More articles on ammo and gun control

Biden calls on faith leaders to rally in favor of gun control Vice President Joe Biden called for national faith leaders to rally their faithful in the nation's debate regarding gun control in order to reduce gun violence. Among the 12 leaders who met with Biden in a White House meeting Wednesday was the Rev. Michael McBride, director of Lifelines to Healing, a faith-based effort to reduce gun violence in inner cities. He said the meeting was very constructive. McBride said Biden shared some thoughts on the White House's proposal to curb gun violence, which includes universal background checks and bans on assault weapons with a possible ammunition component. Biden also expressed the need for faith leaders to appeal to all Americans to eventually pass legislation that will meet that goal. McBride said he looked forward to "working with Vice President Biden, the Obama administration and Congress to find the comprehensive solution that keeps all of our children and neighbors safe from gun violence."

Biden Looks to 'Smart Guns' as White House Moves to Curb Firearms Capping three days of meetings on ways to stem gun violence in light of the Connecticut shootings last month, Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday he was interested in technology that would keep a gun from being fired by anyone other than the person who bought it. Technology for so-called "smart guns" is being developed, although, so far there has been little demand for it. Various techniques such as fingerprint recognition or the wearing of a magnetic ring would prevent anyone other than a weapon's registered owner from firing it.

Harvard doctors call for massive federal tax ‘on all firearms and ammunition’ A trio of public health doctors from Harvard University argued Monday that the federal government should institute “a new, substantial national tax on all firearms and ammunition” to pay for programs that “reduce gun violence.”  They wrote that the practice of periodic government safety inspections of automobiles should be expanded to include firearms, “including documentation of home storage and safety measures.” And they compared the enforcement of speed limits on roadways to now-common proposals to restrict the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines that can hold dozens of rounds of ammunition. Drs. Dariush Mozaffarian, David Hemenway and David Ludwig wrote that public health crusades against cigarette smoking, accidental poisonings and unsafe driving should be the new models for responding to gun violence like the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The commentary was published online Monday afternoon by JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association.

NY Guv Vows to ‘Enact the Toughest Assault Weapon Ban in the Nation, Period!’One of the most hotly anticipated elements of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s annual State of the State address today was his plan to enact “sweeping” gun control reforms in New York. In his speech, the governor outlined a seven-point gun control plan focused on “high-capacity assault rifles” that he promised would be one of the “toughest” in the nation and lead similar laws to spread beyond New York.

Gun permit suspended after YouTube video Tennessee has suspended the handgun carry permit of a firearms trainer who said he'd "be glad to fire the first shot" in a civil war over gun control. James Yeager, chief executive officer of Tactical Response in Camden, Tenn., said in a video posted Wednesday, "Vice President Biden is asking the president to bypass Congress and use executive privilege -- executive order -- to ban assault rifles ... to impose stricter gun control. "I'm telling you that if that happens it's going to spark a civil war and I'll be glad to fire the first shot," he said. "I'm not putting up with it. You shouldn't put up with it. And I need all you patriots to start thinking about what you're going to do. Load your dam mags, make sure your rifle is clean, pack a backpack with some food in it and get ready to fight." The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said Friday it has suspended Yeager's handgun carry permit based on "material likelihood of risk of harm to the public," WTVF-TV, Nashville, reported.

Opposition to Gun Control Grounded in Post-Civil War Paranoia, Expert Says “The debate about gun control in this country is not related to American Revolutionary thought, as gun control opponents often claim,” she says, “but is grounded in the paranoia experienced by whites over the loss of slaves and their own political domination, a state of mind that arose after the Civil War,” says Carole Emberton, PhD, assistant professor of American history at the University at Buffalo. “The demand for little or no restriction on gun ownership,” she says, “is related to disillusionment with and fear of the federal government and non-white ‘others,’ which developed in the Reconstruction South, as well as the West and in the country’s growing urban centers.” “In 1865, 4.5 million slaves were freed. Whites feared, that the recently-freed slaves would retaliate against them,” says Emberton.

State Rep's bill would limit guns to a single round A Connecticut politician has introduced a bill that drops all pretenses of wanting to establish a conversation on "reasonable" and "common sense" measures to address violence involving misuse of firearms, a state gun rights group informed Gun Rights Examiner this afternoon. Democrat State Senator Edward Meyer has introduced Proposed Bill No. 122, “An Act Concerning Restrictions on Gun Use” in the January session. Meyer wants that to happen by amending the general statutes “to establish a class C felony offense, except for certain military and law enforcement personnel and certain gun clubs, for (1) any person or organization to purchase, sell, donate, transport, possess or use any gun except one made to fire a single round, (2) any person to fire a gun containing more than a single round, (3) any person or organization to receive from another state, territory or country a gun made to fire multiple rounds, or (4) any person or organization to purchase, sell, donate or possess a magazine or clip capable of holding more than one round.”

Gun Control Controversy Rages After Another School Shooting As President Obama’s anti-gun violence task force was meeting Thursday with the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups, there was another school shooting. Students at Taft Union High say the teenage suspect arrested for the shooting had been bullied by other students, and may have had a hit list.

Gun Manufacturer Claims Bank of America Withheld Money Over Online Sales In the wake of December's Sandy Hook school shootings, the debate over America's firearms policy has come to a full boil, marked by increasingly heated arguments from lobbyists, legislators, gun owners and gun control activists. According to a gun manufacturing firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., it has even caused one of the country's biggest banks to take matters -- and the law -- into its own hands. In late December, Joe Sirochman, president of American Spirit Arms, took to the Internet, claiming that Bank of America illegally withheld his company's funds because of the nature of its business. On his company's Facebook feed, Sirochman wrote that the bank put holds on payments for guns it sold through his e-commerce site. When he called to investigate why the deposits were being delayed, he alleges, he was eventually told by by a bank representative: "We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet." Citing client confidentiality concerns, Bank of America refused to discuss Sirochman's specific case on the record.