Guns in America

A teen wanted in connection with the slayings of three college students and the attempted murder of a fourth in Newark was taken into custody today, and authorities are seeking two more suspects implicated in the execution-style homicides. Another suspect, Jose Carranza, pleaded not guilty this morning; the third, a 15-year-old boy, is being held pending a detention hearing. More »

Giuliani may be running as a terrorist slayer, but what sets him apart is his plan to leave social issues up to the states, says LA Times columnist Ronald Brownstein. Localizing gay marriage, gun control and even abortion decisions would allow states to make policies that reflect the proclivities of their citizens. More »

One NYPD officer was shot twice in the face and his partner in the left arm in an early-morning attack caught on camera, Newsday reports. The officers were shot in Brooklyn after a routine traffic check on a black BMW SUV indicated the car was stolen. At least two suspects opened fire as they approached the vehicle, leaving one officer in critical condition. More »

A man opened fire at random in Las Vegas's New York-New York casino early this morning, wounding four guests on the floor below him. None of the injuries were fatal, and officers and patrons managed to bring him down before he wreaked further havoc. Another woman was injured in the ensuing chaos, but the casino floor never shut down. More »

Rev. Jess Jackson and Fr. Michael Pfleger were arrested for blocking the door of Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale, a suburb abutting the southern edge of Chicago.  They and others were there protesting the ready availability of guns next to a crime-plagued part of the city, which bans the sales of guns. More »

A California college student is under arrest after an argument over a video game console left one man dead and two others wounded. Jonquel Brooks opened fire late Monday night in a Fresno apartment building, after an argument over a Sony Playstation escalated. Brooks, on leave from Fresno State, turned himself in late this morning. More »

When a federal appeals court ruled against a District of Columbia gun control law in March,  it was the first time an appellate court had used the Second Amendment to restrict gun contol legislation. And it was, even more surprisingly, the result of work by a group of liberal scholars. More »

The NRA is urging the Bush administration to oppose a bill that bans suspected terrorists from buying guns. In a letter to AG Alberto Gonzales, the group's executive director objects that the bill, introduced in the Senate last week, "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat." More »

A young man wielding a rifle opened fire in the parking lot of a Kansas City shopping center this afternoon, killing two people  and wounding at least two others before he ran into the mall and was gunned down by police. Fifteen minutes before the mall shootings, the gunman also wounded a police officer who pulled over the car he was driving. More »

Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine is considering closing the loophole that allowed Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung Hui to buy guns despite his dangerous and conspicuous mental illness. A judge ruled Cho mentally ill in 2005, but didn't commit him, so his records were not in the data base dealers consult. More »

Killer Cho Seung-Hui's gun purchases were completely legal, despite his 2005 brushes with the police for stalking fellow students and threatening suicide. The judge who deemed him "an imminent danger to himself because of mental illness" ordered Cho to outpatient treatment; Virginia blocks gun sales only to those who have been involuntarily committed. More »

After New Orleans cops confiscated guns in the wake of Katrina, 13 states have barred officials from seizing firearms in emergencies. NRA types were livid over the post-hurricane gun grab, which they vowed would not be repeated. “You don't go and abuse good citizens because of a concern for their safety," says state Rep. Russell Pearce of Arizona. More »