Movement Roundup

SAN FRANCISCO — A recent Supreme Court decision could alter what public transit riders here see in advertisements on city buses and trains and in transit shelters. Despite a San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency policy prohibiting advertisements that "appear to promote the use of firearms," a gun rights group's posters have been placed in city bus shelters. Images promoting guns, which are banned under an advertising policy of the San Francisco... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

A gunman police shot dead after he took hostages at Discovery Channel's headquarters said he hated the company's shows such as Kate Plus 8 because they promoted population growth. Three hostages - two Discovery employees and a security guard - escaped unhurt after the four-hour standoff in Silver Spring, outside Washington DC. After several hours of negotiations tactical officers moved in when authorities monitoring the man on security cameras saw him pull out a gun... [Scotsman (Edinburgh), via GunPolicy.org]

The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had some discouraging words this week for XY-chromosome New Yorkers. Not only do men in this city, on average, live shorter lives than women do — that's true almost everywhere in the world — but the gender gap in life expectancy is also wider here than in the United States as a whole. Based on 2008 figures, the most recent, newborn American girls can expect to live to 81, boys to 76. The comparable numbers in the... [New York Times, via GunPolicy.org]

SACRAMENTO, California — California lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public. The Senate narrowly approved the measure Tuesday, the last day of the regular legislative session, on a 21-16 vote. But it failed in the Assembly. The bill would have made it a misdemeanor to openly carry a handgun in a public place. Current California law permits carrying a rifle or a handgun in a holster if it is not... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]

The South Korean government, in an effort to raise money for its military, wants to sell nearly a million antique M1 rifles that were used by U.S. soldiers in the Korean War to gun collectors in America. The Obama administration approved the sale of the American-made rifles last year. But it reversed course and banned the sale in March – a decision that went largely unnoticed at the time but that is now sparking opposition from gun rights advocates. A State... [Fox News (USA), via GunPolicy.org]

HELENA, Montana — A group of states seeking freedom from federal gun laws were dealt a blow Wednesday when a federal magistrate recommended dismissal of a lawsuit launched by gun rights advocates who argue Congress has overstepped its bounds with gun control. The magistrate sided with the U.S. Department of Justice, which says courts have already decided that Congress can set standards on such items as guns through its power to regulate interstate commerce. The... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]

EMMETT, Idaho -- Police in Emmett have released more information on an accidental shooting involving an officer's weapon that injured three people, including two young boys. Police Chief Steve Nebeker says the Aug. 6 shooting happened in the home of Detective Sgt. Kim Judy and injured her roommate, 20-year-old Whisper Rowden, and 2 of Rowden's children. Police say Rowden's 3-year-old son somehow got a hold of Judy's 9mm service weapon and fired one shot that went... [Associated Press, via GunPolicy.org]

Predictably, some Portlanders have been quick to embrace Mayor Sam Adams' package of proposals to curb illegal gun use. This group usually endorses anything anyone anywhere dreams up to restrict guns -- whether or not there is evidence showing that the restrictions work. Some other Oregonians, meanwhile, have been equally quick to condemn the mayor's proposals. As The Oregonian's Maxine Bernstein reported Monday, they regard the package as a "PR stunt," aimed not at... [Oregonian (Portland), Editorial, via GunPolicy.org]

AUSTIN, Texas -- One of the gun dealers of Austin's Gun Show is sentenced to 6-months at a federal work camp for selling a weapon to an undocumented immigrant. Independent firearms dealer-Paul Copeland says for years he has commonly sold handguns and antique weapons with no problems and prior to his arrest the illegal immigrant showed him what appeared to be a valid Texas driver's license. In January 2009, the ATF along with the Austin police department set up a... [KLBJ Radio News (Texas), via GunPolicy.org]

Share When Portland Mayor Sam Adams recently proposed three new city gun laws and two changes to existing city code, he joined several mayors across the country who are trying to pass gun-control laws that state lawmakers would not -- or could not. "It's amazing to me the denial around the connection between inadequacy in our gun laws and gun crimes on the street. The Legislature hasn't connected those dots," Adams said. "The absence of meaningful gun law changes must... [Oregonian (Portland), via GunPolicy.org]