Gun Control

Ghost guns: All about weapon found with UnitedHealth CEO's murder suspect

Ghost guns have no serial numbers. Owners of such guns, by making them themselves, can bypass background checks and regulations

Actor Govinda injured after revolver misfire accident, out of danger

Actor Govinda was injured in the leg on Tuesday after his revolver accidentally went off at his Mumbai residence when he was about to leave for the airport, police said. The 60-year-old actor is out of danger and recuperating at a private hospital, a Mumbai police official said. Govinda, a favourite with audiences for his impeccable comic timing and dancing skills, later issued a statement informing his fans he is doing better. "With the blessings of my fans, my parents and god, I am doing better now. I was hit by a bullet, which has now been removed. "I thank the doctor here, Dr Agarwal ji. I thank all of you for your prayers," the "Hero No 1" actor and a member of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena said in the audio message. The accident happened around 4.45 am when he was about to leave home to catch a 6 am flight to Kolkata for a show, according to his manager Shashi Sinha. The trigger of the licensed revolver got pushed accidentally while the actor was keeping it in the cupboard

Trump assassination bid: Where is ex-US prez now; FBI on shooter's motive

Donald Trump assassination attempt: Trump suffered an injury in his right ear following a failed assassination attempt on the former US president by a 20-year-old shooter identified as Thomas Crooks

Firing at Salman Khan's residence: Mumbai Police registers new case

The Mumbai Police have registered a new case in connection with firing outside actor Salman Khan's residence here in April and arrested one person from Rajasthan on charges of criminal intimidation, an official said on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Banwarilal Laturlal Gujar (25), hailing from Bundi in Rajasthan, the crime branch official said. Gurjar had allegedly uploaded a video on his YouTube channel in which he said "Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and other gang members are with me and I am going to kill Salman Khan as he did not apologise yet", the official said. The accused made the video on a highway in Rajasthan and uploaded it on his channel. Considering the seriousness of the case, a team was sent to Rajasthan for an investigation and it apprehended the accused, the official said, adding the case has been registered at a cyber police station in Mumbai. "We are checking if accused Gujar having any previous criminal background. He has been arrested under relevan

YouTube toughens policy on gun videos in attempt to safeguard youth

YouTube is changing its policies about firearm videos in an effort to keep potentially dangerous content from reaching underage users. The video sharing platform owned by Google said Wednesday it will prohibit any videos demonstrating how to remove firearm safety devices. In addition, videos showing homemade guns, automatic weapons and certain firearm accessories like silencers will be restricted to users 18 and older. The changes take effect June 18 and come after gun safety advocates have repeatedly called on the platform to do more to ensure gun videos aren't making their way to the site's youngest users, potentially traumatising children or sending them down dark paths of extremism and violence. Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, said the change was welcome news and a step in the right direction. But she questioned why the platform took so long to issue a new policy, and said her group will look to see how effectively YouTube enforces its new rule. Firearms

Judge rejects Hunter Biden's bid to delay June trial on federal gun charges

Hunter Biden's federal gun case will go to trial next month, a judge said Tuesday, denying a bid by lawyers for the president's son to delay the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected Hunter Biden's request to push the trial until September, which the defense said was necessary to give the defense time to line up witnesses and go through evidence handed over by prosecutors. President Joe Biden's son is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. Hunter Biden, who has pleaded not guilty, has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period in 2018, but his lawyers have said he didn't break the law. His attorneys have argued that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans, who claimed the Democratic president's son was initially given a sweetheart deal, and that he was indicted because of political pressure. But the judge overseeing the case last month rejected his clai

At least 3 shot as gunfire erupts at Philadelphia Eid event, says police

At least three people were shot and injured Wednesday at an Eid al-Fitr event in Philadelphia, police said. The shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m., when police at the scene heard about 30 gun shots, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a news conference. Two groups of people started firing at each other, and people began fleeing the scene, he said. Officers took into custody four males and a female, and four weapons were recovered at the scene, Bethel said. One suspect, a 15-year-old boy who police said had a gun, was shot by police and sustained wounds to his shoulder and leg. A man also was shot in the stomach, and another juvenile had a wound to his hand. No one was killed, police said. It was not immediately clear what caused the shooting. Dozens of police officers responded to the shooting in the city's Parkside section. The shooting happened in an area where residents were celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Gunmen in Ecuador kill 8, injure 8 others in attack on Guayaquil city

Armed gunmen attacked a group of people in Ecuador 's coastal city of Guayaquil killing eight people and injuring eight others, the Interior Ministry said, the latest in a string of violent incidents in the South American country. At around 7 pm local time on Saturday, armed men arrived in a vehicle in the southern neighbourhood of Guasmo, witnesses said. They shot at a group of people, killing two of them. Six others later died in a health center due to the seriousness of the wounds, the ministry told journalists. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the second mass killing in as many days. On Friday, five people who had been kidnapped were killed execution style in the coastal province of Manabi by an armed gang. Police said there were signs the victims were tourists mistakenly caught up in a local drug-trafficking dispute. They didn't elaborate. In that incident, an armed group had kidnapped a total of 11 people. Police said the other six, including

NYC to try gun scanners in subway system to deter violence underground

New York City officials announced a pilot program on Thursday to deploy portable gun scanners in the subway system, part of an effort to deter violence underground and to make the system feel safer. The scanners will be introduced in certain stations after a legally mandated 90-day waiting period, Mayor Eric Adams said. Keeping New Yorkers safe on the subway and maintaining confidence in the system is key to ensuring that New York remains the safest big city in America, said Adams, who also announced a plan to send additional outreach workers into subway stations to try to get people with mental health issues who are living in the system into treatment. Adams said officials would work to identify companies with expertise in weapons detection technology and that after the waiting period the scanners would be instituted in some subway stations "where the NYPD will be able to further evaluate the equipment's effectiveness. The scanner that Adams and police officials introduced during

17-year-old kills sixth-grader, wounds 5 in Iowa school shooting: US Police

A 17-year-old opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school on the first day of school after the winter break, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others as students barricaded in offices and fled in panic. The suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at least one of the victims is a school administrator, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorised to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity. Perry has about 8,000 residents and is about 40 miles (64 kilometres) northwest of Des Moines, on the edge of the state capital's metropolitan area. It is home to a large pork-processing plant, and low-slung, single-story homes spread among trees now shorn of their leaves by winter. The high school and middle school are connected, sitting on the east edge of the town. High school senior Ava Augustus said she was in a ...

Czech holds national day of mourning for victims of its worst mass killing

National flags on public buildings were at half-staff and people across the Czech Republic are set to observe a minute of silence as the country holds a day of national mourning on Saturday to honor the victims of the worst mass killing in Czech history. The shooting inside a university building at the heart of the Czech capital on Thursday left 14 dead and dozens injured. Police and prosecutors said they have evidence the 24-year-old shooter also killed his father earlier in the day and a man and a baby in Prague last week. Bells will toll at churches at noon and a Mass at St. Vitus cathedral in Prague, the biggest in the country, will be celebrated for the victims. President Petr Pavel is scheduled to attend the service that is open to everyone. Similar religious services will be held in other cities and towns, while Christmas markets in a number of places were closed or reduced their programs amid boosted security measures. Authorities said that 13 people died at the scene in t

New Mexico guv suspends right to carry guns in public; legal fight expected

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque will spur a legal fight but might also raise public awareness about gun violence, legal scholars and advocates said. "It's going to be challenged. But she's trying to move the debate," Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount's Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said after Lujan Grisham announced Friday that she was temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in her state's largest city and surrounding Bernalillo County. The 30-day suspension, enacted as an emergency public health measure, applies in most public places, from city sidewalks to urban recreational parks. "No person, other than a law enforcement officer or licensed security officer, shall possess a firearm... either openly or concealed, the governor's order states. Politically, a lot of people will react favourably," Levinson predicted during a telephone interview late .

US proposes rule to mandate background checks for more firearms dealers

The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would require thousands more firearms dealers to run background checks, in an effort to combat rising gun violence nationwide. The proposal comes after a mandate from President Joe Biden to find ways to strengthen background checks following the passage of bipartisan legislation on guns last year. People who sell firearms online or at gun shows would be required to be licensed and run background checks on the buyers before the sales under the rule proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The bureau estimates that the rule would affect anywhere from 24,500 to 328,000 sellers. It is aimed at those who are in the business of gun sales, rather than those dealing with their personal collections. Background checks help prevent guns from being sold to people convicted of crimes, teenagers and others who are legally blocked from owning them, said the agency's director, Steve Dettelbach. Federally licensed firearm

Miscreants open fire outside restaurant in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, none harmed

Unidentified miscreants opened fire outside a restaurant at Bhagwanpur Rewa Road area in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, police said on Sunday. No one was injured in the incident, they said. Four persons on motorcycles reportedly fired several rounds late on Saturday when a birthday party was being held at the restaurant, police said. We are are analysing the CCTV footage and will soon nab the accused. Prima facie, it appears that the firing was meant to scare people inside the restaurant, SP, City (Muzaffarpur), Arvind Pratap Singh told reporters. Further investigation is underway, he added.

Not targeting law-abiding owners: Canada proposes ban on assault firearms

The Canadian government is proposing a ban on assault-style firearms that would apply once legislation now before Parliament comes into force. Under the scheme announced Monday, the government would make regulations through the Firearms Act to ensure that guns are classified correctly before entering the Canadian market. I want to make it clear that our government is not targeting hunters and law-abiding gun owners, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a news conference. What we're doing is protecting families, protecting our children, protection our communities. The government also plans to recreate a firearms advisory committee that will make recommendations on the classification of guns now on the market. Mendicino said the committee will include rural and northern residents, Indigenous people, industry leaders, law enforcement and gun control advocates. Guided by the committee's recommendation we will increase the classifications of firearms for ban, he said. This commi

Semi-automatic rifle ban passes Washington Legislature, awaiting Guv's nod

A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles cleared the Washington state Legislature on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The high-powered firearms once banned nationwide are now the weapon of choice among young men responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings. The ban comes after multiple failed attempts in the Legislature and in a year that has seen the most mass shootings during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009. The law would cover more than 50 gun models, including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar style rifles, which fire one bullet per trigger pull and automatically reload for a subsequent shot. The bill bans their future sale, distribution, manufacture and importation, although some exemptions are included for sales to law enforcement agencies and the military in Washington. The law would go into effect immediately once it's signed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee, who has long advocated for such a ban. When the measure

EU to tighten gun trade laws as Ukraine war fuels fear of illegal arms

The European Union on Thursday moved to tighten laws governing the trade and transport of guns to help keep illicit firearms out of the hands of criminal gangs amid concerns that the war in Ukraine could increase the spread of illegal weapons. The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, estimates that around 35 million illicit weapons are in hands of civilians across the 27-nation bloc. Around 630,000 firearms are listed as stolen in the EU's security and border database. The commission's crackdown would involve clearer, common procedures for the import, export and transit of firearms and ammunitions. An electronic licensing system would be set up for import and export applications to replace the slower paper-based systems most countries have. Stricter standards would be imposed on the manufacture of alarm and signal weapons, which fire things like blanks or tear gas. Such arms were converted by extremists and used in the bloody 2015 Paris attacks and the killing of staff at

Pension funds pressure credit card companies to categorise gun sales

Payment processor Visa Inc said it plans to start separately categorizing sales at gun shops. It's a major win for gun control advocates who say it will help better track suspicious surges of gun sales that could be a prelude to a mass shooting. But gun rights advocates have argued that step would unfairly segregate legal gun sales when most sales do not lead to mass shootings. Visa late Saturday said it would adopt the International Organization for Standardization's new merchant code for gun sales, which was announced on Friday. Until Friday, gun store sales were considered general merchandise. Visa's adoption is significant as the largest payment network, and will likely add pressure for Mastercard and American Express to adopt the code as well. Gun control advocates had gotten significant wins on this front in recent weeks. New York City officials and pension funds had pressured the ISO and banks to adopt this code. Two of the country's largest public pension funds, in Califor

New York imposes new gun restrictions on concealed carry in sensitive areas

New York has started to prohibit concealed carry of weapons in designated sensitive areas after the US Supreme Court struck down the state's century-old concealed carry weapons law in June

Biden says US launching major initiative to reduce gun violence

The White House explained that the federal government will cooperate with state and local law enforcement to address the most significant sources of violence in each area