Daily update August 16

Canada: Store guns in central depot
National Post

"Gun owners in Toronto may soon be prohibited from keeping their firearms at home even if they are properly licensed and registered, Mayor David Miller said yesterday. "There's no reason to own a gun in Toronto -- collector or not. If you are a collector and you have a permit, the guns need to be stored in a way that they can't be stolen. And perhaps a centralized facility of some kind could accomplish that goal," Mr. Miller told the National Post. "The law requires gun owners to have proper storage, but obviously not everyone adheres to that." Following a spate of shootings in Toronto, the Mayor has asked city lawyers and the police to determine whether the municipality has the "legal ability" to require individuals to store their weapons at a secure facility such as a gun club." (08/16/05)

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.html?id=6bd4b477-9334-4132-8181-e5bafead1b47

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Virginia: Victims not
Fredericksburg Free Lance Star
by staff

"Since March, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, three residents of that city have killed criminal attackers. Authorities will press no charges against at least two of the shooters. One dispatched former NFL football player Mike Brim with a single shot after an armed Brim had followed the man, apparently a romantic rival, to a house and opened fire on him. The other self-defender was a pizza deliveryman who killed a robber. .... [T]he bearing of arms by the law-abiding cited above brings an obvious thought: Had the intended victims in Richmond dwelt in Washington or New York City ... they likely would have joined many of those cities' other crime victims on a slab. Does anyone not prefer the other outcome?" (08/16/05)


http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/082005/08162005/121457

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Texas: Strict Mexican gun laws creating black market for U.S. weapons
Brownsville Herald

"Mexico’s strict gun control laws are contributing to an illegal gun market and easier access to weapons, according to U.S. law enforcement officials that are close observers of a recent upswing in border violence. Since January, more than 600 people have been killed in an ongoing war between rival drug cartels using high-powered handguns and assault rifles fighting for control of drug smuggling routes on the Texas-Mexico border.
Federal gun seizures show that a majority of weapons used in violent crimes in Mexico were smuggled into the country from the United States or bought through other sources in a lucrative black market. Mexican law requires its citizens to apply for a permit from the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) before they can buy a handgun or rifle for hunting or self-defense." (08/16/05)

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=66588_0_10_0_M

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