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AP Sources: 1 rampage gun purchased legally By LARA JAKES and DEVLIN BARRETT (AP) – 20 minutes ago WASHINGTON — A 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting was purchased legally by suspect Nidal Hasan at a Texas gun shop, law enforcement officials said Friday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called "Guns Galore" in Killeen, Texas, well before the attack that left 13 people dead, one of the officials said. The pistol has been dubbed a "cop killer" by...

The Violence Policy Center has a long record of cooking data to try to build a national case against civilian ownership of firearms. They’ve failed, of course; more Americans own guns today than ever, while the idea of a link between crime and the demonstrably law-abiding armed citizen is almost too specious for modern physics to measure. Gun control is a third rail like few others in American politics. Which doesn’t mean they won’t try; the VPC - the very definition of an astroturf group - has masters with deep pockets to obey. And so they keep cranking out the...

Bigotry assumes many forms, hides behind many facades, but always it is the same; the social demonization of entire groups, classes or races of people in an effort to make them appear inferior and detrimental by their very existence. In the wake of a nasty multiple shooting at a Pittsburgh, PA-area fitness club by a not-so-clearly psychotic man identified as George Sodini, America’s gun prohibitionists – led by the Violence Policy Center and Freedom States Alliance – are clamoring for restrictions or repeal of concealed carry statutes. In the case against legally-armed citizens, the VPC has even manufactured an innuendo-riddled...

Earlier in July, the Violence Policy Center’s Josh Sugarmann – writing on the Huffington Post website – made what had to be one of the more bone-headed attempts in recent memory to drive a wedge between people in the firearms community when he critiqued remarks written by Jan Libourel, editor of Gun World magazine. Libourel is an extraordinarily bright guy, well-read in every sense, and – as is common among gun writers – unabashedly opinionated. As a recognized firearms authority, he’s supposed to be opinionated. That’s his job, and he is very good at it. Gun owners enjoy those opinions,...

There was a single case in the VPC report from Minnesota. The VPC, apparently relying solely upon a Star Tribune article, reported the incident as: "Iheme, who had a concealed handgun permit, was found guilty of second degree murder." But actual court records which would have been easily researchable, reveal that Mr. Iheme did not have a permit.

he VPC's latest attack on the fundamental right of self-defense comes in the form of a poorly concocted “study” claiming to illustrate the evils of concealed carry permits. I use the word “study” loosely in order to not offend the sensibilities of any true statistician who might be reading this article. Let's discuss the flaws one at a time.

Remember CANDIDATE Barack Obama? The guy who “wasn’t going to take away our guns”? Well, guess what? Less than 100 days into his administration, he’s never met a gun he didn’t hate. A week ago, Obama went to Mexico, whined about the United States, and bemoaned (before the whole world) the fact that he didn’t have the political power to take away our semi-automatics. Nevertheless, that didn’t keep him from pushing additional restrictions on American gun owners. It’s called the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. To be sure, this...

The previous article examined how Violence Policy Center (VPC) had to downsize in recent years in order to survive, due to significant decreases in “direct public support.” Because VPC has no public membership revenues, the term “direct public support” is misleading. Two people perform most of VPC’s public outreach: Executive Director Josh Sugarman and Legislative Director Kristen Rand. Between 2003 and 2007, as revenues decreased 49.9%, both Sugarman’s and Rand’s salaries increased 5.9%. But because revenues decreased, these two top earners––each of whom earned $132,894 in salary and $3,987 in benefits in 2007––went from 15.5% of total revenue in 2003...

In order to justify their political agenda, gun control organizations often claim that “most Americans” support various restrictive laws. For example, Mayors Against Illegal Guns published a report last year stating: Nearly 60 percent of Americans favor stricter gun laws. A majority of Americans, 59 percent, believe that the laws covering the sale of guns should be made more strict than they are currently. This is very similar to the 56 percent of Americans who said so in a January 2007 poll conducted for Mayors Against Illegal Guns. A third of the public, 33 percent, think that gun laws should...

Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to "confuse and mislead" Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired federal assault weapons ban, gun advocates say. Get ready for a gunfight. Holder revealed his intention to reinstate the ban last month while announcing more than 700 arrests in connection with a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States. "As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,"...

I wrote recently about the forcible citizen disarmament lobby's desire to ban .50 caliber rifles. In that piece, I pointed out that if such a ban were ever implemented, the gun prohibitionists would soon discover that a sniper limited to a .499 caliber rifle would not be seriously hampered by the loss of 1/1000th of an inch of bullet diameter, leading, no doubt, to calls for the banning of that caliber as well. Of course, a .498 caliber rifle would not really be noticeably less capable . . . etc. The disarmament lobby considers it bad form for gun rights...

Food pantries in Iowa have been given approval to resume serving venison to the needy,” read the National Shooting Sports Foundation press release. “Earlier, anti-hunting entities had convinced state officials the meat was tainted by lead. Similar scare campaigns in North Dakota and Minnesota resulted in venison for the homeless being discarded.” How serious was the “problem”? “10 samples of ground venison from a food pantry were tested by the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory,” NSSF writes. “[E]ight had no detectable amounts and two had only trace amounts.” For this, a laudable program was halted, and the most unfortunate among...

Statement of National Gun Violence Prevention Organizations in Wake of Northern Illinois University Shooting Washington, DC--Following yesterday’s mass shooting at Northern Illinois University which left six dead, including the shooter, and 16 wounded, America’s leading national gun violence prevention organizations, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and the Violence Policy Center, issued the following joint statement: “Our sympathies go to all those affected by this terrible tragedy. America is in a gun crisis. Yesterday’s shooting at Northern Illinois University was the sixth mass shooting in less than two weeks. On college campuses,...

I wouldn't have believed it. In fact, I didn't believe it. So, I went to the ATF myself to check it out. It's true, Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center, formerly with the National Center to Ban Handguns, holds a federal license for gun dealing. I saw this first on Dave Hardy's site, Arms & The Law, which is always well worth reading. While I trust Dave implicitly, Dave didn't list a source and I didn't want to find myself chasing an Internet legend. So, off to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did I go....

Did you know that Josh Sugarmann, of the Violence Policy Center, has a Federal Firearms License? And that the business address is that of The Violence Policy Center? You do now. Also, given the ATF’s recent crack down on FFLs, I wonder when the VPC’s last inspection was? And how many transfers they’ve done. If none, then that could mean they’re not a business and, per ATF, that is bad. If they have, they’re hypocrites. Said FFL exempts them from the DC handgun ban, as well.

Outrage of the Week! Friday, January 11, 2008 This week's outrage comes courtesy of columnist Bernd Debusmann of Reuters News Service, and an article he recently penned. This story, masquerading as a legitimate news article, might as well be an anti-gun organization's press release. Debusmann premises his piece on the argument that the American gun culture is "fading slowly," that gun ownership is declining, that support for stricter gun controls has been growing steadily, and that those in favor of stricter gun control laws represent a majority of the public. The source for this information is, not surprisingly, Josh Sugarmann...

Henry Riekert's column cites the Violence Policy Center as a "well respected, non-profit, gun control advocacy group" -- true, if citing selective statistics and ignoring data that do not support yours is respectable. One of the group's stated goals is a nationwide ban on the private possession of handguns. That isn't gun control; it's gun elimination. The figure Riekert cites -- 5,314 arrests of Texas concealed-carry licensees -- sounds incriminating until you look behind the raw numbers. Total arrests spread over the period selected (Jan. 1, 1996, to Aug. 31, 2001) averages 1,138 a year. That includes arrests for all...

To Violence Policy Center Action Network Members: ALITO NEWS-- As you know, in 1996 Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito issued a minority opinion arguing for repeal of the 1986 federal ban on the transfer and possession of new machine guns by civilians. As part of its public education efforts, this week the Violence Policy Center released a new, short, web-based video illustrating the firepower of machine guns. You can view the video at http://www.vpc.org/alito-video.htm. Please forward this e-mail to as many people as you can to show them the devastating effects of these banned guns. Please call your Senators at...

Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito’s Views Could Imperil Most Federal Gun, Ammo, and Explosives Laws, New Violence Policy Center Backgrounder Shows Washington, DC--The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released a backgrounder on Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito. Key aspects of the document include: Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito voted to strike down the 1986 federal machine gun ban in the case U.S. v. Rybar, [103 F.3d 273 (3d Cir. 1996)]. Judge Alito was the lone dissenter in the decision upholding the conviction of a gun dealer who sold illegal machine guns at a Pennsylvania gun show. Application of...

Violence Policy Center Urges Washington Redskins to Withdraw From Shooting Fundraiser With National Rifle Association as NRA Lobbies on Capitol Hill to Overturn D.C.'s Gun Laws Redskins/NRA Event Announced Same Month That NRA's Magazine Attacks D.C. Mayor Williams and Police Chief Ramsey WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Violence Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based national non-profit organization working to reduce gun death and injury, today sent Washington Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder a letter urging him to "end all participation" by the Washington Redskins in a planned shooting event with the National Rifle Association on October 25, 2005, to...