Category Archives: US gun control

Michigan school shooter’s mother on trial for manslaughter in student deaths

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Prosecutors say parents made gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley and ignored his mental health needs

Jury selection began on Tuesday in the trial of the mother of a teenager who carried out a deadly mass shooting at his school on involuntary manslaughter charges in an unusual effort to pin criminal responsibility on the shooter’s parents for the deaths of four students.

Jennifer and James Crumbley are not accused of knowing their son planned to kill fellow students at Oxford high school in 2021. But prosecutors said they made a gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley, ignored his mental health needs and declined to take him home when confronted with his violent drawings at school on the day of the attack.

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‘Personal piggy bank’: ex-NRA chief accused as civil corruption trial begins

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Trial under way in New York despite Wayne LaPierre announcing on Friday that he is stepping down as lobby group’s chief executive

A civil trial that will lift the lid on decades of alleged financial mismanagement and corruption by senior officials of the National Rifle Association (NRA) got under way in New York on Monday, with opening statements expected later in the day.

The case against the gun rights group’s former chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other executives is progressing despite LaPierre’s resignation on Friday, and a pre-trial settlement by another of the four defendants, former chief of staff Joshua Powell.

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Former NRA chief of staff admits wrongdoing before corruption trial

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Joshua Powell, one of five defendants in lawsuit including former CEO Wayne LaPierre, has agreed to pay $100,000

A former chief of staff to Wayne LaPierre – who resigned as the National Rifle Association’s chief executive on Friday – has agreed to a $100,000 settlement in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general’s office.

As part of the settlement announced on Saturday, Joshua Powell – one of five defendants in the lawsuit against the NRA, a gun-rights organization – admitted to wrongdoing in failing to fulfill his fiduciary responsibilities and misusing charitable funds.

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Sandy Hook parents press gunmakers to stop marketing weapons of war to kids

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Families of children killed in massacre call out manufacturers’ push to sell weapons to adolescents

Parents of children massacred in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting are stepping up their anti-gun violence campaign by exposing how the firearms industry is marketing weapons of war specifically to vulnerable adolescents.

In a fresh stage in their battle to staunch the rising loss of life from mass shootings, Sandy Hook parents are pressuring gun manufacturers to stop what they say is a cynical and aggressive effort to sell military-style weapons to young and impressionable Americans. They are alarmed by a shift in tone in gun advertising in which, they say, major companies have consciously decided to boost profits by targeting kids as young as 10.

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New gun safety laws take effect around US after over 650 mass shootings in 2023

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California, Illinois and Colorado among states implementing ‘red flag’ laws after US ends 2023 with more mass shootings than days

New gun safety laws are taking effect in several states around the US on 1 January after the country ended 2023 with more mass shootings than days.

States including California, Illinois and Colorado are starting the year by implementing extreme risk protection orders, more commonly referred to as “red flag” laws, as a means to prevent further gun violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 655 mass shootings in the US in 2023.

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Kentucky mass shooter detailed mental health issues and ease of gun purchase

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Gunman who killed five in April wrote in journal how ‘ridiculous’ it was to buy a gun while having mental health problems

The man who fatally shot five co-workers at a Louisville bank in April wrote in his journal that he wasn’t sure if his mental health struggles would preclude him from purchasing a gun. Later, after acquiring a gun just days before carrying out the mass shooting, he remarked that buying it was “so easy” , calling the transaction “ridiculous”.

The journal writings by Connor Sturgeon were contained in a 64-page report released on Tuesday by Louisville police, in which authorities say they have now closed the investigation into the actions of the 25-year-old who also died that day after being shot by police .

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As the NRA fades, a more zealous US pro-gun group rises as a lobbying power

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Gun Owners of America, formed in belief NRA was ‘too liberal’, spent $3.3m lobbying against gun control and boasts 2m members

A zealous gun rights group, even more uncompromising than the once formidable National Rifle Association, is emerging as a force in US politics with a mission to oppose efforts at gun control and ease further America’s already lax regulations on firearms.

Last year the Gun Owners of America (GOA) spent $3.3m on lobbying, a record sum for the hardline foe of gun control that now claims over 2 million members and activists, and has previously operated in the shadows of the larger NRA.

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Virginia teacher shot by six-year-old can go ahead with $40m lawsuit, judge rules

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Abby Zwerner was hospitalized for two weeks after the January shooting and is suing school administrators for negligence

A teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in Virginia can press forward with her $40m lawsuit against a school system over claims of negligence by school administrators, a judge ruled Friday.

The surprise decision by the Newport News circuit court judge Matthew Hoffman means that Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers’ compensation for the serious injuries caused by January’s classroom shooting.

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Maine gunman’s family alerted sheriff five months before shootings

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Concern over Robert Card’s mental health dated back to last summer after a training facility episode sparked an evaluation

Five months before the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the New England state of Maine, the gunman’s family alerted the local sheriff that they were becoming concerned about his deteriorating mental health while he had access to firearms, according to authorities.

After the alert, the Sagadohoc county sheriff’s office reached out to officials of Robert Card’s army reserve unit, which assured deputies that they would speak to Card and make sure he got medical attention, sheriff Joel Merry said.

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California doubles taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for school security

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Gavin Newsom, the governor, signed a law that adds an 11% state fee to the existing federal taxes for arms sales

California will double the taxes on guns and ammunition and use the money to pay for more security at public schools and various violence prevention programs under a new law Gavin Newsom, the governor, signed on Tuesday.

The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition at either 10% or 11%, depending on the type of gun. The law Newsom signed adds another 11% tax on top of that – making it the only state with its own tax on guns and ammunition, according to the gun control advocacy group Brady.

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‘It will save lives’: Biden and Harris launch federal gun control prevention office

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Vice-president to lead office tasked with coordinating mental and physical health services and exploring executive actions

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris announced Friday the creation of a first-of-its-kind federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention, aimed at reducing the US’s epidemic of gun violence, which claimed the lives of more than 48,000 people last year.

“None of these steps alone is going to solve the entirety of the gun violence epidemic,” Biden said during a White House event. “But together they will save lives and it’s going to help rally the nation to a sense of urgency and seriousness and purpose.”

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Biden and Harris unveil first federal gun violence prevention office, citing 100 people shot and killed daily – live

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US president urges action as Kamala Harris says one in five Americans have lost family member to gun violence

Faced with the House stalemate over a government stopgap funding bill, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday set up a path for the Senate to move first on a bill to fund the government beyond 30 September.

Senate aides told the Hill the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill could serve as a legislative vehicle to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for a few weeks – but that it will likely not include money for the war in Ukraine or disaster relief.

This is painful. It gives me a headache. This is a very difficult series of missteps by our conference. If you can’t do [the defense bill], what can you do?

At this point, it seems like there are some people playing policy warfare, and I think we need to move our country forward.

For my colleagues, they have to come to a realization: If they are unable or unwilling to govern, others will. And in a divided government where you have Democrats controlling the Senate, a Democrat controlling the White House, there needs to be a realization that you’re not going to get everything you want.

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New Mexico judge blocks suspension of right to carry guns in public

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Setback for Governor Lujan Grisham as judge sides with advocates for gun rights even after recent shootings took lives of children

A federal judge has blocked part of a public health order that suspended the right to carry guns in public across Albuquerque, New Mexico, the state’s largest metro area, as criticism mounted over the actions taken by the governor and political divides widened.

The ruling Wednesday by US district judge David Urias marks a setback for Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Democratic governor, as she responds to several recent shootings that took the lives of children, including an 11-year-old boy as he left a minor league baseball game in Albuquerque.

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Revealed: far-right venture capitalist has contracts with US for ammunition

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Nathaniel Fischer co-owns ammunition company that has contracts with federal government totaling $78,678

A far-right figure who is involved in a secretive invitation-only fraternal organization, whose founder has spoken of being at war with the US government, is also part-owner of an ammunition company that has contracts with the federal government and law enforcement, the Guardian can reveal.

Nathaniel Fischer – a venture capitalist, former Claremont Institute fellow and president of the Dallas lodge of the secretive Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR) – is also part-owner of Texas-based ammunition manufacturer S1 Armory, which trades as Stand 1 Armory.

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Gun rights group sues New Mexico governor over emergency firearm ban

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Michelle Lujan Grisham announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday after the deaths of three children

A pro-gun group is suing the New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, in an effort to block a 30-day emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque’s Bernalillo county issued last week after a spate of shootings.

The governor announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday in a public health order relating to gun violence after the fatal shootings of an 11-year-old boy on his way home from a minor league baseball game last week, as well as the fatal shooting of a four-year-old girl in her bed in a motor home and a 13-year-old girl in Taos county in August.

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New Mexico officials call for governor’s impeachment after firearms restriction

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Democratic governor’s emergency order restricts carrying firearms for at least 30 days amid spate of gun violence

New Mexico state representatives Stefani Lord and John Block are calling for the impeachment of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham after Grisham issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.

The governor on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days amid a spate of gun violence.

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‘Even more insidious than the NRA’: US gun lobby group gains in power

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The National Shooting Sports Foundation has been aggressively pushing gun manufacturers’ interests, and is starting to eclipse its bigger rival

A business trade group representing 10,000 gunmakers, dealers and other firearm firms is emerging as a rising force in the US and starting to eclipse – in some respects – the might of the powerful but scandal-plagued National Rifle Association.

Meet the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry’s conservative and aggressive lobbying group. Its range of activities are broad but always geared to zealously and single-mindedly preserving and extending the power of the gun industry.

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Five wounded, two critically, in Seattle parking lot shooting

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Shooting on Friday night, in lot near where community event was taking place, the 413th US mass shooting this year

The latest mass shooting in the US left five people wounded in a Seattle parking lot Friday night, including two who were in critical condition, the city’s police chief said.

Seattle police responded to the shooting about 9pm on Rainier Avenue South in the parking lot of what was formerly known as King Donuts, and a community event was occurring nearby, the city’s police chief, Adrian Diaz, said at the scene.

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White House calls on Republicans to act on gun control after Fourth of July weekend killings – as it happened

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White House press secretary urges Republicans to act to protect US communities after latest spate of gun violence

The Washington Post reports that the cocaine discovered at the White House was found on the ground floor in an area where visitors leave their cellphones.

White House employees can give tours of the building, usually on evenings and weekends, and part of the security protocol involves having visitors leave their cellphones in a locked box. As the for the cocaine, the Post adds that “Authorities are trying to find the person who left it at the White House.”

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At least 38 people shot, including two fatally, at weekend in US

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There have been more than 305 mass shootings in the US so far this year as of Sunday morning

At least 38 people were shot – including two fatally – in three different mass shootings reported Saturday and Sunday in separate parts of the US, according to officials.

One minor was killed and nine others were wounded in a shooting in a building in downtown St Louis, Missouri, about 1.45am Sunday, the local television station KMOV reported. The name of the slain victim wasn’t immediately available, and information on the conditions of the wounded wasn’t released right away either.

Associated Press contributed reporting

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