Not all people who possess firearms that are, according to the letter of the law, illegal are violent criminals. However, even this armed group is less of a concern than the last type. The third... [Institute for Security Studies (Tshwane/Pretoria), via GunPolicy.org]
Gun Sales Up? It's a Beat-up Story: Real US Industry Figures Suppressed
8 January 2012 - 1:00pmThe media has been awash this holiday season with stories about a "dramatic increase" in gun sales in the United States. CNN, for example, declared, "December holiday shoppers were not just interested in buying the hottest electronics and toys--they also were purchasing record numbers of guns." USA Today claimed, "Along with millions of Kindles, Angry Birds and gift cards, Santa left a record number of guns under Americans' Christmas trees." Reuters gushed about "16.5... [Huffington Post (USA), via GunPolicy.org]
Swiss Gun Love Under Fire - Experts Call for National Firearm Registry
4 January 2012 - 1:00pmAlmost two centuries have passed since Switzerland last fought in a war, yet the country's gun ownership rate remains the highest in Europe. After a series of gun-related killings at the end of last year, The Local's Meritxell Mir looks at what's being done to get fingers off triggers. Every year, more than 300 people die in Switzerland in gun-related incidents. In many ways, the figure is quite low, when one considers the country has about 2.5 million weapons in... [Local (Switzerland), via GunPolicy.org]
Gun Enthusiast Kills 3 Women, Self, Thrusts UK Gun Laws Back Into News
2 January 2012 - 1:00pmA taxi driver who murdered his partner, her sister and her sister's daughter before shooting himself in a New Year's Day killing spree at the family home held licences for six weapons and had been known to police for three years after he threatened to harm himself. His 19-year-old stepdaughter leapt to safety from an upstairs window after the man, named as Michael Atherton, opened fire in the crowded semi-detached house shortly before midnight. Police confirmed they... [Independent (UK), via GunPolicy.org]
Ranger Kills 2 Women, Self with Government Gun in Guam Domestic Dispute
28 December 2011 - 1:00pmA relative of two slain women is questioning if the government of Guam should harden the psychological scrutiny of armed law enforcement in the wake of a double murder-suicide. John Mamaligsa said yesterday that he is pushing local lawmakers to create a law establishing government-wide psychological evaluation standards for anyone who carries a gun in the name of GovGuam. The standards should require all law enforcement to be reviewed by a psychologist periodically to... [Pacific Daily News (Guam), via GunPolicy.org]
Gun Possession a Status Symbol in India, Firearms a Common Dowry Item
21 December 2011 - 1:00pmPossessing firearms is a status symbol in India's northern rural belt and it isn't unusual to find guns as part of a bride's dowry. For a country that witnesses a whopping 10 million marriages a year, India boasts a cachet of interesting nuptial traditions as well. While the big cities are synonymous with the Big Fat Indian Wedding – occasions which showcase opulence, financial clout and the social pecking order of well-to-do families – swathes of the northern... [Star Online ((Malaysia), via GunPolicy.org]
Amish Girl Shot in Head, Killed by Man Cleaning Rifle 2km Away in Ohio
20 December 2011 - 1:00pmThe shooting death of a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy was caused by a man who accidentally shot his rifle into the air while cleaning it two kilometres away, US police say. Rachel Yoder was shot in the head on Thursday night while travelling to her home in Fredericksburg, Ohio. She had attended a Christmas party for employees at an Amish produce farm and was riding home alone when she was shot, police Captain Douglas Hunter said on... [Sydney Morning Herald / AP, via GunPolicy.org]
Arms Suppliers Urged to End Transfers of Small Arms to Egypt Army - AI
18 December 2011 - 1:00pmGlobal arms suppliers must halt the transfer of small arms, ammunition and other repressive equipment to the Egyptian military and security forces, Amnesty International said today after the army again violently dispersed protests in Cairo. The organization condemned the excessive use of force against protesters and called for a cessation of all transfers of small arms, light weapons and related munitions and equipment to Egypt, as well as a halt to all internal... [Bikya Masr (Egypt), via GunPolicy.org]
Registration, Ballistics Tie Baltimore Police Glock to Murder of 2 Girls
16 December 2011 - 1:00pmThe wanted poster portrays a .40-caliber Glock Model 22 semiautomatic pistol, serial number EKG463US, that resembles thousands of standard-issue guns owned by the Baltimore Police Department. But this particular weapon found its way out of the hands of law enforcement and into the hands of a suspected killer — an above-board but nightmarish scenario for city police. Authorities say the gun was used three years ago to shoot two young girls on a dirt road outside a... [Baltimore Sun, via GunPolicy.org]
Sydney Woman Joined Gun Club, Shot Father, Acquitted as Mentally Ill
14 December 2011 - 1:00pmA woman who joined a gun club so she could kill her 70-year-old father has been found not guilty of murder due to mental illness. Shamin Fernando, 44, faced a judge-only trial for the 2010 murder of her father Vincent. The Supreme Court heard she called him to her Glebe unit in inner Sydney to help with her computer then shot him several times with a pistol. The court heard Fernando obtained the gun from the Sydney Pistol Club, where she was a provisional... [ABC News (Australia), via GunPolicy.org]
Belgium Mass Shooting: 'Convicted Gun Fanatic' Kills 6, Wounds Dozens
13 December 2011 - 1:00pmA convicted gun fanatic threw hand grenades and opened fire on a square bustling with Christmas shoppers in the centre of the Belgian city of Liège, killing at least six people, including himself, and wounding at least 122, some critically. Hours after failing to show up for police questions about his preoccupation with guns, the 33-year-old unleashed a lunchtime attack on Place Saint Lambert, which was hosting a Christmas market that attracts 1.5 million visitors a... [Guardian (UK), via GunPolicy.org]
France: 10,464 Suicides Recorded in 2009, 10-20 Million Guns [Francais]
12 December 2011 - 1:00pm[Translated summary: In France, nearly one death out of fifty is a suicide. women (7.6%) tried to commit suicide more than men (3.2%). In 2009, 10,464 deaths by suicide were recorded. "10 to 20 Million firearms are recorded in France. To have a gun at home reduces the reflection period if one plans to end his life.", says a specialist in suicide prevention.] Les femmes sont plus concernées que les hommes. Les individus les plus susceptibles d'avoir des pensées... [Le Figaro (France), via GunPolicy.org]
Quebec Sues Ottawa to Save Long Gun Registry Records from Trash
12 December 2011 - 1:00pmQUEBEC – Quebec wants to create its own long-gun registry, using data already collected for the federal registry, and is prepared to go to court to stop Ottawa destroying gun ownership records. Public Security Minister Robert Dutil announced Tuesday that Quebec would take legal action to recover the data once Ottawa's Bill C-19, abolishing the federal long-gun registry, becomes law. Dutil said C-19 was "a step backwards" and called the destruction "unjust and... [Montreal Gazette (Québec), via GunPolicy.org]
US Handgun Production, Imports Double in 4 Years: Women Lead Trend?
10 December 2011 - 1:00pmNEW YORK -- Robin Natanel picks up a compact black pistol, barrel pointed down range. Gripping the gun with both hands, left foot forward, she raises the semi-automatic and methodically squeezes off five shots. The first one creases the left edge of a red bull's-eye on a target 7.5 metres away. The four others paint a 7.5-centimetre pattern around the first. If the target were a person's head or heart, he would probably be dead. Natanel is a Buddhist, a self-avowed... [Sydney Morning Herald, Bloomberg (USA), via GunPolicy.org]
Armed Societies, Another Tragedy for Women: Mexico, Pakistan, Venezuela
8 December 2011 - 1:00pmCARACAS - Kairobis Arcia, 25, died from a bullet to her head shot by her husband, Oswaldo Mendoza, 32, who said he was blinded by jealousy in an argument fuelled by alcohol and drugs. Her murder was just one of the more than 468,000 homicides a year that occur worldwide, 42 percent of which are committed with firearms. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global murder rate is 6.9 per 100,000 people – 11.9 per 100,000 among men and... [Inter Press Service News Agency, via GunPolicy.org]
Gun Control Off the Table as US Congress Feels Heat from Influential NRA
7 December 2011 - 1:00pmMexico's drug cartels have for years armed themselves courtesy of America's love for guns. Many Americans, wedded to their right to own guns under the second amendment of the US constitution, are viscerally opposed to stronger laws to curb weapons trafficking, out of fear that it may prove to be the thin end of a wedge that they say will result in the government confiscating all firearms. Some are wedded to their guns out of fear of crime. Others see them as a... [Guardian (UK), via GunPolicy.org]