Movement Roundup

SACRAMENTO — Enforce the laws already on the books. Take away the criminals' weapons, not the law-abiding citizens'. Sound familiar? It's the mantra of the gun lobby. That is, until the government actually attempts to do it. Then the lobby changes its lyrics. It seemed surreal listening to lobbyists for gun rights groups Monday, as if the ears were playing tricks. They testified at a state Senate Budget Committee hearing in opposition to legislation that would spend... [Los Angeles Times, via GunPolicy.org]

Some of the gun lobby's strongest allies are breaking with the National Rifle Association to support proposals that would expand background checks for private firearm sales. In behind-the-scenes talks with congressional staff members and others, gunmakers, dealers and other Second Amendment advocates have offered support for more instant criminal background checks, buoying the hopes of gun-control supporters, including President Obama, who has put a top priority on... [Washington Post, via GunPolicy.org]

METHOD Importance - Over 30 000 people die annually in the United States from injuries caused by firearms. Although most firearm laws are enacted by states, whether the laws are associated with rates of firearm deaths is uncertain. Objective - To evaluate whether more firearm laws in a state are associated with fewer firearm fatalities. Design - Using an ecological and cross-sectional method, we retrospectively analyzed all firearm-related deaths reported to the... [Journal of the American Medical Association, via GunPolicy.org]

The United States has belatedly awakened to the knowledge that it is, in effect, under armed attack. More than 30 000 people are purposely shot to death each year — more than 300 000 since the World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001. Rates of firearm-related violent crime have increased 26% since 2008. Physicians have joined others in demanding a strong response to this crisis. We look to scientific research to provide the evidence on which that response should be... [JAMA Internal Medicine, via GunPolicy.org]

A Republican senator introduced bipartisan gun background check legislation on Wednesday that would make it harder for mentally ill people who are considered to be dangerous to buy a firearm. The legislation proposed by Lindsey Graham would require reporting of certain mental illness treatments and legal proceedings to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the clearinghouse for all new gun purchases. Those cases would include anyone found not guilty... [Reuters, via GunPolicy.org]

WASHINGTON - As the images of 20 first-graders massacred in Connecticut, of the horrific attack on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona, of the slaughter of movie-goers in Aurora, Colo., and of numerous other mass killings in the United States fade in the national memory, the fervor to restrict access to some types of weapons and magazines appears to be abating. The debate on gun control itself has largely been subsumed in recent weeks by concern over... [United Press International, via GunPolicy.org]

As the gun debate around automatic rifles continues in the United States, one company has decided to combat possible legislation by designing a gun that can be made at home. The design uses 3D printers and is being made available online for free. Anti-gun advocates are worried about the future of gun... [BBC News, Video, via GunPolicy.org]

Dr. William Begg wiped away tears as he pleaded with Congress on Wednesday to help rescind laws that limit medical research into gun deaths and that restrict doctors from asking patients about guns in their homes. Begg's testimony highlighted a growing battle between some doctors and some gun advocates over whether federal health dollars should be spent on research into gun violence, and on whether doctors should counsel their patients about gun safety. Medical groups... [NBC News (USA), via GunPolicy.org]

Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars... [Reuters, via GunPolicy.org]

ATLANTA - A growing number of firearms firms in the United States are vowing to reverse-boycott local and state governments that enact any new infringements on the Second Amendment. Vowing to close what they're calling "the police loophole," at least 50 US companies, ranging from gun machinists to gun shops, are now saying publicly they'll refuse to sell weapons and gear to police in places where governments have banned the use of the same gear by civilians. Quality... [Christian Science Monitor, via GunPolicy.org]