Here’s your daily sample of the gun violence that happens in America every single day of the week. OH: Charges filed in doctor’s slaying along turnpike MD: Murder charge against teen accused of shooting and stabbing mother’s boyfriend GA: Teen slain in shootout over gang turf MD: Police officer shot in South Baltimore AZ: Two [...]
After his commentary yesterday, Ken Schram in Seattle is quickly becoming one of our favorite television commentators. Today, he talks again about America’s firearms problem, and targets the law on everyone’s minds: the one that would keep gun crime information from local police. Just like most of the gun lobby’s legislation, this one doesn’t help [...]
Two more voices are added to the choir already telling Congress that gun crime information should be freely available to the public. A few more voices, and we can all do the Hallelujah Chorus! Boston police officials joined Mayor Thomas M. Menino this week to oppose a bill before Congress that they say would make [...]
Today, March 30, is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the shooting of President Ronald Regan in 1981. Robyn DeSantis Ringler of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence has written an editorial for the Times Union in Albany looking back on her memories of the event that change not only her outlook on the gun issue, but the [...]
The NRA continues to beat a dead horse in Florida. They’ve been trying like mad to pass this “guns at work” bill down there– they say that it should be illegal for employers to keep their employees safe by keeping weapons off of their private property. Of course, the business lobby laughed them out of [...]
Another day, another America’s Shooting Gallery. Here’s what guns are making possible in our country. IL: Police go to notify family members of man who committed sucide, find them dead AL: Man charged in shooting after girlfriend aids officers KS: Police investigate second officer-involved shooting in less than a day OH: Bullet just misses innocent [...]
Finally today, the Chicago Sun-Times has published yet another editorial calling for an assault weapons ban in that state. If we could pass a law that could save one person’s life, at only modest inconvenience to anyone else, should we do it? That is the question facing Illinois lawmakers as they once again consider a [...]
A columnist at the Seattle Times takes one final look at the shooting that left six dead up there, and, importantly, why. Even before the shock subsided, The Blame Game began. It was the rave scene that killed those poor kids Saturday on Capitol Hill. It was the city’s weak All Ages Dance Ordinance. It [...]
Here’s a scary message from the Daily Pennsylvanian: Swedish medical students come to Philly to practice surgical training, because there’s nowhere else in the world that offers a more constant supply of gunshot wounds. Swedish residents desperately want to complete their surgical training in Philadelphia, according to a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer. What [...]
New Jersey’s Times has written an editorial on what we wrote about yesterday: getting information about crime guns free and open to the public. New Jersey has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country. But other states, including next-door Pennsylvania, have lax laws. This enables guns to illegally flow across this state’s [...]
Ken Schram at KOMO in Seattle has laid down a blistering commentary that outlines the number one gun problem in America: The National Rifle Association. The biggest gun problem in the United States? The NRA. Law-abiding gun owners deserve better than an obstructionist, fear-driven organization that has about as much to do with the 2nd [...]
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn’t mince words yesterday when he appeared in front of a House subcommittee investigating the activities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg bluntly told a Congressional panel on Tuesday that a “god-awful piece of legislation” before the House of Representatives would cripple the city’s [...]
Police are releasing more information about Kyle Huff, the gunman in Seattle, who killed six people at a rave party before taking his own life. Despite a previous shooting incident, police chose not to take away the weapons Huff used in the attack. Police in Montana once took away the two guns Kyle Huff used [...]
Our firearms problem is far from being solved. And until we do solve it, things like these will keep happening in our country. IL: Man killed in possible gang shooting MD: Lawsuits aplenty in shooting at day care center; father of shooter sues center for allegedly understaffing TX: Suspect in park shootout surrenders to police [...]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia’s legislation has passed the “License to Murder” bill there. Which means murder is just a little step away from becoming legal in The Peach State. Called the “stand your ground” bill by supporters and the “shoot first” measure by opponents, Senate Bill 396 is patterned on a law enacted [...]
Lawmakers in New Jersey are saying they’ll propose new legislation that would make data about how guns are used in crimes available to the public. Two federal legislators from New Jersey said Monday they will introduce proposals to once again make public data that is collected about firearms used in crimes. Sen. Robert Menendez and [...]
More info today about poor Tom DeLay, who got his handgun license suspended on accounta being investigated of a felony. What makes this all even more deliciously ironic is that DeLay’s going to appeal the suspension, which means he’s going to fight a law he and his buddies at the NRA helped put into place. [...]
A columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has written an extremely insightful commentary about that shooting last weekend that left six dead at a party. Kyle Huff shot six and himself with a shotgun and a handgun, and had an arsenal stashed elsewhere that police found after the shooting. But, as columnist Robert Jamieson asks, why [...]
Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence released another First Monday report yesterday, this time with some news (albeit not very surprising) about concealed weapons. The majority of Americans, they say, don’t want ‘em. A variety of state and national public opinion surveys have shown that most Americans are opposed to citizens carrying concealed weapons [...]
From the time the sun goes up until the sun comes down in America, the shooting and bloodshed doesn’t seem to stop. TN: Preacher’s wife apologizes, appears in court. Still no word on where the gun she used to kill her husband came from. IL: Englewood mom fears son’s killer will get away with murder [...]
Another trip to the gun shows, this time in Kansas City, where concealed weapons were just made legal for the first time in a hundred years, thanks to the selfish gun lobby. We bet they’re doing plenty of business at this baby. AK-47s. SKS sniper rifles. Armor-piercing bullets. Machine gun displays. It’s just another weekend [...]
The battle continues in Illinois. It’s an election year, and [assing the proposed assault weapons ban is number one on the agenda, according to Governor Rod Blagojevich. On his website and in the Chicago Tribune, he comes out swinging against opponent Judy Topinka. Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today sent a letter to State Treasurer Judy [...]
From our friends at .50calibeterror.com, we get news that Senator Dianne Feinstein is going after a threat to border officers in California: .50 caliber sniper rifles. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is raising concerns that high-powered rifles could be used against Border Patrol agents near the U.S.-Mexico divide. In a letter to Deborah Spero, acting commissioner [...]
Looks like NRA buddy Tom DeLay has got a little more trouble to deal with. As they say in his native Lone Star state, on accounta his felonyin’, he cain’t carry a gun no more. Oh my goodness gracious, Dirty Harry DeLay is nosed-up against a roadblock. It seems the Republican controlled Texas Legislature passed [...]
Sad news from Seattle this weekend, where a man at a rave party carried out what seems like a random massacre. Six young people were shot to death early Saturday at a home, apparently at a party, and the alleged gunman committed suicide when confronted by police, authorities said. Three other victims were taken to [...]
Wouldn’t it be nice if gun violence just took a break every Friday? It’s too damn bad that it doesn’t. IL: Witnesses describe parking lot gunfire in WalMart shooting trial IL: Chicago man in critical condition after shots fired into his car PA: Police investigate teen shooting that left one critical. Wasn’t about race, just [...]
Good bills are hard to come by. Usually, legislation tends to favor one side or the other. It’s very hard to create effective legislation without pissing someone off. But a new bill in Connecticut is very effective legislation, and the only people it will get angry are criminals. Supporters of a bill that would stop [...]
The gun lobby is still pushing to make things more dangerous for American citizens in Delaware. Our streets are already flooded with firearms, and now they’re working to make it even easier for more people to carry more weapons in public places. Legislation to make it easier for Delawareans to obtain permits to carry concealed [...]
Add Indiana to the list of states where murder became just a little more legal. The Governor there has signed the NRA’s “License to Murder” bill, removing all responsibility, civil or criminal, from anyone who pulls a trigger there when they “feel threatened.” Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed into law a bill specifying that a [...]
Sad news from Tennessee about that slain pastor we reported on previously in our America’s Shooting Gallery. The man’s wife and children were originally reported missing, but now his wife has confessed to his murder. The wife of a minister found dead in the church parsonage has confessed to shooting him and fleeing to Alabama, [...]
It’s an assault weapons campaign showdown in Illinois, and Governor Rod Blagojevich is coming out swinging. He blasted his opponent for being against an assault weapons ban, and got a nice story in the Chicago Tribune about it. Fresh from a primary victory, Gov. Rod Blagojevich rallied with families of crime victims backing a proposed [...]
Some things we really enjoy writing about on Gun Guys– mostly those stories about idiots who shoot themselves accidentally while using the bathroom. But one thing we don’t very much enjoy is finding all the violence for our America’s Shooting Gallery every day. It’s depressing that this is happening all around the country every day. [...]
The Orange County Register has published the first in a series about a California law that isn’t being enforced. Domestic abusers aren’t supposed to have access to firearms, but for a number of reasons, their weapons aren’t being confiscated. And that’s just asking for more violence. The day before William Hoffine killed his teenage son, [...]
The Truth, a local paper in Elkhart, Indiana, has written yet another editorial attacking loose gun laws there after a Chicago gang member was able to buy the assault weapon that killed a little girl. It’s a distinction Hoosiers should be ashamed of, but Indiana evidently is a great place for criminals to quickly and [...]
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune in Minnesota takes a look at that stat from the VPC last week about gun dealer numbers dropping by eighty percent. But thanks to some misinformation from the NRA, they’ve got a few things not quite right. In a little-noticed victory for gun control advocates in Minnesota and across the nation, the [...]
Kansas just went from 2006 to 1886. In a state where concealed weapons haven’t been legal since the Wild West (because sheriffs back then knew they were too dangerous to allow in public), the House overrode Governor Sebelius’ veto and endangered all of Kansas’ citizens. Kansans will be able to carry concealed guns after the [...]
Another day in America, another round of gun violence. We faithfully reprint it, yet again, in our daily America’s Shooting Gallery. NY: Man convicted of shooting banker while posing as police officer during traffic stop PA: No indictment in accidental shooting in police station SC: Slain teenager’s family wants answers TX: San Juan man shot [...]
An editorial in the Boston Globe lays out some numbers on where the gun problem there is coming from, and how to stop it. Almost two-thirds of the illegal guns recovered by Boston police in 2004 had been in circulation for at least seven years since their original, legitimate retail sale, according to Anthony Braga, [...]
Here’s a couple strange cases of how creative criminals can get with their guns. -In Raleigh, NC, six KKK members have pleaded guilty in a plot to buy and sell guns to raise money for terrorist acts. Six members of a Ku Klux Klan splinter group have pleaded guilty in a plot to steal and [...]
Well, election primaries hit Illinois yesterday, and while we’re not exactly up on all the races and candidates (because, you know, we’re not a political site), we do kind of have to agree with this rabid gun guy blogger’s assessment of yesterday’s outcomes: “ELECTORAL DISASTER. NO CCW IN ILLINOIS UNTIL 2011 AT EARLIEST.” In case [...]
Governor Kathleen Sebelius has kept her promise and vetoed the concealed carry bill in Kansas. Citing opposition from law enforcement and business leaders, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as expected vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed qualified Kansans to carry concealed guns. Supporters promised a swift attempt to override her veto. The governor spiked a [...]
Friend of Gun Guys Josh Sugarmann from the Violence Policy Center has written up another piece for the Huffington Post, this time looking at how the NRA reacts to gun violence like those two little girls recently killed in a Chicago, IL neighborhood. Earlier this month, 14-year-old honor student Starkesia Reed was shot and killed [...]
Another day, another round of gunshots ending American lives. Lots of tragedy in today’s ASG. KY: 16-year-old girl charged in shooting that leaves one dead, one wounded UT: Man competent to stand trial in shooting death of brother TN: Alleged shooter arrested, charged, charges dropped, released, now arrested again. Police say they have new witnesses. [...]
A sad story from Ohio today, as a man called 911 in Batavia to report that he had shot a 15-year-old. A man who neighbors say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn was charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard. Charles Martin called 911 on [...]
The Trentonian in Trenton, New Jersey has an in-depth look at the anatomy of a drug bust. It’s a pretty good read from beginning to end, and well written all around. But while most of the piece focuses on efforts against drugs in Trenton, we found interest in this little paragraph: “I always get drawn [...]
At a church in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Reverend Lennox S. Yearwood said gang prevalence and poverty were factors in the violence terrorizing our country, but the real blame falls on the shoulders of one indutry: the one that manufactures and sells weapons of death. While gang prevalence and poverty are undeniable factors in the rate [...]
Lisa Price of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence has written a letter commending the Durham, NC Police Department for offering cash rewards for tips that bring down illegal guns. We applaud the Durham Police Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods and CrimeStoppers’ announcement that anonymous tipsters who lead Durham police to illegal guns and weapons used in [...]
America’s Shooting Gallery is our daily rundown of all the shooting action around the country. Here are the consequences of having a country full of firearms. IL: Man fatally shot on Chicago’s Southwest side… IL: … and another on the far West side. TN: U.S. Supreme Court won’t revive case of dog shooting. And they [...]
Two seperate pieces have appeared over at Indystar.com, and both of them focus on how Indiana guns are contributing to Chicago violence. The first details exactly how a gang member got the AK-47 that he used to kill one of those two girls in Chicago. Relaxed gun laws are making Indiana a go-to location for [...]
The NRA keeps pushing the License to Murder bill in all 50 states, despite the fact that it all but encourages violence. -In Kentucky and Indiana, the NRA echoes its line about the bill: that it supposedly only codifies the right to self-defense in this country. The Kentucky House and Senate have each passed a [...]
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