Firearms News

At the same time that President Joe Biden was unveiling his plans this month to attack epidemic gun violence with all the tangential minimalism that U.S. law and politics can muster, I was 20 miles north of the U.S.-Canadian border watching what happens when people, and a nation, treat guns as if they might be dangerous. In a small, carpeted classroom in Delta, British Columbia, a dozen of us filed in for the first of two days of classes — 15 hours in all —... [Bloomberg Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

For gun-safety activists or everyday Massachusetts citizens concerned about gun violence, it doesn't get much better than this. Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Massachusetts is the state with the least amount of gun violence per capita, while a new study by Everytown for Gun Safety concludes that the Commonwealth has the lowest-in-the-nation per capita costs from gun violence. Building on that good news, US Senator Ed Markey... [Boston Globe, via GunPolicy.org]

Voluntary program will provide compensation to gun owners who give up firearms on blacklist The Liberal government is expected to table a bill in the coming days that will set up a program to buy back assault-style weapons that were blacklisted last spring, Radio-Canada has learned. The voluntary program will provide financial compensation to gun owners who give up their banned weapons, with the aim of taking them out of circulation. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair... [CBC News (Canada), via GunPolicy.org]

Joe Biden's Evolution on Guns Early in his career, Biden said gun regulation was ineffective. Several decades — and one notorious crime bill — later, he's pushing the most expansive reform platform in history. On the night of August 25, 1994, a complicated package of legislation championed by then-Senator Joe Biden looked like it had gathered enough votes. Along with Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, Biden stood in front of television cameras and reporters... [Trace, Media release, via GunPolicy.org]

Handguns are quietly being smuggled into Britain, despite tough gun-control laws. The police fear that the illegal weapons are contributing to a rise in gang-related crime. NORTHAMPTON, England — Josh Bains was 28 when he was killed after an argument over a drug debt of about $50 just a few miles from the English village where he grew up — with a gun that had traveled thousands of miles from America. His was one of a rising number of gun deaths in recent years... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

Nearly two weeks after the deadliest mass shooting in Canada's history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday introduced an immediate ban on what he described as "military-style assault weapons." "These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time," Mr. Trudeau said. "There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada." The ban means that Canadians will no longer be able to own... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

Americans bought about two million guns in March, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. It was the second-busiest month ever for gun sales, trailing only January 2013, just after President Barack Obama's re-election and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. With some people fearful that the pandemic could lead to civil unrest, gun sales have been skyrocketing. In the past, fear of gun-buying restrictions has been the main driver of spikes... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

- 26 percent: The increase in intimate partner homicides by shooting since 2010 - $911 million: The annual cost of gun injury hospitalization - 30 percent: The share of firearms recovered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in California that are unserialized ghost guns - 3.3m? 8.5m? 17.7m? The hard-to-quantify number of assault weapons in... [The Trace (USA), via GunPolicy.org]

What exactly is a ghost gun? The term "ghost gun" is used by media, police, and sometimes the firearms industry to describe homemade weapons devoid of serial numbers or other identifying markings that enable them to be tracked to their maker, seller, or original owner. For years, law enforcement authorities referred to these weapons as simply "homemade" guns or "kit" guns. "Ghost gun" is a relatively new term. How are ghost guns made? A variety of ways. The most... [The Trace, via GunPolicy.org]

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut – There have been numerous articles recently published about Colt's participation in the commercial rifle market. Some of these articles have incorrectly stated or implied that Colt is not committed to the consumer market. We want to assure you that Colt is committed to the Second Amendment, highly values its customers and continues to manufacture the world's finest quality firearms for the consumer market. The fact of the matter is that... [Colt News, via GunPolicy.org]

Recent mass shootings have revived demands for meaningful gun control. But many opponents of a renewed federal ban on assault weapons, led by the National Rifle Association, say the earlier ban, from 1994 to 2004, made no difference. Our new research shows otherwise. We found that public mass shootings — which we defined as incidents in which a gunman killed at least six people in public — dropped during the decade of the federal ban. Yet, in the 15 years since the... [New York Times, Blog, via GunPolicy.org]

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke out this week about a matter that has long puzzled many foreign observers of the United States: the country's inability to rein in gun violence. Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, the prime minister said: "Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws. New Zealand had its experience and changed its laws. To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States." Ardern was referring both to a 1996... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]

President Trump announced on Friday — during a speech that pandered to special-interest groups and was symbolic of his administration's disdain for multilateral agreements — that the United States would "unsign" the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), a landmark agreement that regulates the international trade in conventional arms. It took more than five years of negotiations to develop the ATT, and I spent those years as a consultant in the treaty process, working with... [Washington Post, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

Thirteen mass shootings in 18 years, 112 victims shot dead. While this may seem to describe contemporary America, it actually describes a late 20th-century period in Australia. The country's final slaughter occurred in Tasmania in 1996 – the Port Arthur massacre. A lone, "pathetic social misfit" – as described by the judge – killed 35 people. The first 29 bullets from this young man's AR-15 rifle ended the lives of 20 innocents in just 90 seconds. For... [Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, via GunPolicy.org]

Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society. That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of... [New York Times, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

Many Americans can buy a gun in less than an hour. The process takes months in some countries. Here are the basic steps for how most people buy a gun in 15 of them. Many countries have exceptions for specialized professions, and local laws vary. United States 1) Pass an instant background check that considers criminal convictions, domestic violence and immigration status. 2) Buy a gun. Many states have additional buying restrictions, including waiting periods and... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

WASHINGTON — One of the most powerful moments during President Trump's meeting with survivors and relatives of the Florida school shooting this week came when a student pleaded with the president to do what Australia did after a similar tragedy. As it happened, Mr. Trump had an opportunity on Friday to get a firsthand report on Australia's crackdown on guns when he hosted the country's prime minister at the White House. But both men quickly discounted any... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

It was a blunder by Heckler & Koch, a giant German gunmaker. On February 15th the agency apologised for a "mistake" after its American subsidiary posted a Valentine's picture exhibiting a handgun surrounded by ammunition organized within the form of a coronary heart. The picture went out to social media shortly after a lethal college capturing in Florida. The put up was additionally a reminder that though Europeans typically criticise lax firearm-ownership legal... [Economist, via GunPolicy.org]

The students who survived a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school are aiming to reshape America's gun control debate. "You're either with us or against us," senior Emma González told politicians on Sunday, following a viral speech to gun control advocates the day before when she promised, "We are going to be the last mass shooting." Many people see the American gun control debate as a helpless stalemate dominated by the intransigence of the National Rifle... [Guardian, via GunPolicy.org]

Larry Hyatt had never seen such a frenzy. The lines at Hyatt Guns, his shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, snaked out the door. The deep, green-walled warehouse bills itself as the largest gun shop in America, but even then Hyatt had to stretch to meet the demand. At one point, he dispatched 37 salespeople to man the cash registers. He put up velvet ropes and hired a police officer. He even put a hot dog stand outside. It was just after the Sandy Hook massacre -- and... [CNN, via GunPolicy.org]