Business brisk at Tucson gun show in the wake of rampage

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE70E21W20110115

5:08pm EST

By Tim Gaynor
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show in Tucson on Saturday, a week after a brutal 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 driving trade at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on the outskirts of the city. "Either way, it drives sales," he added.

The show comes exactly a week after a college dropout pelted a crowd gathered outside a grocery store with semi-automatic fire, killing a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl and four others.

Thirteen people were injured by the hail of bullets, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who remains critically ill in a city hospital, shot through the head.

Private citizens in the United States are the most heavily armed in the world, according to a study issued by the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and gun ownership is a cherished constitutional right.

In 2009, the FBI ran more than 14 million criminal background checks on people seeking to buy firearms, although no records for the number of guns actually sold is kept.

As a stars and stripes flag fluttered at half staff outside the show to honor the dead, shoppers picked over stalls crammed with AR-15 assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols, including the popular Glock 9mm model used in the killing spree.

Others bought hunting and target rifles, pistols for self defense, or bought and sold antique weapons for the love of collecting.

"It's just a hobby," said chemist Donald Macaulay, 62,. who hoped to sell several reproduction flintlock and cap lock rifles at the show. "I get a lot of pleasure from it."
'A WAKE UP CALL'

A troubled 22-year-old college dropout was arrested for the shootings at a "Congress on the corner" event, after being wrestled to the ground by victims and bystanders as he tried to reload.

He is charged with five federal counts, including the murder of a federal judge and the attempted assassination of Giffords.

The shooting highlighted permissive gun laws in the United States, and in Arizona, where a state law allows citizens at least 21 year of age to carry a gun in their pocket without special training or permits.

Gun control advocates said they would to close one loophole in the law that allows the purchase of guns at gun shows, such as the one in Tucson on Saturday, without going through a background check.

Some in the U.S. Congress want tighter regulation of some semi-automatics and the extended magazines of a type Loughner is accused of using to spray dozens of shots in just a few seconds.

But some people at the Tucson trade show drew the opposite conclusion and said the deadly spree showed that Americans need to go out and buy more guns for self defense.

"This incident shows very, very clearly why it is so vital to have more people armed and ready and prepared to defend," themselves and others, said Charles Heller, 53, a founder of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a civil defense rights group.

Suspect Loughner had a history of emotional problems that have emerged since the shooting. Calls by some groups have focused on the weaknesses of the system used to prevent people with mental illness from buying guns. Loughner successfully bought a gun from a store last November.

"I'm in favor of possibly doing a bit more of a thorough background investigation before just handing someone a firearm," said Steve Smith, 53, a commercial collections investigator carrying a Beretta carbine strapped across his chest, and a Colt pistol in a holster.

But others at the popular arms bazaar, where traders sell holsters, knives and other shooting regalia, wondered whether an appropriately armed citizen at the scene of last week's shooting might have been able to stop the gunman.

"If a responsible person carrying a gun had been there, he could possibly have helped control the situation," said nurse Jim Hague, 50.

(Editing by Greg McCune

Muted gun control debate after Tucson shootings reflects new attitude

By Alex Leary, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, January 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — Echoing across three decades, the roar of gunfire, politics and madness resounds once more.

1981: A mentally ill 25-year-old empties a pistol as President Ronald Reagan exits the Washington Hilton Hotel, leaving him seriously wounded
.
The public outcry leads to a landmark gun control law.

2011: A 22-year-old man described as mentally unhinged empties a pistol into a crowd at an Arizona shopping center, killing six and wounding 13, including a congresswoman.

This time the outcry leads to a fight over fighting words.

The debate is over whether Rush Limbaugh is too mean and Keith Olbermann too sarcastic, whether the political parties are too nasty toward each other.

In Tucson on Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for an end to the overheated rhetoric, urging a new era of civility to honor the victims. The shootings, he noted, had raised a discussion about "the merits of gun safety laws." Then he quickly moved on.
Has America moved on as well?

Public support for gun control has faded over the three decades despite chilling public shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech, and politicians are less willing to wade into the complex and divisive Second Amendment debate.

Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have expanded gun rights, not taken them away. The National Rifle Association and other gun lobbies have exercised their organizational and political muscle to win a broad array of new freedoms in states.

And consider: As Arizona residents tried to comprehend the tragedy last week, gun sales there soared by 60 percent. People are not worried for their safety. They are worried the government will try to make it harder to get a gun.

Legislation is being drafted in Washington, but chances are nothing will happen.
"A lot of people have given up on the issue," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y..
• • •
Nearly two decades ago, a gunman murdered McCarthy's husband on a Long Island commuter train. As a lawmaker, she has focused her attention on gun control measures, including banning high-capacity ammunition magazines. Their manufacture and import was outlawed under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but the law expired a decade later.
Authorities say 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner popped a 33-round magazine into his Glock semiautomatic last Saturday in Tucson. He shot 19 people before being tackled when a second magazine jammed.

McCarthy's bill would restrict magazines to 10 bullets. (The typical is 15.) "I'm not trying to take anyone's gun away," she insisted.

Still, odds are against her.

The bill did not pass when Democrats controlled the House, and now power rests with Republicans, who in general have resisted more gun control.

House Speaker John Boehner even opposes a proposal from New York Republican Rep. Pete King to outlaw possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a member of Congress. King has been besieged with calls from critics who say he is trying to take away their Second Amendment rights.

While many lawmakers in Washington were ducking the gun issue last week — focusing, as Obama had, on civility — others said they fear "knee-jerk" responses to a tragedy.

"It appears to me there is plenty of legislation in place," said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas. (Despite that, he began working on a bill to allow lawmakers to carry a concealed gun around Capitol grounds.)

Gohmert said the problem was that people around Loughner failed to act as she showed signs of instability. "They closed their doors, they shut their eyes and closed their ears and acted like he wasn't a potential threat."

Loughner legally purchased the Glock 19 at a Sportsman's Warehouse on Nov. 30, passing an instant background check. Despite a history of confusing, paranoid outbursts, he was not flagged as someone who should be ineligible to own a gun.

The Virginia Tech shootings led to federal incentives for states to improve reporting of people with mental health problems. Virginia, for example, has since added more than 49,000 names to a database. Florida has identified 23,500 people, Arizona about 4,500.
Some predict that any legislative response would deal with mental illness, not whether a magazine should be smaller or whether the public at large should have to go through more hoops to obtain and carry a weapon.

"It's not a gun issue," said Bill Bunting, a firearms instructor and Republican activist in Florida. "This guy had a mental defect, evidentially. If they are out to destroy, they are out to destroy. If they can't get their hands on a gun, they will get their hands on something else."

The NRA has kept quiet on the proposed legislation, insisting it is time to grieve. But the organization can also count Congress in its corner, with some Democrats joining Republicans in opposing more controls.
• • •
Public support for stricter gun control laws went up after the shootings in Tucson. Overall, 47 percent of Americans favor tougher regulations, according to a CBS News poll, up from 40 percent in April 2010.

But a jump is expected after a highly publicized tragedy, and the trend has been toward less control.

In 1990, when Gallup first asked about laws covering the sale of firearms, 79 percent of Americans said such laws should be stricter. By 2000, it was down to 62 percent. And last October it dropped to 44 percent.

In that time, the assault weapons ban expired and states have expanded gun rights. Arizona has some of the most permissive in the country, allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit and into restaurants and bars and government buildings.

Florida's gun rights have been expanded in recent years as well. In 2008, Gov. Charlie Crist signed an NRA-pushed law allowing concealed weapons permit holders to bring their guns to work, as long as the weapons remained in their vehicles.
Attitudes among Democrats have shifted as well. Al Gore was hurt by his gun control stance in the 2000 presidential election. Four years later, fellow Democrat John Kerry made sure news cameras captured him on pheasant and duck hunts.

"Democrats have learned it's not a winning issue in most areas," said Harry Wilson, a political science professor at Roanoke College who has written about gun control.
The NRA in 2008 claimed "Barack Obama would be the most antigun president in American history." Obama was solidly in favor of gun controls as a member of the Illinois Legislature, hailing from gun-riddled Chicago.

As a U.S. Senate candidate in 2004, Obama said it was a "scandal" that President George W. Bush was allowing the assault weapons ban to expire.
So when Obama won the presidency, people rushed to buy weapons and ammunition, fearing he would push for a renewal and other controls.
It never happened.

Obama has not touched the gun issue and even signed bills that allow people to carry guns into national parks and in checked luggage on Amtrak. (those provisions were tacked onto bills he wanted).

"He hasn't followed through on anything he said he was going to do. We have him an F last year," said Chad Ramsey of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
He holds out hope that the shooting of a popular congresswoman will spur Congress to act. "This is one of their own that's been attacked," Ramsey said.

But many in Congress said last week that they were focused on the victims and fixing the toxic political climate, not opening the gun debate, particularly when power is divided.

"It's a tough issue to reach consensus on," acknowledged Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a South Florida Democrat who has favored gun control.

Asked Thursday if the president would press for more limits, press secretary Robert Gibbs said only, "We'll have an opportunity to evaluate some of the other proposals."
Even though Obama barely mentioned guns the other night in Arizona, the Brady Campaign said it was a positive sign that he even did. The group urged him to create a presidential study commission.

For now, the debate is fixed on the dangers of heated political rhetoric. Obama is gearing up for re-election and will likely not highlight gun issues.

"We need to have a serious conversation in America about guns," said Arthur Hayhoe, executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "But it seems nobody wants to talk about guns."
Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report.

[Last modified: Jan 15, 2011 05:21 PM]

January 14, 2011 6:56 PM

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert Defends Letting Lawmakers Carry Guns in D.C.

Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert is working on introducing legislation that would allow members of Congress to carry concealed weapons in Washington, D.C., but he told CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante that this is an issue that goes beyond last Saturday's tragic rampage in Tucson.

"We're targets," he told Plante, "I'm not so much concerned about myself as I with those who would be around me, whether it's people I work with, whether it's family, but it is also a constitutional right."


Gohmert continued, "Washington, D .C ., is a federal enclave, it will not usurp any states rights, and we have the right to legislate within the District of Columbia. So it's just using our constitutional right."



While members of Congress are protected while on Capitol Hill, Gohmert is concerned with the safety of elected officals once they step out of those confines. "The professionals aren't walking with us by ourselves out in the District of Columbia unless you're one of the Republican or Democratic leaders," he noted, "Let me protect myself and use the constitutional law."

Gohmert also weighed in on Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's (D-N.Y.) gun control bill, which he doesn't think has a good chance of passing, that would ban high powered handgun magazine clips. Gohmert likened it obesity, saying: "The problem is not the type of guns and that kind of thing anymore than the problem with obesity in America is we have spoons that are too big and too numerous. It's not the spoons that make people fat and it's not the guns that kill people, it's people that kill people."


Plante asked Gohmert if his legislation does eventually pass, would he himself carry a concealed weapon in Washington. Gohmert replied, "Not all the time, but the criminals will have to wonder whether I am or whether I'm not. Most of the time I won't be but they'll never know unless they try something."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028614-503544.html

Experts: Gun Background Checks Have Big Gaps

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132942261/experts-gun-background-checks-have-big-gaps

by Laura Sullivan

When Jared Loughner walked into the Tucson gun store where authorities allege he put down his money for a Glock 19 in November,  the store owner sent a request to run Loughner's name through the FBI's database of criminals, fugitives, illegal immigrants and mentally ill to see if Loughner was among them.

Loughner had had several runs in with police for possessing drugs and had been told to leave his community college for erratic behavior. But the arrests never became convictions, and his behavior was never evaluated by state mental health professionals. So like 10 million others across the U.S. last year, Loughner passed and got his gun.

Despite the outcome, it's not people like Jared Loughner — people who may have questionable but not criminal backgrounds — that have gun control advocates worried. It's the database itself, which is only as good as the records that states put into it.
Several studies and experts say those records are often incomplete or missing.

"The (background check system) is gigantically better than nothing, and it is helping to keep people who are not supposed to have guns from getting guns," said Matt Bennett, spokesman of the non-profit group Third Way, formerly known as Americans For Gun Safety. "But it has very significant holes that are problematic."

'That's Not Very Reliable'
The database is a 13-year-old system called NICS — the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It pulls records from not only state and local police but dozens of other agencies, including the U.S. Park Police, campus police and the U.S. Border Patrol. Except for a few additional restrictions in some states, as long as you're 21 and not in it, you can buy a handgun. If you're 18, you can buy a long gun.

But according to the FBI and a 2005 study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a significant problem is the number of states that are slow or fail entirely to update the final outcome of court cases. For example, the database may include the arrest record of someone charged with murder, but it may not know whether that person was convicted if the state court did not provide that information.

"If there's an open warrant for someone's arrest, the database is usually correct," said Robert McCrie, professor of security management at the John Hay College of Criminal Justice. "Where it is not correct is in the disposition of cases — if the charges are later dismissed or the case is continued. That's not very reliable, and that's a problem."

"Many counties and states don't see it as their duty to put substantial information into the system," McCrie said.

Digging Through Records — With A Time Limit
McCrie and other experts say that leaves it up to database researchers to figure out what happened. In some states, researchers have to track the information down at the specific courthouse where the trial occurred, calling a busy clerk's office to ask someone to manually pull the file. Some records are in storage in warehouses or basements.

And according to the law, the researcher only has three days to do it. If the FBI cannot determine whether someone is permitted to buy a gun in three days, in most states the dealer is allowed to proceed with the sale. It's called a "default proceed."

In 2005, the latest figures available, the Justice Department determined that more than 3,000 people walked out of a gun store with a firearm that they should not have been able to buy, because records later revealed they were felons or otherwise prohibited from owning a gun.

At that point, it's up to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives to get the gun back.

"Imagine you're law enforcement and you're sent to retrieve the firearm from the felon who bought it, or the domestic violence offender," said Becca Knox, director of research for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Not exactly the situation we want to put our law enforcement officers in."

Some of the biggest challenges for the database, experts say, are domestic violence and drug cases, which often have inconclusive ends. Defendants are sometimes given a year or two to attend treatment, complete community service or enter therapy before a court decides whether a conviction will stand. An arrest is not enough to prohibit someone from buying a gun.

According to the Justice Department, some states are still entering those records manually. In state where records are fully automated, a clerk in a courtroom can punch the information into the database. Other states pass a handwritten piece of paper from one office to the next before it ever gets entered — a delay that can be costly for victims of domestic violence who have requested immediate restraining orders.

"You can see there's uneven performance," Knox said. "The database is an incredible step forward, but we still have to figure out where the administrative and financial roadblocks are."

In 2009, the FBI ran 10.8 million background checks on potential customers. About 150,000 people were rejected. Most had felony or domestic violence convictions, or a restraining order, on their records. Less than 2 percent were rejected because of a mental illness.

After Dem shift, little chance for new gun controls

By Kathleen Hennessey and Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau
4:12 PM PST, January 13, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-0114-gun-control-20110113,0,6866234,print.story


WASHINGTON — The first federal gun control law was passed in 1968 after the assassinations of the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and the Brady bill mandating background checks on gun purchases was enacted in the years following the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. But don't look for any new gun control laws coming out of Capitol Hill in the wake of the Tucson shooting rampage.

The reason is not only the new Republican majority in the House —it's that the Democrats have traveled far from what was once one of their core legislative goals.
Democrats championed gun control in the 1980s and 1990s. But many backed away after the 2000 election, when Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's support for tighter gun laws likely cost him votes in key rural areas.

The result has been an effective truce on guns, one that allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004 and has even seen key Democrats emerge as some of the gun lobby's leading allies.

The truce is believed to have served Barack Obama well when he was a presidential candidate. In 2008, gun control, once a barrier for Democrats seeking votes in states like Virginia, Indiana or Nevada, hardly registered as a top topic.

That strategy is likely to carry into 2012 election. After conservative-led rout in November, Democrats running in red states — and there are many in the Senate — will be eager to burnish their conservative credentials and hesitant to bump against the powerful National Rifle Association.

Many factors in the Tucson rampage reflect the availability of guns and ammunition in this country: the suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, easily purchased a Glock semi-automatic pistol with extended cartridges. He went practice shooting in the desert on the morning of the attack, in which six died and 14 others were wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), herself the owner of a Glock. The state recently allowed guns to be carried into bars, and is contemplating legislation that would allow college students to carry firearms on campus.

Advocates of new federal gun controls are planning to introduce legislation, but their aims are minimal and their expectations for passage very low.

"We're not looking at banning all weapons," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat who wants to close a loophole that allows some private dealers to sell guns without conducting background checks. "We're looking to make sure that innocent people from all over will be safe in their own homes and public places. I think the tragedy and the heavy moment in which we find ourselves lends itself to some contemplation. I think there's a hope, at least, for reasonableness."

The argument is not likely to woo staunch gun rights advocates in Congress.
"I believe, as Americans have believed since the American founding, that firearms in the hands of law abiding citizens make communities safer, not less safe," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) in an interview. "And I understand the human impulse us to look for blame. Heartache does that. But no expressed opinion and no public policy created what happened on Saturday last."

in recent years, mass shootings have not have generated momentum for new gun laws.
The 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two teenagers murdered 13 people before killing themselves, sparked gun control proposals in Congress, but resulted in no changes. No new restrictions followed the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings in which 33 people died, including the gunman.

The proposals outlined this week are expected to have a similar lonely, uphill climb.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J..) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) both have promised to propose measures banning the sale and import of high-capacity ammunition magazines, like the one police say Jared Lee Loughner used Saturday. Such magazines were prohibited under the assault weapons ban enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1994 and since lapsed.

Another proposal from Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y), the chairman of the Homeland Security committee, would prohibit the carrying of guns within 1,000 feet of a federal official.

Republicans leaders in the House already have come out against King's bill, underscoring the chamber's hostility to any measure that might be seen as weakening the Second Amendment.

Meanwhile, the Senate is led by Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who often touts his gun rights credentials. Reid's office declined to comment Thursday on specific legislation.

Democrats not only have retreated from gun safety issues over the past four years they controlled Congress, but have supported top priorities on the agenda of the National Rifle Association.

Recent years saw congressional passage of legislation to allow concealed weapons to be carried in national parks and firearms to be stowed in checked bags on Amtrak trains.

NRA endorsements cross party lines, and as more Democrats have emerged from conservative states in recent election cycles, the party has grown friendlier to Second Amendment rights. The powerful gun lobby backed dozens of Democrats along with Republican candidates in the last election cycle, spending more than $2 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Gun control advocates say they have not found an aggressive ally in the White House. On Wednesday, President Obama made only vague reference to gun safety in his speech at a memorial for shooting victims in Tucson, saying: "We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future."

It was the most Obama has said about gun safety since becoming president, said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun violence.

"We've been very disappointed in him," Helmke said. "I'm hopeful that's a sign he's going to talk about gun safety laws soon."

On Thursday, the president's spokesman declined to be more specific.

"We all look forward to learning more about what happened and try to explain the why," said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "Evaluation of the facts and how we got to a tragedy like this I think requires us to look at everything."
Khennessey@tribune.com
Lmascaro@tribune.com

Copyright © 2011, Tribune Interactive

McCarthy bill caps ammunition magazines at 10 bullets

By MIke Lillis - 01/13/11 05:35 PM ET

 

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) will introduce legislation next week capping ammunition magazines at 10 bullets, she announced Thursday.

McCarthy, whose husband was killed during a commuter train shooting in 1993, has said all week that she'd be proposing legislation to ban high-capacity clips like those allegedly used in Saturday's shooting in Arizona. But she hadn't specified the maximum number of bullets, hoping instead that some flexibility on her part might entice GOP leaders to support the bill.

Since the tragedy, however, Republican leaders have aligned themselves squarely against gun reforms proposed even by members of their own party.

The 1994 assault-weapons ban included the same 10-bullet cap, but that law expired in 2004.

Like the assault-weapons ban, McCarthy's bill will ban high-capacity magazines manufactured after the law is enacted — meaning it doesn't prohibit possession of those made beforehand.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/137885-mccarthy-bill-caps-ammunition-magazines-at-10-bullets

The New York Democrat said it's impossible to estimate the effects of her proposal, but it will "ultimately save lives."

"The only purpose for the existence of these devices is to be able to shoot as many people as possible as quickly as possible," McCarthy wrote Thursday in a "Dear Colleague" letter to House members. "There is no reason that these devices should be available to the general public."

McCarthy is scheduled to introduce the bill formally on Tuesday.

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/137885-mccarthy-bill-caps-ammunition-magazines-at-10-bullets

Jay Bookman

The answer to gun violence is always more guns

10:59 am January 13, 2011, by Jay Bookman

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2011/01/13/the-answer-to-gun-violence-is-always-more-guns/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog

In the wake of the Tucson shootings, U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York, introduced a piece of legislation that would bar possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a member of Congress.

It’s really a silly, even dangerous idea. With all that is going on, why on earth would members of Congress want to deny themselves the sense of security and safety that comes from knowing that at any time, they could be within easy reach of a heavily armed constituent? It’s absurd.

King’s Republican colleague, Louie Gohmert of Texas, has a far better idea.

Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert says his office is drafting a measure to allow members of Congress to carry guns in the District of Columbia, including in the Capitol and on the House floor.
Gohmert says he and his colleagues need to be able to protect themselves, in light of the mass shooting in Arizona.
“It’d be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District,” he said. “I know friends that walk home from the Capitol. There’s no security for us,” he said, adding that the measure would deter people from attacking members. “There is some protection in having protection.”

Now that — that’s a great idea. Brilliant. We want members of Congress to be safer, and guns make you safer, ergo, let’s give them each a gun. Two members, Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Democrat Heath Shuler of North Carolina, have already said they plan to carry concealed weapons in their home districts for protection. But why not on the House and Senate floor as well? What could be safer than 435 armed, argumentative politicians crowded into one House chamber?

In fact, rather than merely allow them to carry guns on the House and Senate floor, in the interest of safety we should require it. It might do wonders for civil discourse. Of course, we’d want to limit the guns to those members who could prove their sanity, which might cut down on the participation rate a bit.

Folks out in Arizona would no doubt support the general idea. A co-founder of the Arizona Citizens Defense League tells Dave Weigel of Slate that his group is drafting model legislation that it calls the Gifford-Zimmerman Act. (Gabriel Zimmerman, a Giffords aide, was killed in the attack.)

“It would require the Arizona Department of Public Safety to provide firearms training, using firearms confiscated by the state, to members of Congress and people who work for them,” league co-founder Charles Heller said. “Facilities would be made available to them in a way that wouldn’t interfere with the training of police and other safety employees.”

“”It would enable staffers and legislators, and it would drop gun laws and restrictions,” Heller told the Arizona Republic. “In other words, they could walk into a nuclear facility or school and be armed. It would exempt them from many of the other restrictions that exist in Arizona. Arizona has some fairly tough gun laws.”

Ah yes, those fairly tough gun laws. Arizona is one of just three states that don’t require a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and one of six to declare that guns manufactured in Arizona are exempt from federal regulation. At an appearance by President Obama a year ago, more than a dozen protesters showed up armed, legally, including one carrying an AR-15 assault weapon.

(For all you other AR-15 owners out there, a gun company in South Carolina is now offering you — yes, you! — a limited number of lower receivers inscribed with the inspiring words “You lie!”, in homage to U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst at President Obama’s 2009 State of the Union. But you must act now, only 999 available!)
In fact, given the popularity of guns in Arizona, it’s downright amazing that Jared Loughner was able to fire off more than rounds from his high-capacity magazine — you know, the type of magazine that was illegal until we made gun laws weaker again in the name of public safety. Yet nobody with a gun was around to intervene! Imagine! Two unarmed men and a little old lady jumped Loughner and disarmed him as he attempted to reload.

One armed Arizona citizen, Joseph Zamudio, did rush to the scene, gun in hand, after the attack. But as he admitted later, he came around the corner and almost blew away one of the heroes who had subdued Loughner and was standing there holding Loughner’s handgun.

“Horrible, horrible,” Zamudio said. “That’s why I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds … two, maybe three seconds.” But Zamudio intends to keep taking his gun with him everywhere he goes. He doesn’t even want to fly anymore, because he knows that doing so would require him to surrender his gun.

That’s another rule we have to change. In the name of safety of course. Guns on airplanes, just to make everyone more secure.

As Arizona state Sen. Jack Harper told the Arizona Republic, “When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a victim. The socialists of today are only one gun confiscation away from being the communists of tomorrow.”

Gun control (still) won't work

After Tucson shooting, ineffectual solutions abound

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-12/news/ct-oped-0113-chapman-20110112_1_gun-control-mayors-against-illegal-guns-assault-weapons

 

January 12, 2011|By Steve Chapman

It has been a dismal decade for gun-control advocates. They lost the federal so-called assault weapons ban when it expired in 2004. The U.S. Supreme Court made history by proclaiming an individual has a right to own firearms for self-defense. A Democratic president came into office vowing not to take away anyone's guns.

So it's no surprise that anti-gun forces would take the mass shooting Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., as a rare opportunity to reverse their fortunes. It's also no surprise that their proposals are models of futility.

Gun control has faltered mainly because it hasn't worked. And nothing in the new recommendations offers hope of success.

The first idea came from Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who wants to ban all ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds — which was the rule under the assault weapons law. Her rationale is that the rampage ended when the shooter exhausted a clip that held at least 30 rounds and tried to reload, at which point he was subdued. With a 10-round clip, he could have been stopped sooner.

Maybe so. But Jared Loughner apparently put some planning into this attack, and had the laws been different, he might have planned around them.

Suppose he couldn't go to the gun shop and buy a new high-capacity clip. He could have bought a used one, which could be legally sold under the expired federal law. Or he could have bought extra weapons to avoid the need to reload — like the shooter in the 2008 Northern Illinois University slaughter, who had a shotgun and three handguns.
Passing a law to head off a freakishly rare occurrence is probably a waste of time.

Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck says that of the hundreds of mass shootings that have occurred in this country, he knows of only one in which a gunman was stopped because he had to reload — a 1993 episode on the Long Island Railroad.
A measure offered by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., offers even less promise. He wants to make it a crime to knowingly carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a president, vice president, member of Congress or federal judge.

That would punish law-abiding citizens who have no aggressive intentions — say, someone who parks a block away from a campaign rally on his way to the target range. But it would have been only a paper barrier to Loughner, who ignored a host of laws on his way to shoot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Jared Loughner’s gun: The assassin’s weapon of choice

12 January 2011

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=103422
Glock helped create the modern U.S. gun market — and has become a preferred killing tool for criminals and the mentally disturbed.
Philip Shenon on its allure — and allegations of corruption
By Philip Shenon
The Daily Beast
Gun-control advocates hope last weekend’s Arizona massacre will finally bring scrutiny to the secretive—and many say, sinister—Austrian company that made the semi-automatic pistol used to grievously wound Representative Gabrielle Giffords and leave six others dead.

The family-run gunmaker, the Glock company, headquartered in a small Austrian village north of Vienna, came from nowhere 25 years ago to turn itself into one of the world’s leading suppliers of handguns, with special success selling to U.S. law-enforcement agencies and private gun-lovers.

Glock helped recreate the American gun market, convincing its customers to replace clumsy six-bullet revolvers—once a gun of choice among private buyers—with lightweight, simple-to-fire, highly lethal semi-automatic pistols capable of pumping out dozens of rounds of ammunition without reloading. (Giffords was a Glock owner herself, telling The New York Times last year, “I have a Glock 9 millimeter, and I’m a pretty good shot.”)

While no one denies that the vast majority of Glock’s American customers are law-abiding, the company’s products have repeatedly turned up in the bloodied hands of criminals and the mentally disturbed, including Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old Arizonan charged with last weekend’s killings, and Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech senior who mowed down 32 people at the school in 2007.

Like Loughner, Cho carried a Glock 19, the company’s bestselling 9-millimeter pistol, in his murderous rampage across campus.

“Glock was one of a couple of companies that really introduced the capability of mass killing power in a handgun,” said Tom Diaz, senior analyst of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based gun-control group, and author of the book Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America.

He described the Glock 19, which retails for between $400 and $600, as “the archetypical pocket rocket, a small concealable handgun,” capable of firing enough rounds to hit dozens of targets within seconds. The Violence Policy Center said its research showed that Glocks and similar semi-automatic firearms figured in most major mass shootings in the United States over the last 30 years.

Spokesmen for Glock in Austria and at its U.S. subsidiary in Smyrna, Georgia, did not reply to phone calls and emails from The Daily Beast for comment on the Arizona massacre and about the company’s business operations. In the past, Glock has insisted that its firearms are built to the highest standards of safety, and that it operates in the United States in strict accordance with American gun laws.

Whatever its response might be to the events in Tucson, Glock would find it difficult to deny that its phenomenal success in selling guns in the American market has come in spite of longstanding allegations of corruption within the company’s U.S. subsidiary, as well as murderous internal intrigue, including a 1999 assassination attempt against the company’s founder, Gaston Glock, blamed by European prosecutors on one of Glock’s closest business associates.

In the attack in a darkened garage in Luxembourg, a hit man, a former professional wrestler and French Legionnaire, attempted to bash in Glock’s skull using a hardened rubber mallet, a weapon apparently selected because it would leave a wound that would that appear accidental.

A fitness buff, Glock fought back and survived. Both the hit man and Glock’s disgruntled business associate were imprisoned after their convictions on the attempted murder charges.

In a major investigation of the company two years ago, BusinessWeek magazine reported that Glock was then the subject of an otherwise secret IRS investigation to determine if Glock had concealed profits from tax officials.

The magazine quoted the former head of the U.S. subsidiary, Paul F. Jannuzzo, as saying that Glock had “organized an elaborate scheme to both skim money from gross sales and to launder those funds through various foreign entities.” The magazine also quoted Jannuzzo, who was eventually charged by Georgia state prosecutors on racketeering charges, as alleging that “the skim is approximately $20 per firearm,” suggesting that millions of dollars has been hidden from the IRS over the years. The company insisted at the time it had been “victimized” by Jannuzzo and others and denied any wrongdoing.

An IRS spokesman in Washington refused to comment to The Daily Beast this week when asked if Glock was the subject of any continuing criminal tax investigation.
Company founder Gaston Glock, an engineer now believed to be in his early 80s, is grudgingly admired by his competitors in the U.S. gun market, both for his technological innovations and his marketing and lobbying savvy.

In 1982, Glock designed a handgun that could be molded from a tough but relatively cheap, plastic-like material instead of steel and that could hold dozens of bullets in a single, easy-to-replace cartridge. Police departments in the U.S. and elsewhere had long complained about their dependence on heavy metal pistols that needed to be reloaded after only a few shots.

Glock quickly won over the law-enforcement market in the United States and then, with the endorsement of its products by large police departments, took aim at the multibillion-dollar market for private gun buyers. According to the trade magazine Shooting Industry, Glock imported 602,000 guns into the United States in 2009, the latest year for which figures are available, representing more than a quarter of all the imported handguns that year.

For many gun-buyers, the appeal of Glock’s products only grew after the Bush administration and Congress permitted the federal assault-weapons ban to expire in 2004; the law had blocked the sale of gun cartridges that held more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Since 2004, Glock has heavily promoted the fact that its lightweight pistols can hold more than 30 bullets. The latest promotional material on the company’s website notes that its pistols “can be loaded with a convincing number of rounds,” making its guns “superior in firepower to conventional pistol models of the same size.”

In Arizona, Jared Loughner was apparently convinced of the special value of a Glock, attaching a cartridge to his Glock 19 that reportedly held the maximum number of bullets possible for the gun—33.

“Glock has been very good at turning a regular handgun into a weapon of war,” said Daniel Vice, senior attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, another gun-control group. “Glock guns are made so they are very easy for anyone to shoot, and Loughner could fire more than 30 rounds without having to reload.”

Vice said the consequences of allowing the federal assault-weapons ban to expire in 2004 were obvious in that supermarket parking lot in Tucson last weekend. If the ban was still in place, Loughner could have been stopped long before he killed so many people, since he would have needed to stop and replace the cartridge, Vice said. “Loughner would have been limited to 10 rounds, which means that many lives in Arizona would have been saved.”

Philip Shenon is an investigative reporter based in Washington D.C. Almost all of his career was spent at The New York Times, where he was a reporter from 1981 until 2008. He is author of the bestselling The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation. He has reported from several warzones and was one of two reporters from The Times embedded with American ground troops during the invasion of Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.

• JANUARY 12, 2011

Rampage Gun's Reputation Built on Style, Ease of Use

By GARY FIELDS

Police and gun dealers say Glock semiautomatic pistols, including the lightweight model allegedly used in the Tucson rampage last weekend, are among the most popular firearms in the U.S. because they are easy to use, reliable and accurate.

"The Glock is a very popular weapon, generally not only with the law enforcement but with civilians," said James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents about 330,000 street-level officers. "It's a well-made and easy-to-maintain weapon."

The handgun Jared Lee Loughner is accused of using to kill six people and wound 14 others also has a reputation for stylishness. Boxy, angular with an air of brute utility, the Glock is often featured in Hollywood films as the weapon of choice for both good and bad guys.

The Glock can even take its place among "classic" popular-culture gun styles—along with the Uzi, AK47, Thompson submachine gun and Colt 45, said Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University.

"There are a number of guns that fall into the pantheon of popular culture," he said. "Guns are a lot like cars, and in some ways designer dresses and suits: They become classics."

Glocks began moving into the mainstream in the U.S. in the late 1980s as drug-related violence escalated. Police armed with six-shot revolvers often found themselves outgunned by criminals armed with semiautomatics—Glocks and other makes— that had large ammunition capacities.

Officers began switching to Glocks, allowing them to fire nearly triple the number of bullets before needing to reload. "I would say the plurality of law-enforcement agencies out there now use Glocks," Mr. Pasco said.

The Glock 19 that police say Mr. Loughner used Saturday is more compact than some models in the manufacturer's stable—it is about 6 inches long. It comes with a 15-shot magazine, though police say Mr. Loughner used an extended magazine that contained 33 bullets.

Glock, based in Austria, built a plant in Smyrna, Ga., in the 1980s and began producing the high-tech polymer firearm in the U.S. Over the years as it began to take hold in the law enforcement community,It is among the top 20 manufacturers of firearms in the U.S., according to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Repeated attempts to contact Glock officials to comment were unsuccessful. In 2008, the last year for which data are available, the company produced over 70,000 semiautomatic pistols sold in the U.S. Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc., produced over 239,00 and Smith and Wesson made more than 303,000 pistols
The gunman in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre also used a Glock 19, and another gun, but law-enforcement officials said it was not normally considered a gun used by criminals.

Glocks are more expensive than guns normally found at crime scenes. In Maryland gun stores, for example the Glock 19 sells for around $600. Andrew Raymond, co-owner of Engage Armament, Kensington, Md., said the model runs between $590 and $639. at his store and is "very popular.""They are ubiquitous throughout the world," he said. His store sells "an incredible amount to law enforcement and military personnel, first responders."

Mr. Raymond said their popularity stems from their reputation as being "exceptionally reliable and low-maintenance. They are good for the first-time shooter." Mr. Raymond said he, his business partner and their gunsmith carry Glocks. "We stake our lives on those things," he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704515904576076261511207484.html
Write to Gary Fields at gary.fields@wsj.com

Giffords shooting causes gun sales to skyrocket in Arizona, some buyers looking to stock up

BY Meena Hartenstein
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, January 12th 2011, 4:00 AM

Sloan/AFP/Getty

A Glock 19 9MM pistol, similar to what Jared Lee Loughner used to shoot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

When Jared Lee Loughner opened fire on a crowd in Tucson Saturday, killing six and wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and many more, reactions across America ranged from anger to grief to confusion.

But some took the tragedy as a call to buy arms.

Arizona gun store owner Greg Wolff told Bloomberg News he has seen sales of the Glock pistol surge since Loughner used the gun to attack Giffords.

"We're at double our volume over what we usually do," Wolff said this week.

He credits the boost in sales to the fact that some gun buyers fear the shooting will lead to stronger gun control legislation.

"When something like this happens people get worried that the government is going to ban stuff," Wolff said.

That concern may be a valid one. Members of Congress, like New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, have pushed for tighter laws in the wake of the attack.

McCarthy argued this week for legislation that would ban the type of gun magazine Loughner used in the shooting, which let him fire off 33 rounds before reloading. When he did run out of ammunition, heroic bystander Patricia Maisch was able to grab the magazine before he could reload.

FBI figures obtained by Politico show that gun sales in Arizona and other states shot up by significant percentages in the aftermath of the shooting.

In Arizona, one-day gun sales went up 60% Monday, just two days after the shooting, as compared to the same Monday in 2010.

And across the country, gun sales were up 5% over last year.

High on the list? The very model of Glock pistol Loughner used in the attack, which was also used by school shooter Seung-Hui Cho in 2007 during his massacre at Virginia Tech, which killed 32 students.

Gun sales skyrocketed after that shooting as well, according to federal records.

"Whenever there is a huge event, especially when it's close to home, people do tend to run out and buy something to protect their family," Don Gallardo, a manager at Arizona Shooter’s World in Phoenix, told Bloomberg. He predicts handgun sales will continue to grow this week.

Though Wolff called the shooting "horrible," he said the coverage has also likely boosted the Glock's profile.

"It's in the news now. I'm sure the Green Bay Packers are selling all kinds of jerseys today as well," he told Bloomberg. "I just think our state embraces guns."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/01/12/2011-01-12_giffords_shooting_causes_gun_sales_to_skyrocket_in_arizona_some_buyers_looking_t.html

Top Republican Rep. Pete King to Introduce Gun-Control Legislation

January 11, 2011 2:34 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/top-republican-rep-pete-king-to-introduce-gun-control-legislation.html

ABC News’ John R. Parkinson reports:
The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Peter King, R-New York, announced today that he will introduce a bill that would ban knowingly carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of certain high-profile government officials.

[Mayor Michael Bloomberg] and I have discussed that we are introducing in the next several weeks legislation which would make it a federal crime to carry a weapon within 1,000 feet of any event which is attended by the President, the Vice President, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, Cabinet officials, including the CIA director as well as federal judges,” King announced this morning at City Hall in New York City.

The attempted murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, and the subsequent shooting that killed six people last weekend is the first notable assassination attempt of a public official that transpired into a mass shooting.

King said the legislation, which is still being written, is not only about protecting federal officials, but also about protecting the public at events with public officials.

In the United States, it is illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. Passing a similar law in the proximity of government officials would give federal, state, and local law enforcement a better chance to intercept potential gunmen before they pull the trigger, according to King.

“Right now you have situations such in Tucson, where a person is allowed to carry a weapon without a permit, and authorities have no power to even pat that person down or question them,” King said. “To me, it’s absolutely essential –not just to protect the individuals involved – not that members are a special class. The fact is they do represent the people who elect them.”

King is the first Republican to introduce gun-control legislation in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. Others, including gun control advocate Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, have also said they will introduce legislation aimed at cracking down on firearms.

“It’s essential if we’re going to be able to continue to have contact and to have conversation between the public and the elected officials, that the public who is at these meetings who is at these meetings can be assured of their own safety,” King added.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited the Virginia Tech massacre along with the Tragedy in Tucson for exposing flaws in a “broken” background check system and called on the Congress to act to fix it.

“Just as we saw after Virginia Tech, the Arizona tragedy has once again exposed fatal cracks in our background check system,” Bloomberg said. “The law says that drug abusers can't buy guns, but even though Jared Loughner was rejected by the military for drug use and arrested on drug charges, he was able to pass a background check and buy a gun. It should be clear to everyone that the system is broken and it is time for our leaders in Washington to step up and fix it.”

McCarthy, Lautenberg seek to ban high-capacity ammo magazines

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/10/5805421-mccarthy-lautenberg-seek-to-ban-high-capacity-ammo-magazines

(Updated at 3:45 p.m. Eastern to add comment from Lautenberg's and McCarthy's offices.)
By Michael Isikoff
NBC News National Investigative Correspondent

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., with the backing of gun control groups, are drafting a bill that would ban the sale of high-capacity magazines such as the one that was used allegedly Saturday by Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of murdering federal Judge John Roll and trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., according to two gun control activists working with McCarthy's staff.

Gun control proponents are hoping to move rapidly on the measure in the wake of reports that Loughner's access to high-capacity, 33-round magazines substantially increased the lethality of his attack, the activists said. An Arizona law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News on Monday that Loughner had actually gotten off at least 31 shots during the Saturday shooting, not the 20 that were first reported. He was emptying his first high-capacity magazine and was trying to reload with another high-capacity magazine (with another 30 rounds) when he was wrestled to the ground, the official said.

"In the wake of these kind of incidents, the trick is to move quickly," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, one of the gun control groups working with McCarthy's office.

McCarthy, one of the House's strongest gun control proponents, whose husband was killed in a mass shooting on the Long Island Railroad in 1993, confirmed Sunday that she was drafting a new bill in the aftermath of Tuscon .an aide said her office was consulting with other members, including House Speaker John Boehner's office, and that she hoped to have draft language as early as this week. A Lautenberg aide said Lautenberg was working on a similar version in the Senate.

"The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly. These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market," Lautenberg said. "Before 2004, these ammunition clips were banned, and they must be banned again. When the Senate returns to Washington, I will introduce legislation to prohibit this type of high-capacity clip."

Lautenberg was referring to an issue that has been highlighted in recent days by senior federal law enforcement officials: the manufacture of the kind of high-capacity magazines the suspect had with him at the Tucson shopping mall was barred under a federal assault weapons ban that was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Arizona Rampage Reignites Gun Control Debate in D.C.

By Shannon Bream

Published January 10, 2011 | FoxNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/10/arizona-rampage-reignites-gun-control-debate-dc/

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is a longtime gun owner and has often spoken out in support of broad Second Amendment rights. However, the tragic attack on Giffords that left six dead and 14 wounded is reigniting the debate over gun ownership in America.

In 2008 and 2009, Giffords signed on to briefs to the Supreme Court urging justices to overturn gun control laws that severely restricted the access of those who sought to purchase and own firearms. In both cases, the court ruled to roll back the restrictions. At the time, Giffords noted the “long tradition” of gun ownership in the United States adding, “It is a tradition which every law-abiding citizen should be able to enjoy."

Many of Giffords’ Democratic colleagues are taking a different tone, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who said Sunday, "Guns kill. And those who glamorize gunplay or worship gun ownership do no service to humanity."

On Monday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., announced that he is working with Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., on legislation that would ban the manufacture and sale of high-capacity ammunition clips like the one allegedly used by Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner.

McCarthy, who lost her husband in a 1993 mass shooting, said the ban is something that was a part of the assault weapons law that expired in 2004. She said she’s been unable to get the prohibition re-enacted because “the House and the Senate are pro-gun houses.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the original author of the assault weapons ban, said Monday that she is also “looking at all the options” and hoping to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the issue.

States have great latitude in passing their own gun laws, and Arizona is viewed as one of the most permissive. It’s a fact Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, also a Democrat, lamented on Saturday, saying, “I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want, and that's almost where we are.”

Loughner reportedly did pass a background check, as required in Arizona. There are now questions about his mental health, and whether a more thorough understanding of his possible condition might have affected his ability to purchase a weapon. At the same time, some lawmakers are pushing for action, others are urging caution.

Appearing on “FOX News Sunday,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the Tucson shooting is “probably about a very sick individual,” adding, “Weapons don’t kill people. It’s the individual that killed these people.”

Sunday, Jan 9, 2011 16:44 ET

Weapon in rampage was banned under Clinton-era law

The now-expired assault weapons ban made it illegal to make the type of magazine used in the Giffords shooting

By Justin Elliott

The high-capacity magazine of the semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and more than a dozen other people on Saturday would have been illegal to manufacture and difficult to purchase under the Clinton-era assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004.

According to police and media reports, the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, legally purchased a semiautomatic Glock 19 with a high-capacity magazine in November at a gun store in Tucson. Under the assault weapons ban, it was illegal to manufacture or sell new high-capacity magazines, defined as those that hold more than 10 rounds. The magazines used by Loughner had 31 rounds each, according to police.

If Loughner had been using a traditional magazine, "it would have drastically reduced the number of shots he got off before he had to pause, unload and reload -- and he could have been stopped," Daniel Vice, senior attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, tells Salon.

Between 1994 and 2004 when the assault weapons ban was in effect, gun manufacturers such as Glock could not market handguns with high-capacity magazines. If the ban were still in effect, it's less likely that Loughner could have obtained a gun with a high-capacity magazine. Stores could legally only sell used high-capacity magazines at that time, and new magazines could not be manufactured.

President Bush backed the ban, and an amendment to extend it passed in the Senate in 2004 but was never voted on by the House.

President Obama also supports renewal of the ban -- at least nominally. While he referenced the ban even in his Democratic nomination acceptance speech -- "don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals" -- he has not pushed Congress to act on the measure.

The only significant legislation relating to guns signed by Obama is the credit card reform bill, which contains an amendment making it legal to carry concealed weapons in national parks. The Brady Center gave Obama an "F" for his first year in a report titled "Failed Leadership, Lost Lives."

State laws are also an issue. The Brady Center's Vice says that 10 states regulate assault weapons. In California, for example, Loughner could not have legally purchased a gun with a high-capacity magazine. Arizona, though, has among the weakest gun laws in the nation.

"Even if folks had seen Loughner with the gun walking up to the congresswoman, it was perfectly legal until he started firing," Vice says.

He also notes that Glock pistols are particularly easy to fire, letting off rounds as quickly as the operator can pull the trigger. "They are very good at killing people quickly," he says.

The company describes the Glock 19 model, "the all-round talent," this way:

The GLOCK 19 is ideal for versatile use through reduced dimensions compared with the standard pistol size. With the proven caliber of 9x19, it has found worldwide distribution in security services. In addition to being used as a conventional service weapon, it is suitable for concealed carry or as a backup weapon. For instance, many of the elite pilots of the USAF for instance trust the GLOCK 19 for their efficient defense in emergency situations.

Vice says the Brady Center will now push for a renewal of the assault weapons ban and more strict background checks.

"Our gun laws are so weak that someone who couldn't get into the military, who was kicked out of school, and who used drugs walked into a gun store and was able to immediately buy a semiautomatic weapon," he says.

• Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More: Justin Elliott

NH farmer is folk hero for gun rights advocates
By LYNNE TUOHY
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 8, 2011; 3:20 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/08/AR2011010802287_pf.html
 
MOULTONBOROUGH, N.H. -- Property and gun rights advocates have made a folk hero of Ward Bird, convicted and imprisoned for brandishing a handgun at a woman who trespassed on his remote hilltop land.

Their "Free Ward Bird" campaign has ignited support among townsfolk and strangers. Libertarian and tea party websites decry his fate: at least three years in prison. Protests and vigils are tweeted on Twitter and trumpeted on Facebook pages devoted to his case. Backers raise funds with $15 Italian buffet suppers and alt-bluegrass music and dancing.

Bird, married and the father of four children, hangs his hope for freedom on a pardon by Democratic Gov. John Lynch.

"I don't need people using me as a cause," Bird told The Associated Press. "I just want to be home with my family."

But a pardon is a rarity in New Hampshire. And Lynch, who hears Bird's case Jan. 19 with a five-member Executive Council, believes pardons are warranted "only under extraordinary circumstances or a gross miscarriage of justice." The governor doesn't vote on pardons - he can only veto the council's vote to grant one.

Court records, testimony and interviews show conflicting accounts of how Bird, 49, wound up in the Carroll County Jail, reading seed catalogs and pining for fresh air and sunshine.

Christine Harris ignored numerous "No Trespassing" and "Keep Out" signs when she drove up the remote road to Bird's home the afternoon of March 27, 2006. She says she was lost, trying to find a property for sale.

Bird, who did not testify at trial, says he repeatedly asked her to leave. Harris says he ran at her from his porch, screaming profanities. She got back into her truck; he turned to go back into his home.

There was his handgun, his Sig Sauer .45-caliber pistol. She says he brandished it at her as he charged at her. He says it was tucked into his back waistband, revealed only to Harris when he removed the ammunition as he went inside.

After two trials, Bird, a farmer, was convicted of criminal threatening with a handgun - a charge that carries a mandatory minimum three-year sentence in this "Live Free or Die" state. The state Supreme Court upheld his conviction, and he was locked up Nov. 17.

Bird's case has generated outrage among lawmakers. Republican House Speaker William O'Brien last month took Lynch a petition signed by 117 state representatives. O'Brien said Bird's incarceration is a miscarriage of justice.

"Any one of us has the right to tell a stranger to leave," O'Brien said.
He said that includes showing a gun to emphasize the request. He said the law used to lock up Bird needs to be revisited.

Indeed, new legislation inspired by Bird's case would allow the display of a gun by a homeowner who feels threatened, without risking prosecution.

Harris, of Salem, N.H., testified that she saw - and disregarded - numerous "No Trespassing" and "Keep Out" signs as she drove along the road to Bird's hilltop home. She had phoned the Bird family the night before, asking if they or their relatives had property for sale. They told her they were not interested.

Harris said Bird came at her from his porch "waving his arms like a maniac" and repeatedly ordering her to get off his property during the 10-minute encounter.
"He ran - jumped off the porch and ran a few steps towards my car as I was backing out," she testified. "All I know is Mr. Bird was waiving the gun at me on the porch, running back and forth."

She said he was about 30 feet away from her "screaming at me obscenities."

Bird told the AP in a recent interview that he did not wave or point his gun at Harris.

"I asked her to leave, repeatedly," Bird said. "She refused to do so and kept asking questions I wasn't interested in answering. I ended up raising my voice and using some profanity."

Bird said that when Harris got in her truck, he turned to re-enter his house and took his handgun from his back waistband. He said he removed the weapon's ammunition before entering his house.

Bird was indicted on a reckless-conduct charge. Prosecutors added the criminal threatening charge nine months before his first trial, which ended in a mistrial.
Prosecutor Susan Boone said that between trials Bird was offered a plea deal for reckless conduct, which carried no jail time but probation - and loss of his right to possess a gun - for two years. Bird said he rejected it because he did nothing wrong. He was convicted by a jury on June 30, 2008.

Carroll County is awash with signs on snow banks and business marquees proclaiming "Free Ward Bird." Protests, vigils and caravans of cars crisscrossing the state have touted his cause.

"There has been a huge community outpouring," said local contractor Jon Tolman, a friend of the Birds. "Lots of people are contributing to trying to make this right.
Cato Institute Chairman and attorney Robert Levy, who successfully challenged the District of Columbia's handgun ban in a landmark 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, said Bird's case doesn't rise to a 2nd Amendment challenge. States can regulate what people can do with a handgun on their property, he said.

"That doesn't change the fact that it's an outrage," Levy said. "You have pardons to correct for outrageous. It would seem this would qualify."

Bird now wishes he had testified but agreed at the time with his lawyer, Mark Sisti, that it didn't seem necessary.

"The case was overwhelming at that point, we thought," Sisti said. "I was surprised the charge was brought, and I was shocked at the conviction."

Sisti said he knows of no precedent for arresting a property owner when someone is trespassing and resisting requests to leave.

Superior Court Judge Steven Houran said he regretted having to sentence Bird to the mandatory minimum. He urged the transfer of Bird to the county facility so that he might be eligible for work release after 90 days.

Bird's wife, Ginny Bird, said she is trying to keep life "normal" for their four children, ages 10 to 18. They visit Bird for one hour each week.

"It's amazing how much support we have in the community, and they feel that," she said.

A state deeply in love with its guns

Gerard Wright LOS ANGELES

January 10, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/world/a-state-deeply-in-love-with-its-guns-20110109-19jy8.html

BEAUTIFUL, vast, rugged and unforgiving, Arizona's postcard landscape is matched by the frontier mentality of many of its populace: not so much lawless, but deeply conservative, and wedded to the idea that happiness truly is a warm gun.

Its border with Mexico is porous, regularly and easily traversed. Phoenix, its largest city, has become a waypoint for drug and human trafficking.

The state has also been hit hard by the recession, which has helped make it a centre for anti-immigrant rhetoric and tough-talking Republicans like Sarah Palin, whose "Tea Party" web page included an image of gunsight crosshairs on targeted congressional seats, Gabrielle Giffords's among them, and the slogan, "Don't Retreat, Reload".

As the local Pima County sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, suggested, the gunman's actions did not spring from a vacuum.

Under laws passed last year, any state resident over 21 can carry a concealed weapon without a permit. The state has also been hit hard by the recession, which has helped make it a centre for anti-immigrant rhetoric and tough-talking Republicans like Sarah Palin, whose "Tea Party" web page included an image of gunsight crosshairs on targeted congressional seats, Gabrielle Giffords's among them, and the slogan, "Don't Retreat, Reload".

Previously, the state had an "open carry" law, allowing licensed gun owners to publicly carry their weapons. This led to a scene outside a convention centre in Phoenix in August 2009, where a dozen firearm-carrying protesters gathered, including one with a semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, as Barack Obama spoke inside.

The hostility to the President is more than symbolic. That same month, Steven Anderson, a Baptist pastor in suburban Tempe, was revealed to be leading his congregation in prayers for Mr Obama's death.

Ms Giffords's election opponent last year was the ultra-conservative Tea Party-endorsed Jesse Kelly. His campaign included an invitation to shoot an M16 assault rifle with him.

"This is a gun-happy state," said David Fitzsimmons, a Tucson cartoonist. "In this state, it has become a fetish.''