Norway massacre spurs calls for new U.S. gun laws

By Stephanie Condon

Anti-gun violence activists in the U.S. are renewing their push for new gun laws in the wake of the revelation that the alleged Norway shooter claims to have purchased high-capacity ammunition magazines from a United States retailer.

Anders Behring Breivik, the alleged lone-wolf terrorist accused of shooting and killing 68 people at a youth camp in Norway and killing eight in an Oslo bombing last week, details purchasing the ammunition in his 1,500-page manifesto.


Under the section titled, "December and January - Rifle/gun accessories purchased," Breivik wrote that he purchased 10 30-round ammunition magazines from a U.S. supplier who mailed the devices to him.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., said the detail should give new urgency to her bill to prohibit the sale and transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines.

"The easy availability of high-capacity ammo magazines in the U.S. has once again helped enable a large-scale massacre, this time with a shocking 68 people killed," McCarthy said in a statement. " How many more innocent people need to die before we realize that some simple, commonsense gun safety laws in the United States could actually save lives?"

High-capacity magazines became available for purchase in the U.S. when the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. McCarthy has repeatedly introduced legislation to bar the sales of the ammunition and re-introduced the bill this year in the wake of the Tucson shooting that killed six and injured 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
In his manifesto, Breivik talks of his attempts to legally buy weapons and writes, "I envy our European American brothers as the gun laws in Europe sucks ass in comparison."

Other anti-gun violence activists agreed that Breivik's claims strengthen the case for McCarthy's bill. "From Arizona to Norway, America's shamefully weak gun laws are costing innocent lives," Dennis Henigan, the acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement.

Kristen Rand, the legislative director for Violence Policy Center, added: "America's militarized gun industry is now in the business of exporting U.S.-style gun violence."

At his arraignment on Monday, Breivik took responsibility for the shooting and the Olso bombing but pleaded not guilty because he thinks he's in state of war, his defense lawyer Geir Lippestad said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20085056-503544.html

Report: ATF Guns Recovered At Mexican Crime Scenes

12amJuly 26, 201:02 by Carrie Johnson

Weapons traced to a failed U.S. law enforcement operation that sought to take down violent Mexican drug cartels have been recovered at more than 48 different crime scenes in Mexico, including bloody kidnappings and gun battles that left more than a dozen Mexican police and cartel members dead last May, according to a new report by Republican congressional investigators.

In one of the earliest discoveries, in 2009, authorities found more than three dozen AK-47s along the Southwest border in Sonora only one day after a straw buyer under surveillance by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had purchased the weapons at an Arizona gun shop, the report by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) said.

(Straw buyers purchase guns and fill out government paperwork stating the guns are intended for their own use; but later, those purchasers hand over the weapons to others, including criminals and drug gang members.)
  The heavy volume of U.S. weapons found across the border, many in the hands of members of the Sinaloa cartel, alarmed ATF staff members stationed in Mexico, who were allegedly "kept in the dark" about the ongoing law enforcement operation known as "Fast and Furious," the report said. When the staff members raised questions, they were allegedly told by senior officials in Arizona and Washington that "everything is under control."

But agency whistle-blowers say the operation instead was veering out of control as AK-47s, sniper rifles and .38-caliber revolvers bought in Arizona kept turning up in Mexico. Members of Congress say as many as 1,000 guns remain unaccounted for.

One agent, scheduled to testify at a House Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday in Washington, told committee investigators the operation known as "Fast and Furious" was "the perfect storm of idiocy ... nobody was thinking here." Another senior official stationed in Mexico, since retired, told investigators from Congress that he engaged in "screaming matches" with his bosses about the need to intervene and stop the flow of weapons.

Authorities shut down the operation in December 2010, only after the death of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry shortly before Christmas in a shootout with cartel members. Two weapons found near his body were later traced to a straw buyer who purchased hundreds of guns in Arizona and passed them to violent drug gangs. Terry's family has hired a lawyer to pursue a possible wrongful death claim.
William Newell, who oversaw the operation as a senior ATF official in Phoenix, is scheduled to testify Tuesday as well. His lawyer, Paul Pelletier, told NPR that "public safety was paramount" in the investigation. ATF officials had been under pressure to stop making small cases against small players — the people who buy guns — and instead to target higher-ups in the drug cartels themselves.

"They understood the best way to ensure public safety was to take out the full operation," Pelletier said. "Merely arresting straw purchasers has proven to have no effect on the flow of guns going south."

Justice Department officials in Washington have acknowledged that mistakes were made in the "Fast and Furious" operation. But they're resisting arguments by Issa that Attorney General Eric Holder may have known about the strategies at work in Arizona. Issa has signaled he will hold more hearings this summer on the case.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released their own memo before the hearing, including excerpts from a closed-door interview with ATF acting Director Ken Melson earlier this month. Melson told committee staff members he had been briefed on "Fast and Furious" a few times but he didn't know about guns crossing the border under the agency's watch until news reports in January 2011. Melson said senior officials at ATF and the Justice Department in Washington didn't develop or oversee the tactics. He and another high-ranking ATF official told the committee after reviewing investigative materials that they now believed some lower-level defendants in the case could have been charged and arrested months before the death of agent Terry.

In the meantime, Issa and Grassley say they worry the loose guns will have a deadly legacy along the Southwest border. One of the ATF agents told congressional investigators that in his opinion, large numbers of .50-caliber rifles that crossed the border "could change the outcome of a battle" between rival drug cartels and police.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/07/26/138692477/report-atf-guns-recovered-at-mexican-crime-scenes

 In Norway gun ownership is common; violence and homicide are not

The nation of about 4.9 million residents reports one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates in Europe.

July 23, 2011|By Ann Simmons | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The shooting rampage that left at least 85 dead at a youth camp near Oslo stunned Norway, a nation of about 4.9 million residents who are far less accustomed to gun violence than the U.S.

Authorities have described the 32-year-old man arrested in connection with the shootings, as well as a bombing in downtown Oslo that left at least seven others dead, as a far-right Christian fundamentalist. A chilling manifesto attributed to the suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, that was discovered Saturday contains an image of him pointing a weapon toward the camera.

Homicide -- whether gun-related or otherwise -- is rare in Norway, which reports one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates in Europe.

Photos: Norway attack
A report released last year by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services examined the role of mental illness in the actions of known perpetrators there, and also noted that in more than 80% of the killings the victims were known to the assailant.
Gun ownership in Norway is common, although strict gun regulations and limitations are in place on ammunition for certain kinds of guns.

According to GunPolicy.org, an Australian university-based website, the estimated number of guns held by civilians in Norway was 1.4 million in 2007, the most recent year for which the site has such statistics for Norway.

Citing the "Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City," published by Cambridge University Press, the website give the rate of private gun ownership in Norway as 31.32 firearms per 100 people, less than the reported rate in the U.S. of 88.82 firearms per 100 people.

Five homicides committed with a gun were reported in Norway in 2005, the latest year for which the site has data confirming firearm-related murders in the country. In comparison, the U.S., which has a population more than 50 times greater, had 10,158 gun-related murders the same year, or 2,000 times that of Norway.

A report last year by the Norwegian Broadcasting Co., or NRK, estimated that there are more than 1.5 million firearms in Norway, being used not only for hunting but also for shooting, one of Norway's most popular sports.

The Norwegian Rifle Assn. has 32,000 members in 520 clubs, according to NRK, and Norwegian athletes are perennial favorites in international biathlon competitions, which combine skiing and target shooting.

In addition to guns held legally, the NRK estimated another half a million had been smuggled into the county illegally.

The rules for having a gun at home have been tightened in recent years, with gun safes becoming mandatory, according to local Norwegian news reports, The end cap of guns must be removed before storage, and those without a gun safe must remove components of the weapon before it is stored, essentially disabling it. In addition, Norwegians have been told the vital parts of the weapon should be locked up separately.
Photos: Norway attack
ann.simmons@latimes.com
http://articles.latimes.com/print/2011/jul/23/nation/la-naw-norway-gun-policy-20110724

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NRA Beats Back Gun Control Measures

By Paul Bedard

Posted: July 21, 2011

Bracing for a wave of expected gun control measures, the National Rifle Association and supporters in Congress pushed back hard this month to derail the initial efforts. At least five antigun efforts were killed for now.

"Though none of these votes settle the respective issues," said the NRA, "all are setbacks for gun control supporters who have been encouraged by talk of the Obama administration planning to bypass Congress and implement a variety of gun control schemes under the radar."

The key vote came last week to bar a new rule that would require gun dealers in Southwest border states to report the sales of two or more semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber. The NRA also was able to stop the administration from blocking the importation of shotguns that have various features not liked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, like extended magazine tubes and adjustable stocks. Those features are typical on guns used for competition.


Also blocked in House committee was a ban on the sale of firearms to those on the FBI's terror watch list and funding to enforce the Army Corps of Engineers ban on gun possession in the 11 million acres the oversee. The NRA says that 95 percent of those on the terror watch list are already banned from buying guns and that hunters need protection on Army Corps land because there isn't adequate law enforcement on Corps land.

Here's the NRA's latest lobbying letter:

Five Big Wins for Gun Owners In House Spending Votes

This week, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved amendments blocking the use of federal funds to implement two controversial schemes by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and it rejected amendments proposing two of gun control groups' other top priorities. In addition, the full House adopted a provision protecting gun possession on Army Corps of Engineers land.

First, on Wed. July 13, by a vote of 25 to 16, the committee approved Rep. Denny Rehberg's (R-Mont.) amendment to the 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill, prohibiting the BATFE from requiring firearm dealers in states bordering Mexico to file reports on certain rifle sales. The Justice Department had announced earlier in the week that the BATFE would soon begin requiring dealers to file the reports on individuals who buy two or more detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber within a period of five business days.

"For more than a decade, efforts to track rifle purchases and create a national gun registry have failed to gain support in Congress, so the ATF is working to implement these regulations using rules written by unelected bureaucrats," Rep. Rehberg said. "I'm going to keep this government accountable to the people."

By a vote of 28-19, the committee also approved Rep. John Carter's (R-Texas) amendment to stop BATFE from prohibiting the importation of shotguns that have one or more various features disliked by the BATFE, most of which are common to firearms used for protection or sport. Such features include adjustable stocks and extended magazine tubes. Rep. Carter, like Rep. Rehberg, is a member of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, and believes that "federal gun regulations often create burdens for law-abiding citizens and infringe upon constitutional rights provided by the Second Amendment."

Anti-gun Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) was not so successful with her amendment to authorize the Attorney General to prohibit the possession of firearms by anyone whose name appears on the FBI's secretive terrorist watch list. Her proposal failed by a vote of 27-18, indicating that a majority on the committee understands the many problems with this idea. Chief among those is that 95 percent of people on the watch list are already prohibited from possessing firearms in the U.S. because they are not citizens or legal residents of the United States. In March, a similar amendment pushed by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) was rejected by the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 21-11.

Joining Lowey in defeat was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), whose amendment to gut the law that limits BATFE firearm trace data to law enforcement agencies failed by a vote of 27-20. Schiff alleged that the law—the Tiahrt Amendment, hated by gun control groups—had impeded the congressional investigation of BATFE's "Fast and Furious" debacle. However, members of Congress leading that investigation disagreed. In a letter to House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, "the Tiahrt provision has not impeded our investigation. The provision has not been cited by anyone from whom we have sought information as a reason to deny our requests."

Next, in a Thurs. July 14 voice vote on the House floor, the House adopted an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 2354—which passed the House on July 15) prohibiting expenditures to enforce the Army Corps of Engineers regulation that bans gun possession on the 11 million acres of land and water the Corps manages. he amendment, sponsored by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) will enhance self-defense rights for law-abiding Americans who hunt, camp and fish on Corps property. (Rep. Gibbs, joined by the other lawmakers, has previously sponsored H.R. 1865, the "Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act," to overturn the Corps' anti-gun rule.) Commenting on the amendment, Rep. Altmire noted, "It is important for sportsmen to be able to defend themselves while they legally hunt and fish on property that the Corps owns and operates, much of which is in rural areas without adequate law enforcement."

Though none of these votes settle the respective issues—the pro-gun amendments will still have to pass the Senate, and more anti-gun amendments are always possible—all are setbacks for gun control supporters who had been encouraged by talk of the Obama administration planning to bypass Congress and implement a variety of gun control schemes "under the radar." The Brady Campaign also hoped the rifle sales reports requirement would be followed by a new "assault weapon" ban and a law prohibiting private sales of firearms, the latter of which President Obama alluded to in March. As all of these issues move through the legislative process, we'll keep you informed of new developments; in the meantime, if your U.S. Representative voted to support gun owners' rights on these votes, please be sure to say "Thank you."

http://www.usnews.com/news/washington-whispers/articles/2011/07/21/nra-beats-back-gun-control-measures_print.html

New A.T.F Rule Put In Place To Crack Down on Multiple Gun Sales

Originally printed at http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/New-ATF-Rule-Put-In-Place-To-Crack-Down-on-Multiple-Gun-Sales-125928689.html

By KGNS News
July 20, 2011

The war on violence across the border continues. But a new rule has been put in place to stop the sale of multiple guns. Our Lauren Kendrick has the story.

To stop illegal trafficking of firearms into Mexico, gun store owners will now be required to report anyone who buys two or more semi-automatic weapons within five days.

" It's gonna stop multiple sale sales immediately until they figure out a way to get around it."

This new rule was just announced by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. One of the main members of the zetas drug cartel announced that they would get most of their guns from the U.S The A.T.F. has wanted this rule to be in place for years.

"I think it's a good idea. i mean given the location we're at, given the circumstances that we're undergoing right now. the situation in Nuevo Laredo and in Laredo. it's not just Nuevo Laredo. i definitely agree it's a good thing to do and we should respect it and go forward with it."

However, one local man feels more needs to be done to stop the violence.

"I don't think that will stop anything. weapons and stuff goes across and come back this way will never be stopped. that's my opinion cause they're not really trying."

Another man says the ones selling the guns are to blame for the guns getting to Mexico.
"If they don't punish the gun dealers then it won't have any effect because they'll continue to do it without worrying too much about the results of what's gonna happen when they get that gun into Mexico."

But local business owner of Jacaman Guns and Ammo, says the drug cartels have other ways of getting their firearms.

"They don't get them from mom and pop stores like us. they have other sources to buy multiples somebody that sells them 30,40,50 they're doing something illegal."

This new rule was recently put in place, but there's no doubt this will continue to stir up controversy on both sides.

Dirty Hairy? Maybe a chimp can shoot a gun

They blast away in new 'Planet of the Apes' movie, but experts have doubts

By Natalie Wolchover  LifesLittleMysteries.com

updated 7/19/2011 4:38:52 PM ET 2011-07-19T20:38:52

In a viral ad campaign, producers of the upcoming film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" have released a series of videos showing weapon-wielding apes. Stylized to look like documentary footage out of Africa, one video features a chimp shooting an AK-47 at a group of off-duty soldiers who had been taunting it. Another clip shows a chimp hacking a carcass to bits with a machete.

The shocking footage is most likely intended to make the premise of the new film (intelligence-enhanced apes rising up and taking control of Earth, enslaving humans in the process) frighteningly plausible. But can chimps really wield weapons?

According to experts: yes. Though the footage in the videos is staged, the chimps involved are merely "actors," and the underlying message — that apes could rebel and use the advanced weapons we've developed against us — is extremely unlikely, chimps are indeed capable of being trained to use a diverse armory of weapons.

But would the apes know what to do with an AK-47, or use one to cause intentional harm? Probably not.

Friendly fire

"I wouldn't doubt that you could train a chimp to wield a gun in the manner shown," said John Mitani, a primatologist at the University of Michigan who specializes in chimp aggression.

Likewise, Steve Ross, a chimpanzee primatologist at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, agreed that chimps are cognitively and physically capable of operating weapons, and said they even use them in the wild. "Chimpanzees have been seen to use rudimentary weapons (such as projectiles, clubs and spears), so they have the capability of understanding that a tool can be used to cause harm or do damage," Ross told Life's Little Mysteries. "Whether or not they would understand a gun is more difficult to say."

Any chimp gunplay would most likely be restricted to mimicry. Mitani believes actor chimps would likely learn to operate machine guns to please their trainers and receive rewards, but he doesn't think the apes are capable of using them to purposely do harm. "When shooting the gun, I'd be hard-pressed to think that the chimp can really understand (the consequences of) what he's doing."

That said, chimps are indeed aggressive animals, the experts explained — both toward humans and each other. But they typically stick with primitive tools of aggression. They have been observed throwing rocks at humans, but their primary weapons are their hands, feet and teeth. If push comes to shove, those are what an angry chimp is most likely to use against a human.

The real story

"Inappropriate and inaccurate portrayals of chimpanzees have a number of harmful consequences, including … animal welfare concerns that arise from their treatment both on and off the set," Ross wrote in an email. The plot of the Planet of the Apes films might also lead people to believe apes aren't endangered, he said.

Mitani echoed that concern. "Well before humans showed up on Earth, the planet was literally filled with apes. It was the planet of the apes, 20 (million) to 50 million years ago before humans came on the scene," he said. "Since then, that ape diversity has been lost to the point that we only have five different kinds."

Not only has ape diversity been lost, but there probably aren't enough apes left to overrun humans anyway.

"There's a story going on here, but it's one in which humans have taken over the planet and have driven apes nearly to the point of extinction," Mitani continued. "That's the story that needs to be told, rather than this fictitious one about how they're taking over the planet."

Mitani has worked on quite a different film about chimps, called " Chimpanzee " (to be released by Disney in 2012) that follows a young chimp as it explores its natural environment  — "a motion picture that will, with luck, show chimpanzees as they truly are," he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43813914/ns/technology_and_science-science/#

Justice Department trying to shield officials in guns scandal, ATF chief says

Kenneth Melson, the ATF's acting director, claims Justice Department officials refuse to release a telling internal report on the Fast and Furious operation.

By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
July 19, 2011
Reporting from Washington

The Justice Department is trying to protect its political appointees from the Fast and Furious scandal by concealing an internal "smoking gun" report and other documents that acknowledge the role top officials played in the program that allowed firearms to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF's acting director, also told congressional investigators this month that the affidavits prepared to obtain wiretaps used in the ill-fated operation were inconsistent with Justice Department officials' public statements about the program. Justice Department officials advised him not to raise his concerns with Congress about "institutional problems" with the Fast and Furious operation, Melson said.

"It was very frustrating to all of us," Melson told congressional investigators in a private meeting over the Fourth of July holiday, "and it appears thoroughly to us that the department is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the department."

Not only was the department slow to react, Melson said, but Justice Department officials indicated they did not want him to cooperate with Congress.

A transcript of his comments was released Monday by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Melson said he wasn't attempting to shield his agency from its share of the blame. He acknowledged an instance in which his agents failed to intercept high-powered weapons when they could have.

"The deputy attorney general's office wasn't very happy with us" at the ATF, Melson said, "because they thought this was an admission that there were mistakes made. Well, there were some mistakes made."

Justice Department officials denied they were stonewalling the congressional investigation. They said they were cooperating and had been providing thousands of pages of documents and other material to investigators.

"Any notion that the department has failed to cooperate with the investigation is simply not based in fact," said Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman. She added that the department's inspector general's office was reviewing the Fast and Furious operation.

"The department, like the committee, is interested in determining whether Operation Fast and Furious was appropriately handled," Schmaler said.

The intent of Fast and Furious was to allow illegal straw purchasers to buy guns so ATF agents could follow the weapons and ferret out gun-smuggling routes into Mexico. But many of the approximately 1,700 weapons eluded tracing — some even before they were shipped over the border.

Nearly 200 of the weapons were later found at crime scenes in Mexico, and two were recovered at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent's slaying in Arizona in December.

Melson said the Justice Department repeatedly thwarted his attempts to tell investigators about the failures of Fast and Furious, which was run out of the ATF's Phoenix field office. When the ATF reassigned managers in Phoenix, he said, "the department resisted" his offer to tell Congress about the changes. Melson said he was told not to issue any news releases about Fast and Furious and was instructed not to brief rank-and-file ATF agents about the growing scandal.

When Grassley sought to meet with Melson this year, the Justice Department blocked that interview too, Melson said. "This is really just poking [Grassley] in the eye," Melson said he told Justice Department officials. "He's going to get it through the back door anyway, so why are we aggravating this situation?"

Melson said he felt "very torn" when he learned after the operation went awry that some of the Mexican drug cartel leaders targeted in the program were paid informants for the FBI.

"Let me say that I am frustrated and disappointed in the way the whole thing has been handled, unfortunately," he said.

richard.serrano@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-guns-scandal-20110719,0,1205155,print.story