Showing posts with label US gun laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US gun laws. Show all posts

Friday, October 02, 2015

Obama: Our Thoughts and Prayers Are Not Enough


Oct. 01, 2015 - 12:32 - President makes statement on Oregon shooting, calls for 'common sense' gun laws

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

New York Passes Tough New Gun Control Law

US president Barack Obama is expected to reveal a new gun control initiative on Wednesday. His announcement will come just hours after the state of New York passed some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Cath Turner has more.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Chaque Américain pourra posséder une arme

Photobucket
La Cour suprême des États-Unis, à Washington. Photo : Cyberpresse

CYBERPRESSE: La Cour suprême américaine a lâché la bride lundi à la possession des armes à feu aux États-Unis, que les pouvoirs locaux auront davantage de difficulté à limiter ou à interdire, au nom du Deuxième amendement de la Constitution.

«Il s'agit d'un grand jour dans l'histoire des États-Unis», a immédiatement réagi après l'annonce de la décision la puissante NRA, un groupe d'influence qui prône une complète libéralisation des armes.

Plus de 200 millions d'armes à feu sont en circulation aux États-Unis (pour 300 millions d'habitants), régies par les pouvoirs locaux, et provoquent 30 000 décès par an, selon les statistiques de la Brady Campaign, qui milite à l'inverse pour un durcissement des limitations.

Dans une décision à cinq voix contre quatre, la plus haute juridiction des États-Unis a estimé lundi que «le Deuxième amendement garantit le droit individuel de chacun de conserver et de porter une arme à feu pour servir des intérêts légaux, notamment l'auto-défense chez soi». >>> Lucile Malandain,
Agence France-Presse | Lundi 28 Juin 2010

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Supreme Court extends rights of gun owners: The court's 5-4 decision in the 2nd Amendment case paves the way for challenges to laws restricting gun ownership, but Justice Samuel Alito says it will not 'imperil every law regulating firearms.' >>> David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau | Monday, June 28, 2010

Thursday, June 14, 2007

US to Tighten Gun Laws

ALJAZEERA: The US House of Representatives has approved a bill to tighten gun ownership laws, almost two months after a student at a US university campus killed 32 people.

The House passed the bill on Wednesday, as a government report on the Virginia Tech shootings called for greater sharing of students' information rather than tighter gun controls.

The bill, which encourages states to supply "timely and accurate information" on people barred from acquiring guns to a central database, received the support of the National Rifle Association (NRA), America's gun lobby. US moves to tighten gun laws (more)

Mark Alexander

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Gun Laws Tightened in Virginia

BBC: Virginia governor Timothy M Kaine has tightened the state's gun laws in response to the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech earlier this month.

Mr Kaine issued an executive order banning people found to be dangerous and ordered to have involuntary mental health treatment from purchasing guns. Virginia closes firearms loophole (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Friday, April 20, 2007

American Gun Laws: Viewpoints from Germany

In response to the horrific Virginia massacre in recent days, the following comments by SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL’s readers give an insight of how the Germans view US gun laws. Be sure to click on all the links. They are very interesting, and enlightening to a degree.
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The debate about gun control in the United States that began in Europe immediately after Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech angered many of our American readers. We published their letters, and now we're posting some of the responses we've received here in Germany.

"Everyone here in Europe feels sympathy for the victims of the shootings," writes Volker Lauterbach. "The press reports are not expressing any Schadenfreude, quite the opposite. But what constantly astonishes us is the vehemence with which the right to own a gun, even after such a crime, is defended. The arguments that are constantly produced (people, not guns, kill people) disguise the fact that it is people with guns who kill people. The statistics on murders with firearms repeatedly show that making it more difficult to gain access to guns significantly brings down the number of deaths due to gun violence, in both percentage and absolute terms. Cases like the one in Erfurt represent a truly terrible exception, but don’t change the facts. As friends of the US we have a duty to constantly point these kinds of things out. That is not meant to be anti-American or hostile. It is always in the hope that these kinds of incidents will not occur again, whether it be in Germany, the US or any other country, so that we don’t have to mourn more victims. There is great sympathy in Europe and all of us mourn with you."

"It's very interesting how conservative bloggers and pundits in the US have such a thin skin: they perceive lectures and humiliation at the slightest attempt of analysis when debating the issue of gun control, which has been successfully turned into a word with entirely negative connotations like "cancer" or "terrorist," writes Christian Habeck. "The gun control debate is driven by pure ideology and a severely skewed, context-free interpretation of the 2nd amendment. Why can't hand guns and assault weapons be banned, while issuing permits for rifles and shotguns for hunters? Why can't this even be debated?"

"It is unfortunate that the loudmouth arch conservatives have access to so much money to propagate their agenda of guns for 'law abiding' citizens," writes George Hunziker. "They are in absolute denial of the consequences of guns and crime. Evoking the 'Founding Fathers' as justification of such reactionary thinking shows the absurdity of their thinking process. That opinion, formed at a time when gunslingers and 'savage indigenous' people roamed much of this vast land, has no place in a modern society and the wise Founding Fathers they like to quote, would be the first one to declare, 'thank God, the society has evolved to a more civilized level.' In an age of of cell phones and high speed police responses in an emergency, these 'self defense' weapons are purchased mostly by criminals, not the average citizen. The gun lobby abuses words like 'freedom,' 'individualism,' 'manhood,' and 'independence' as slogans to market their 18th century ideas. Never mind that these ideals are in direct opposition of these killing machines: automatic handguns and submachine guns with armor penetrating bullets."

"I think that the way that Spiegel is portraying the gun control debate as left vs. right is too simplistic," writes Holly Nazar of Montreal, Canada. "I am a Canadian, and a social democrat, but I do believe that every regulation or restriction of a citizen's freedoms should be weighed very carefully against the danger of giving the government too much power. It seems that Europeans are not as sensitive to this danger as North Americans are. In this case there is very little evidence that gun control leads to less violence, and so the balance is not in favor of tight gun controls. That said, there is no reason for anyone to own some of the sophisticated assault weapons that American law still allows."

"Your article says that you are receiving many messages from the conservatives in the US denouncing European criticism of our worship of guns," writes Philip Hefner of Chicago. "Millions of us here are just as critical of the gun lobbies and the widespread glorification of guns as any Europeans. For us, Charlton Heston and his ilk are an embarrassment. It is a travesty to place the so-called 'right to bear arms' on a par with the other freedoms of the Bill of Rights. Some of the European criticism is off the mark and just as extreme as Heston's, but we need the reality checks that international voices give us."
[Source of ALL comments: SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL]

Post from Germany: “America Has Lost Touch with Reality”
Mark Alexander