Movement Roundup

First time firing a gun? There's help at hand – a new "self-aiming" rifle can help even a novice hit the target at long range on the first go. But the technology has its critics, who see it as a serious threat to public safety. Just weeks after the firing of the world's first 3D printed handgun, a smart rifle that allows the user to accurately hit targets up to 900 metres away has gone on sale in the US. Made by TrackingPoint, a start-up based in Austin, Texas, the... [New Scientist, via GunPolicy.org]

British arms dealer Gary Hyde has admitted helping smuggle illegal AK-47 magazines into the United States for sale by a Chili-based firearms wholesaler, federal court records show. Hyde signed a plea agreement in late April but it was not filed until this week, records show. Hyde admitted that he had helped alter the markings on the 5,760 magazines so their country of origin — China — would not be known. In the U.S., there is a federal ban on the importation of... [Democrat and Chronicle (USA), via GunPolicy.org]

Even though I grew up in New England, there was something novel about seeing an Icelandic blizzard. It was paralysing, with epic wind gusts that made snowflakes feel like razors. As I dragged my bags along Reykjavik's snowy pavement, an older man in a Jeep pulled alongside me. "You want to get in?" he asked. It sounded crazy. Why would I ever get in a stranger's car? Despite everything I was taught about riding in cars with strangers, I climbed in the backseat. And... [BBC News, via GunPolicy.org]

The story so far: Cody Wilson, who describes himself as a "crypto-anarchist" and almost certainly wears a Second Amendment belt-buckle, had a bright idea early last year. No government could ever oppress its people again, reasoned the 25-year-old law student at the University of Texas, if everybody in the world was able to manufacture their own guns at home. Well, not everybody in the world, exactly, but at least everybody with $8,000 to buy a 3D printer on eBay, or... [Red Deer Advocate (Alberta), Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

They were dancing in the street to celebrate Mother's Day in New Orleans when the bullets started whipping through the crowd. Shermaine Tyler, a 32-year-old woman, was with her mother heading towards a parade following a band when a man shot in the hand and groin tumbled into her lap. "This is all ridiculous. We all bleed the same blood. We all come from the same God," Tyler told The Times-Picayune. "Everyone is getting shot, and for what?" By the time the gunfire... [Sydney Morning Herald, Opinion, via GunPolicy.org]

After Specialist Freddy Hook, a medic with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, killed himself in 2010, the trail of possible causes seemed long. He had used illegal drugs: Was it the demons of addiction? His rocky relationship with his fiancée? A wrenching deployment to earthquake-ravaged Haiti or the prospect of an impending tour in Afghanistan? As with most of suicides plaguing the military today, no one will know for sure. "There are so many factors," said his... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

HOUSTON — A man with ties to the Caribbean has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sending guns bought in Texas to the U.S. Virgin Islands. A federal judge in Houston on Wednesday sentenced 22-year-old Tyrone Reid. Investigators say Reid is a citizen of Dominica who's been living in Houston. A jury in February convicted Reid of a conspiracy-related firearms count and two charges of making false statements to a firearms dealer. Prosecutors say Reid was... [CBS News (USA) / Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]

To pediatricians, gun control is a public health issue, not a political one. But they're treading a fine line, and they know it. The American Academy of Pediatrics has begun a renewed push to try to get Congress to pass gun control measures, sending more than 100 pediatricians to Capitol Hill earlier this month. But others who have taken on the issue over the past decade have a warning for them: they can run afoul of the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun... [NBC News (USA), via GunPolicy.org]

Nineteen people have been wounded in a shooting at a Mother's Day parade in the US city of New Orleans, police say. The victims included two children who were grazed by bullets. Police say most injuries are not life-threatening, It is unclear what sparked the shooting in the city's 7th Ward on Sunday afternoon. Police say three suspects were seen fleeing the area. The incident happened at about 14:00 (19:00 GMT) at the intersection of Frenchmen and Villere... [BBC News, via GunPolicy.org]

HOUSTON - Gun-control legislation fell short last month in a close Senate vote, but some spy flickers of hope in the "world's greatest deliberative body". However, the sense of urgency that followed the Newtown massacre has definitely faded, and new studies from the Department of Justice and the Pew Research Center showing an astonishing drop in gun violence over the past two decades seem to call into question the need for new, stricter regulations. Americans have been... [Economist, Blog, via GunPolicy.org]