11 year old girl carries her AR-15 rifle into Idaho state capitol....shoots no one, no one is injure

[Frankeneinstein]

The moral of this thread is that since an 11 year old girl can walk into the statehouse carrying an AR-15 and not kill anyone, that NOBODY walking into the statehouse with an AR-15 will kill anyone

You don't find her inspirational? Is she too smart for you? And if you really are worried that someone else might walk into the statehouse and start shooting isn't that proof it is not the guns we need to worry about?

 

[2aguy]

It sure is

That is why the premise of this thread is asinine

It's only asinine if you disregard and ignore the thread is addressing the absurd fear of guns the left exhibits.

Either you are too dumb or dishonest to take that into consideration. Which is it?

Isn’t it stupid to claim that because it was safe for an 11 year old girl to enter a statehouse with an AR-15 that it safe for everyone to be armed in the statehouse?

Moron......they have been carrying guns in the state house for years without any problems....you morons have no idea what you are talking about....

Guns are not an uncommon sight in the Statehouse when gun legislation is being debated, particularly handguns on belt holsters. Long rifles such as AR-15s also appear occasionally.

Some Idaho lawmakers are known to carry concealed weapons in the Statehouse. State Police patrol the Statehouse, and one and sometimes two are typically present at committee meetings where emotions can become strong.

I look at carrying guns in a statehouse similar to carrying one in a courthouse. An invitation for trouble.

Any idiot with a grudge to bear is free to open fire

And yet....they have been doing it for years....and nothing has happened.........

Any idiot with a grudge can already open fire right now..........so you don't have an argument.....since they have been allowing people to carry guns in the capitol for years if not decades and nothing has happened.....

 

[2aguy]

The great majority of the people with guns that shoot other people are druggies, gang bangers, thugs and street scum in the Democrat controlled big city shitholes.

A key constituency of the Democrats. Does anyone need to wonder why the Democrats are so focused on disarming honest, law-abiding Americans, but not so interested in disarming the violent criminals who are their key constituents?

Nothing really new, here. Look into the history of New York's “Sullivan Act”, authored by violent criminal gangster-turned-politician Timothy Sullivan, who specifically crafted this act to give an advantage to his own gang over rival criminals and over the law-abiding citizens on whom they preyed. Modern gun control laws are based on the same motives.

Most of what I have seen center on things like mandatory background checks on all sales, getting rid of large capacity magazines and taking guns away from crazies

Why would any responsible gun owner object to that?

The first two are stupid....the last one we already can do with existing laws.

The only reason for background checks on all sales is to create the need for gun registration....which you need to eventually ban and confiscate guns. That is the only reason you want universal background checks.

Magazine Capacity has nothing to do with mass public shootings....you simply want it because you will be able to ban categories of gun without having to pass a gun ban.....they simply have magazines over your current decision on how many bullets you want to allow, which will change to a lower number when you come back next time.........and so those guns will not be able to be used because they have magazines over your stupid limit.....

You will not stop one gun crime, you will not stop one mass public shooting.....the reason we have gun crime isn't because people sell their guns to each other or have regular sized magazines......we have gun crime because people like you and the democrat party keep letting real gun criminals out of jail and prison over and over again.......stop that, and our gun crime rate in democrat party controlled cities goes down.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Most of what I have seen center on things like mandatory background checks on all sales, getting rid of large capacity magazines and taking guns away from crazies

Why would any responsible gun owner object to that?

Because the premise that any of these will do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals than out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is a flat-out lie, and those of you who advocate them know damn well that it's a lie.

The solution isn't to keep gun out of the hands of criminals, anyway. The solution is to keep criminals out of free society—either by keeping them in prison, or by putting them to death. But those of you who want to disarm law-abiding citizens are also opposed to properly dealing with violent and destructive criminals.

Your side adopted gun control as a part of your platform, decades ago, as a way to deflect from the image that you had of being soft on crime, without actually doing anything to the detriment of your criminal constituency. In fact, like Timothy Sullivan and his Sullivan Act, our policies actually benefit criminals, by making easier prey of law-abiding citizens; and that was the intent all along.

 

[JoeB131]

Here are some young citizens exercising their second amendment rights at a state capital

Right after which some white folks passed a bunch of sensible gun control laws that the National Rampage Association is still trying to undo.

 

[JoeB131]

Because the premise that any of these will do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals than out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is a flat-out lie, and those of you who advocate them know damn well that it's a lie.

Except- again-

Germany, Japan, the UK, France, Italy, Canada. They all limit who can own guns, they have far lower crime and murder rates than we do.

The problem isn't just the criminal (who can easily get guns by merely stealing them from "Law abiding" citizens), it's that law abiding citizens themselves. Like this fellow who shot a bunch of his coworkers when he got fired today in Milwaukee.

 

[RealDave]

This 15 year old girl made a powerful statement......it isn't the gun that is the problem.........

11-year-old girl brings loaded AR-15 to gun legislation hearing in Idaho

An 11-year-old girl appeared Monday at a legislative hearing in Idaho, toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Any one who would allow a 11 year old to carry a loaded weapon is a fucking idiot.

And you wonder why people don't want you fucking idiots handling guns.

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

 

[Shawnee_b]

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

So what, liberal brains never fully develop.

 

[rightwinger]

11 year old girl carries her AR-15 rifle into Idaho state capitol....shoots no one, no one is injure

Some guy went hunting, didn’t see anything, went home

 

[rightwinger]

If an 11 year old girl can resist massacring people....anyone can

 

[Luddly Neddite]

You give this wierdo kid credit for not shooting anyone. Classic.

Funny thing, during the time I was growing up a lot of us had guns and we never shot anyone either.

Same here but we never threatened to either and that's what this girl did. Nor would a grand father have used his ELEVEN YEAR OLD GRAND DAUGHTER in such a grandiose and cowardly way. No excuse for gramps to use her like this but my first thought was that I knew she was white because no one shot her in the back.

This kind of crap does nothing ton further the cause of froot loops like the OP or this abusive grand father and yes, that's what he is.

Put him in jail and nev r let him any where near a gun or his grand daughter again.

 

[Winco]

toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather,

She's the Greta Thunberg of the Gun Rights fanatics.

Exactly. RWI scream that Greta doesn't know what she is talking about, she is a spoon feed puppet of the talking head parents.

Yet, this young lady is being controlled by her Grandfather, yet, all is good.

 

[2aguy]

Because the premise that any of these will do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals than out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is a flat-out lie, and those of you who advocate them know damn well that it's a lie.

Except- again-

Germany, Japan, the UK, France, Italy, Canada. They all limit who can own guns, they have far lower crime and murder rates than we do.

The problem isn't just the criminal (who can easily get guns by merely stealing them from "Law abiding" citizens), it's that law abiding citizens themselves. Like this fellow who shot a bunch of his coworkers when he got fired today in Milwaukee.

They had far lower crime and murder before they banned guns...so guns aren't the issue....and with the importation of violent 3rd world males, their crime rates are going up.......

The lies you keep telling are easy to reveal.......90% of murder is committed by individuals with long histories of crime and violence, not normal people...you dumb ass....that means that criminals drive the gun crime rate, not normal gun owners.

From around the world.....

France...


Reports of 'heavy gunfire' on the streets of French city of Nimes | Daily Mail Online

Machine-gun shots have been heard on the streets of a French city this evening as it was claimed a 'shootout' took place between rival gangs.

Repeated 'heavy gunfire' bursts were let off in the city of Nimes in southern France after armed men were seen in the area.

Social media videos showed several people running through the street as shots rang out at around 8.30pm.

Initial reports suggested the shooting could have been linked to gangs operating in the area.

Residents in a suburb of Pissevin district in the city claimed gang members shot at a building occupied by a rival group.

Britain...


Gun-Free Britain? Nearly 10,000 Gun Crimes Committed in One Year

The number of gun crimes committed in the United Kingdom has increased by 27 per cent in five years and the number of firearms seized has quadrupled, despite the country having some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 9,787 crimes were committed with firearms in the year leading to March of 2019. The number of offences has risen by four per cent over the previous year and twenty-seven per cent in five years, the latest statistics available show.
-----

A middle-eastern gun runner told the news outlet that it is “easy” to bring guns to Britain and that he can sell the weapons for over £2,000, four times as much as he purchases them for in Europe.

The smuggler said that he travels to France and picks up the guns from migrant camps in Calais before shipping them back to the UK.
=======
New Zealand.........

Tauranga shootings: Armed police sent in to battle increasing violence in the city

The deaths are the latest in an uptick of crime in the Bay of Plenty, following the arrival of the notorious Mongols Motorcycle Club in the area.

Their arrival stoked simmering tensions with established Tauranga gangs like the Greazy Dogs and the Mongrel Mob, with police warning the newcomers - hardened from inter-gang warfare with firearms - would radically change the criminal landscape.

Tuesday's homicide was the latest in a series of brazen shootings involving semi-automatic firearms, with a suspected arson along a row of the Bay of Plenty shops last month.

Nash said the Government was pouring more resources into policing the Bay of Plenty, targeting gangs and organised crime.
----

"What's happening there is happening all around the country. Since March last year police have seized more than 2,000 illegal firearms from gangs and other criminals."

Armed officers dressed in body armour are about to hit the streets as police step up their response to increased gang rivalry and violent crime in Tauranga.

Police Minister Stuart Nash said the escalated response was a temporary measure aimed at tackling the latest flare-up between gangs. It also comes the day after two men where shot dead at a property in Omanawa.

"Expect to see police openly carrying their Bushmaster rifles and Glock pistols. Expect to see police wearing their new body armour," he said in a statement.


New Zealand....

'People are fearful': New Zealand police admit gang violence is out of control

Officers in Hawkes Bay, a region on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, are to be armed – police do not routinely carry guns in New Zealand – and have a more visible presence, with officers brought in from other areas, after shots were fired during a gang brawl in Taradale, Napier, on Sunday.

A 25-year-old man injured in the brawl was due to appear in court on Wednesday and police said more arrests were likely. Another shooting took place further north on Saturday, near the town of Ruatoria in the Bay of Plenty. Police said it was also gang-related.

The number of gang members in Hawkes Bay has increased by 30% to 35% in the past two or three years, according to police. Officers said on Wednesday they had arrested more gang members for unlawfully carrying weapons, including in an episode where members had “converged” on the Hawkes Bay town of Wairoa.
-----

In Saturday’s street brawl in Taradale, Stuff reported that residents “ducked for cover in shops and cafes” as shots rang out – one hitting a child’s car seat. The child was unharmed.

“We don’t know why they happened. It could be drugs, could be tit for tat, it’s stuff we will never know,” Kura said. It would be “horrendous” if a child was hurt.

Sweden...

Gangs of the North

Sweden’s disadvantaged
Both the perpetrators and the victims in Sweden’s gang wars are predominately young men from socially disadvantaged areas in the larger cities for the country. The suspects mostly have a migration background, but they have been born and raised in Sweden, representing the 2nd or 3rd generation of immigrants. As the Prime Minister Stefan Löfven recently pointed out, socio-economic factors are in part responsible.

Sweden is a deeply segregated society. Swedes with migrant backgrounds are often poorly integrated, live in socially deprived areas of the major Swedish cities and are trapped in a cycle of poverty, school failure and unemployment. These conditions did however not emerge overnight. They have crystallised over a long period time, questioning the amount of attention of Swedish that politics has paid to tackling integration problems.
-----

The quest for status is predominant. Violence is described as a currency useful in the competition for reputation vis-à-vis their peers.

Gun violence has become an investment in one’s own criminal career. Carrying a gun is seen as a means for personal protection. As a result, a viscous circle has ensued. Gun violence escalates and everyone feels being at risk and is constantly afraid.
----

A culture of silence (omerta) is seen reigning in relation to authorities. This is a major factor in the low clearance rate of gang related homicides. While the overall clearance rate of homicides in Sweden for a long time has been between 75 and 90 per cent, it is much lower in connection with the shootings at just above 20 per cent.
-----

Drug turf wars

The shootings are to a large extent connected to the drug market.


The report from the National Council for Crime Prevention states that ‘the picture provided by the material is that drug sales, at different levels, constitute the dominant criminal activity in the milieu. Several interview subjects have also sold guns.

Sales of both drugs and guns are repeatedly described as a job and the interview subjects underscore the need for knowledge and skill.’


The road into selling drugs is easy. Cannabis is available and it is no big step to start using it and dealing. After a while, conflicts arise around customers and payments and the seller has to claim his territory.

Clear causes to the shootings are difficult to detect. Increased availability of firearms has been mentioned as a cause, but if so without further analysis of why there was a sudden increase. Possibly a few shootings for one reason or another started a circle of revenge and created the need to arm oneself for protection. The low clearance rate could also be an explanation for the continued shootings.

======


https://www.thelocal.se/20200203/explosions-interview-police-stefan-hector-sweden

Why are there so many explosions in Sweden?

"We've seen, over the last couple of years, that the amount of explosions in Sweden have risen to a level not seen anywhere else in Europe. The reasons, or underlying cause, are criminals clashing.

"They range from conflicts of a rational character, like market shares for the illegal narcotics trade, or more personal, such as provocations or insults, old conflicts with causes long-forgotten. Nevertheless, the explosions are an expression of clashes between criminal elements.

"These criminal elements are in large part comprised of street gangs from 'vulnerable areas' in the suburbs but also what we sometimes refer to as 'biker gangs'. There is, however, a lot of overlap between these two groups so as a whole this is about conflicts between different criminal networks."
-----

How do your colleagues abroad view this development in Sweden?

"They are astonished. The prevailing picture of Sweden is that it is a calm and stable country and these expressions of violence, which are without equal, at least in Europe, is a surprise to our neighbouring countries.

"We have ongoing collaboration with many of the European countries, especially with the Nordic countries, and no one has the same kind of problems which is why this is a perplexing and possibly even frightening issue. But they are actively seeking more knowledge and are discussing these issues with us in order to share experiences and trying to understand this phenomenon."

You talked about seizures of other weapons, beside explosives. Recently a Bosnian man in the US got sentenced to prison for smuggling weapon parts to, among others, Swedish neo-nazis. How common are criminal international networks when it comes to Swedish gunrunning?

"From what I've seen, one of the most common guns in criminal clashes in Sweden is the AK 47, and they aren't manufactured here. Which means that it needs to be smuggled into the country, so in that sense international players are contributing to shootings in Sweden. These kinds of guns usually come from the Balkans, as they have a surplus of weapons from past decades of conflict."

Are those the kind of weapons you usually seize or are, for example, Swedish hunting weapons also confiscated?

"No. Swedish hunting rifles are extremely rare in these kinds of contexts, it's usually assault rifles such as the AK 47, pistols or submachine guns. It is very, very rare that we see hunting weapons as a part of our work with Operation Hoarfrost."


Canada...

Why Gun Violence Is Surging In Toronto

According to Canada's government statistics agency, gun violence overall rose by more than 40% in Canada between 2013 and 2017, with much of that increase driven by incidents in Toronto.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says that the city's recent gun violence has been connected to gang activity.
In a press conference in August, he said the Raptors incident and the August shootings "by and large have street gang connotations to them," pointing to the gang membership of the victims and those arrested. There is a thriving gang culture in Toronto centered on the illegal drug trade, largely in the city's poorer outer suburbs.

Britain..

Police struggle to stop flood of firearms into UK


Police and border officials are struggling to stop a rising supply of illegal firearms being smuggled into Britain, a senior police chief has warned.

Chief constable Andy Cooke, the national police lead for serious and organised crime, said law enforcement had seen an increased supply of guns over the past year, and feared that it would continue in 2019

The Guardian has learned that the situation is so serious that the National Crime Agency has taken the rare step of using its legal powers to direct every single police force to step up the fight against illegal guns.

The NCA has used tasking powers to direct greater intelligence about firearms to be gathered by all 43 forces in England and Wales.

Another senior law enforcement official said that “new and clean” weapons were now being used in the majority of shootings, as opposed to guns once being so difficult to obtain that they would be “rented out” to be used in multiple crimes.

Cooke, the Merseyside chief constable, told the Guardian: “We in law enforcement expect the rise in new firearms to continue. We are doing all we can. We are not in a position to stop it anytime soon.

“Law enforcement is more joined up now than before, but the scale of the problem is such that despite a number of excellent firearms seizures, I expect the rise in supply to be a continuing issue.”

The increasing supply of guns belies problems with UK border security and innovations by organised crime gangs. Smugglers have increasingly found new ways and innovative routes to get guns past border defences.


Cooke said that the dynamics of the streets of British cities had changed and that criminals were more willing to use guns: “If they bring them in people will buy them. It’s a kudos thing for organised criminals.”

Simon Brough, head of firearms at the NCA, said: “The majority of guns being used are new, clean firearms ... which indicates a relatively fluid supply.”

He said shotguns were 40% of the total, with an increase in burglaries to try and steal them.

Handguns are the next biggest category, most often smuggled in from overseas, with ferry ports such as Dover being a popular entry point into the UK for organised crime groups:

“We’re doing a lot to fight back against it,” Brough said, adding that compared to other European countries, the availability in the UK was relatively lower.
==========

France...

ris attacks highlight France's gun control problems

The arsenal of weapons deployed by the eight attackers who terrorised Paris on Friday night underlined France’s gun control problems and raised the spectre of further attacks.

The country has extremely strict weapons laws, but Europe’s open borders and growing trade in illegal weapons means assault rifles are relatively easy to come by on the black market.


===============
France’s real gun problem

Despite these strict laws, France seems to be awash with guns. The guns used in high-profile terror attacks are really just the tip of the iceberg. In 2012, French authorities estimated that there were around 30,000 guns illegally in the country, many likely used by gangs for criminal activities. Of those guns, around 4,000 were likely to be "war weapons," Le Figaro reported, referring to items such as the Kalashnikov AK-variant rifles and Uzis. Statistics from the National Observatory for Delinquency, a government body created in 2003, suggest that the number of guns in France has grown by double digits every year.

Sweden.....

IN DEPTH: What's behind the rise in gang violence across Sweden?

The weapon of choice for gangs are Kalashnikov automatic rifles. Imported from the Balkans, they are available for between 2,500 and 3,500 euros (around $2,800 to $3,950), although they become "more expensive in the event of an open conflict," according to Appelgren.
-------

Honour, debts, and prestige are serving as the pretext for an increasing number of deadly shootings that challenge the ideals of equality and social harmony on which modern Sweden was built.
-----

Last year more than 300 shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 135 injuries in Sweden.

While the overall homicide rate remains one of the lowest in the world, with one per 100,000 inhabitants according to police statistics, deadly shootings have been steadily rising and last year reached record levels. 2019 is also on track to create another unwanted record. In Stockholm the first six months of the year have seen as many killings as the whole of 2018.
-------
Sweden suffers surge in bomb attacks as gang violence rises

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A surge in drug-linked gang-violence in Sweden led to a 60% increase in bomb blasts in 2019, government statistics showed on Thursday, as police work to rid the streets of explosives and guns with more officers on patrol.
---------
Sweden has been hit by a wave of shootings and bombings over the past couple of years which police have linked to gang conflicts in major cities, shocking Swedes, who have long considered their country one of the safest in the world.

Some 257 bomb attacks were reported to police last year, up from 162 the previous year, the statistics from the National Council for Crime Prevention showed.

Japan....

The Great Japanese Gang Wars



The season for pineapples (yakuza slang for hand grenades) may finally be over. Jake Adelstein and Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky on the bloody, seven-year battle between the Dojin-kai and the Seido-kai.



In Southern Japan, the brutal pineapple season may finally be over; pineapple is yakuza slang for “hand grenade”—one of the many weapons utilized in a seven-year gang war between the Dojin-kai (1,000 members) and the splinter group the Kyushu Seido-kei (500 members).

----
---
The Gangs That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
The Dojin-kai and the Seido-kai are Kyushu-based yakuza gangs, once part of the same faction founded in 1971 in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, by Isoji Koga. When the second generation Dojin-kai boss Seijiro Matsuo retired in May 2006, there was a fight over succession, and the group split into two factions, sparking a bloody gang war—where escalation seemed a matter of course. It started with shootings and bombs being thrown, and before it ended, the two gangs were lobbing grenades and Molotov cocktails, shooting machine guns, and sometimes attacking their own men.
-----
In May, a 9-year-old child found a hand grenade in a rice field in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, and took it home, to the astonishment of his father, who handed it over to the local police. According to the police, there were no yakuza headquarters where the grenade was found.

The numbers of grenades used and seized in the war became so problematic that by April 2012, the Fukuoka Prefecture Police became the first in Japan to offer cash rewards to anyone who reported finding a hand grenade.
----

TOYAMA – Classes resumed at an elementary school in the city of Toyama on Tuesday amid tight security, a week after a man killed a security guard who worked at the school and a police officer, with a knife and a gun, as well as firing bullets at the school.

 

[2aguy]

This 15 year old girl made a powerful statement......it isn't the gun that is the problem.........

11-year-old girl brings loaded AR-15 to gun legislation hearing in Idaho

An 11-year-old girl appeared Monday at a legislative hearing in Idaho, toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Any one who would allow a 11 year old to carry a loaded weapon is a fucking idiot.

And you wonder why people don't want you fucking idiots handling guns.

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

That is why, you dumb ass....they are supervised by adults.....and millions of kids are using guns under adult supervision every single day......you have no idea what you are talking about.....you are an idiot.

 

[RealDave]

This 15 year old girl made a powerful statement......it isn't the gun that is the problem.........

11-year-old girl brings loaded AR-15 to gun legislation hearing in Idaho

An 11-year-old girl appeared Monday at a legislative hearing in Idaho, toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Any one who would allow a 11 year old to carry a loaded weapon is a fucking idiot.

And you wonder why people don't want you fucking idiots handling guns.

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

That is why, you dumb ass....they are supervised by adults.....and millions of kids are using guns under adult supervision every single day......you have no idea what you are talking about.....you are an idiot.

I stated science. Putting a loaded gun in the hands of children is a mistake. They should never be handed a loaded weapon. The kids I see shooting, there is an adult with their hands on them.

I read an article from an expert gun trainer who said that people's brains are not fully developed to recognize risk until they are 26.

Your story said an 11 year old was toting a loaded weapon. That is fucking stupid & when gun people do this stupid shit, why should we allow them to carry in public?

 

[rightwinger]

Because the premise that any of these will do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals than out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is a flat-out lie, and those of you who advocate them know damn well that it's a lie.

Except- again-

Germany, Japan, the UK, France, Italy, Canada. They all limit who can own guns, they have far lower crime and murder rates than we do.

The problem isn't just the criminal (who can easily get guns by merely stealing them from "Law abiding" citizens), it's that law abiding citizens themselves. Like this fellow who shot a bunch of his coworkers when he got fired today in Milwaukee.

They had far lower crime and murder before they banned guns...so guns aren't the issue....and with the importation of violent 3rd world males, their crime rates are going up.......

The lies you keep telling are easy to reveal.......90% of murder is committed by individuals with long histories of crime and violence, not normal people...you dumb ass....that means that criminals drive the gun crime rate, not normal gun owners.

From around the world.....

France...


Reports of 'heavy gunfire' on the streets of French city of Nimes | Daily Mail Online

Machine-gun shots have been heard on the streets of a French city this evening as it was claimed a 'shootout' took place between rival gangs.

Repeated 'heavy gunfire' bursts were let off in the city of Nimes in southern France after armed men were seen in the area.

Social media videos showed several people running through the street as shots rang out at around 8.30pm.

Initial reports suggested the shooting could have been linked to gangs operating in the area.

Residents in a suburb of Pissevin district in the city claimed gang members shot at a building occupied by a rival group.

Britain...


Gun-Free Britain? Nearly 10,000 Gun Crimes Committed in One Year

The number of gun crimes committed in the United Kingdom has increased by 27 per cent in five years and the number of firearms seized has quadrupled, despite the country having some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 9,787 crimes were committed with firearms in the year leading to March of 2019. The number of offences has risen by four per cent over the previous year and twenty-seven per cent in five years, the latest statistics available show.
-----

A middle-eastern gun runner told the news outlet that it is “easy” to bring guns to Britain and that he can sell the weapons for over £2,000, four times as much as he purchases them for in Europe.

The smuggler said that he travels to France and picks up the guns from migrant camps in Calais before shipping them back to the UK.
=======
New Zealand.........

Tauranga shootings: Armed police sent in to battle increasing violence in the city

The deaths are the latest in an uptick of crime in the Bay of Plenty, following the arrival of the notorious Mongols Motorcycle Club in the area.

Their arrival stoked simmering tensions with established Tauranga gangs like the Greazy Dogs and the Mongrel Mob, with police warning the newcomers - hardened from inter-gang warfare with firearms - would radically change the criminal landscape.

Tuesday's homicide was the latest in a series of brazen shootings involving semi-automatic firearms, with a suspected arson along a row of the Bay of Plenty shops last month.

Nash said the Government was pouring more resources into policing the Bay of Plenty, targeting gangs and organised crime.
----

"What's happening there is happening all around the country. Since March last year police have seized more than 2,000 illegal firearms from gangs and other criminals."

Armed officers dressed in body armour are about to hit the streets as police step up their response to increased gang rivalry and violent crime in Tauranga.

Police Minister Stuart Nash said the escalated response was a temporary measure aimed at tackling the latest flare-up between gangs. It also comes the day after two men where shot dead at a property in Omanawa.

"Expect to see police openly carrying their Bushmaster rifles and Glock pistols. Expect to see police wearing their new body armour," he said in a statement.


New Zealand....

'People are fearful': New Zealand police admit gang violence is out of control

Officers in Hawkes Bay, a region on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, are to be armed – police do not routinely carry guns in New Zealand – and have a more visible presence, with officers brought in from other areas, after shots were fired during a gang brawl in Taradale, Napier, on Sunday.

A 25-year-old man injured in the brawl was due to appear in court on Wednesday and police said more arrests were likely. Another shooting took place further north on Saturday, near the town of Ruatoria in the Bay of Plenty. Police said it was also gang-related.

The number of gang members in Hawkes Bay has increased by 30% to 35% in the past two or three years, according to police. Officers said on Wednesday they had arrested more gang members for unlawfully carrying weapons, including in an episode where members had “converged” on the Hawkes Bay town of Wairoa.
-----

In Saturday’s street brawl in Taradale, Stuff reported that residents “ducked for cover in shops and cafes” as shots rang out – one hitting a child’s car seat. The child was unharmed.

“We don’t know why they happened. It could be drugs, could be tit for tat, it’s stuff we will never know,” Kura said. It would be “horrendous” if a child was hurt.

Sweden...

Gangs of the North

Sweden’s disadvantaged
Both the perpetrators and the victims in Sweden’s gang wars are predominately young men from socially disadvantaged areas in the larger cities for the country. The suspects mostly have a migration background, but they have been born and raised in Sweden, representing the 2nd or 3rd generation of immigrants. As the Prime Minister Stefan Löfven recently pointed out, socio-economic factors are in part responsible.

Sweden is a deeply segregated society. Swedes with migrant backgrounds are often poorly integrated, live in socially deprived areas of the major Swedish cities and are trapped in a cycle of poverty, school failure and unemployment. These conditions did however not emerge overnight. They have crystallised over a long period time, questioning the amount of attention of Swedish that politics has paid to tackling integration problems.
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The quest for status is predominant. Violence is described as a currency useful in the competition for reputation vis-à-vis their peers.

Gun violence has become an investment in one’s own criminal career. Carrying a gun is seen as a means for personal protection. As a result, a viscous circle has ensued. Gun violence escalates and everyone feels being at risk and is constantly afraid.
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A culture of silence (omerta) is seen reigning in relation to authorities. This is a major factor in the low clearance rate of gang related homicides. While the overall clearance rate of homicides in Sweden for a long time has been between 75 and 90 per cent, it is much lower in connection with the shootings at just above 20 per cent.
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Drug turf wars

The shootings are to a large extent connected to the drug market.


The report from the National Council for Crime Prevention states that ‘the picture provided by the material is that drug sales, at different levels, constitute the dominant criminal activity in the milieu. Several interview subjects have also sold guns.

Sales of both drugs and guns are repeatedly described as a job and the interview subjects underscore the need for knowledge and skill.’


The road into selling drugs is easy. Cannabis is available and it is no big step to start using it and dealing. After a while, conflicts arise around customers and payments and the seller has to claim his territory.

Clear causes to the shootings are difficult to detect. Increased availability of firearms has been mentioned as a cause, but if so without further analysis of why there was a sudden increase. Possibly a few shootings for one reason or another started a circle of revenge and created the need to arm oneself for protection. The low clearance rate could also be an explanation for the continued shootings.

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https://www.thelocal.se/20200203/explosions-interview-police-stefan-hector-sweden

Why are there so many explosions in Sweden?

"We've seen, over the last couple of years, that the amount of explosions in Sweden have risen to a level not seen anywhere else in Europe. The reasons, or underlying cause, are criminals clashing.

"They range from conflicts of a rational character, like market shares for the illegal narcotics trade, or more personal, such as provocations or insults, old conflicts with causes long-forgotten. Nevertheless, the explosions are an expression of clashes between criminal elements.

"These criminal elements are in large part comprised of street gangs from 'vulnerable areas' in the suburbs but also what we sometimes refer to as 'biker gangs'. There is, however, a lot of overlap between these two groups so as a whole this is about conflicts between different criminal networks."
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How do your colleagues abroad view this development in Sweden?

"They are astonished. The prevailing picture of Sweden is that it is a calm and stable country and these expressions of violence, which are without equal, at least in Europe, is a surprise to our neighbouring countries.

"We have ongoing collaboration with many of the European countries, especially with the Nordic countries, and no one has the same kind of problems which is why this is a perplexing and possibly even frightening issue. But they are actively seeking more knowledge and are discussing these issues with us in order to share experiences and trying to understand this phenomenon."

You talked about seizures of other weapons, beside explosives. Recently a Bosnian man in the US got sentenced to prison for smuggling weapon parts to, among others, Swedish neo-nazis. How common are criminal international networks when it comes to Swedish gunrunning?

"From what I've seen, one of the most common guns in criminal clashes in Sweden is the AK 47, and they aren't manufactured here. Which means that it needs to be smuggled into the country, so in that sense international players are contributing to shootings in Sweden. These kinds of guns usually come from the Balkans, as they have a surplus of weapons from past decades of conflict."

Are those the kind of weapons you usually seize or are, for example, Swedish hunting weapons also confiscated?

"No. Swedish hunting rifles are extremely rare in these kinds of contexts, it's usually assault rifles such as the AK 47, pistols or submachine guns. It is very, very rare that we see hunting weapons as a part of our work with Operation Hoarfrost."


Canada...

Why Gun Violence Is Surging In Toronto

According to Canada's government statistics agency, gun violence overall rose by more than 40% in Canada between 2013 and 2017, with much of that increase driven by incidents in Toronto.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says that the city's recent gun violence has been connected to gang activity.
In a press conference in August, he said the Raptors incident and the August shootings "by and large have street gang connotations to them," pointing to the gang membership of the victims and those arrested. There is a thriving gang culture in Toronto centered on the illegal drug trade, largely in the city's poorer outer suburbs.

Britain..

Police struggle to stop flood of firearms into UK


Police and border officials are struggling to stop a rising supply of illegal firearms being smuggled into Britain, a senior police chief has warned.

Chief constable Andy Cooke, the national police lead for serious and organised crime, said law enforcement had seen an increased supply of guns over the past year, and feared that it would continue in 2019

The Guardian has learned that the situation is so serious that the National Crime Agency has taken the rare step of using its legal powers to direct every single police force to step up the fight against illegal guns.

The NCA has used tasking powers to direct greater intelligence about firearms to be gathered by all 43 forces in England and Wales.

Another senior law enforcement official said that “new and clean” weapons were now being used in the majority of shootings, as opposed to guns once being so difficult to obtain that they would be “rented out” to be used in multiple crimes.

Cooke, the Merseyside chief constable, told the Guardian: “We in law enforcement expect the rise in new firearms to continue. We are doing all we can. We are not in a position to stop it anytime soon.

“Law enforcement is more joined up now than before, but the scale of the problem is such that despite a number of excellent firearms seizures, I expect the rise in supply to be a continuing issue.”

The increasing supply of guns belies problems with UK border security and innovations by organised crime gangs. Smugglers have increasingly found new ways and innovative routes to get guns past border defences.


Cooke said that the dynamics of the streets of British cities had changed and that criminals were more willing to use guns: “If they bring them in people will buy them. It’s a kudos thing for organised criminals.”

Simon Brough, head of firearms at the NCA, said: “The majority of guns being used are new, clean firearms ... which indicates a relatively fluid supply.”

He said shotguns were 40% of the total, with an increase in burglaries to try and steal them.

Handguns are the next biggest category, most often smuggled in from overseas, with ferry ports such as Dover being a popular entry point into the UK for organised crime groups:

“We’re doing a lot to fight back against it,” Brough said, adding that compared to other European countries, the availability in the UK was relatively lower.
==========

France...

ris attacks highlight France's gun control problems

The arsenal of weapons deployed by the eight attackers who terrorised Paris on Friday night underlined France’s gun control problems and raised the spectre of further attacks.

The country has extremely strict weapons laws, but Europe’s open borders and growing trade in illegal weapons means assault rifles are relatively easy to come by on the black market.


===============
France’s real gun problem

Despite these strict laws, France seems to be awash with guns. The guns used in high-profile terror attacks are really just the tip of the iceberg. In 2012, French authorities estimated that there were around 30,000 guns illegally in the country, many likely used by gangs for criminal activities. Of those guns, around 4,000 were likely to be "war weapons," Le Figaro reported, referring to items such as the Kalashnikov AK-variant rifles and Uzis. Statistics from the National Observatory for Delinquency, a government body created in 2003, suggest that the number of guns in France has grown by double digits every year.

Sweden.....

IN DEPTH: What's behind the rise in gang violence across Sweden?

The weapon of choice for gangs are Kalashnikov automatic rifles. Imported from the Balkans, they are available for between 2,500 and 3,500 euros (around $2,800 to $3,950), although they become "more expensive in the event of an open conflict," according to Appelgren.
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Honour, debts, and prestige are serving as the pretext for an increasing number of deadly shootings that challenge the ideals of equality and social harmony on which modern Sweden was built.
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Last year more than 300 shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 135 injuries in Sweden.

While the overall homicide rate remains one of the lowest in the world, with one per 100,000 inhabitants according to police statistics, deadly shootings have been steadily rising and last year reached record levels. 2019 is also on track to create another unwanted record. In Stockholm the first six months of the year have seen as many killings as the whole of 2018.
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Sweden suffers surge in bomb attacks as gang violence rises

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A surge in drug-linked gang-violence in Sweden led to a 60% increase in bomb blasts in 2019, government statistics showed on Thursday, as police work to rid the streets of explosives and guns with more officers on patrol.
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Sweden has been hit by a wave of shootings and bombings over the past couple of years which police have linked to gang conflicts in major cities, shocking Swedes, who have long considered their country one of the safest in the world.

Some 257 bomb attacks were reported to police last year, up from 162 the previous year, the statistics from the National Council for Crime Prevention showed.

Japan....

The Great Japanese Gang Wars



The season for pineapples (yakuza slang for hand grenades) may finally be over. Jake Adelstein and Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky on the bloody, seven-year battle between the Dojin-kai and the Seido-kai.



In Southern Japan, the brutal pineapple season may finally be over; pineapple is yakuza slang for “hand grenade”—one of the many weapons utilized in a seven-year gang war between the Dojin-kai (1,000 members) and the splinter group the Kyushu Seido-kei (500 members).

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The Gangs That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
The Dojin-kai and the Seido-kai are Kyushu-based yakuza gangs, once part of the same faction founded in 1971 in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, by Isoji Koga. When the second generation Dojin-kai boss Seijiro Matsuo retired in May 2006, there was a fight over succession, and the group split into two factions, sparking a bloody gang war—where escalation seemed a matter of course. It started with shootings and bombs being thrown, and before it ended, the two gangs were lobbing grenades and Molotov cocktails, shooting machine guns, and sometimes attacking their own men.
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In May, a 9-year-old child found a hand grenade in a rice field in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, and took it home, to the astonishment of his father, who handed it over to the local police. According to the police, there were no yakuza headquarters where the grenade was found.

The numbers of grenades used and seized in the war became so problematic that by April 2012, the Fukuoka Prefecture Police became the first in Japan to offer cash rewards to anyone who reported finding a hand grenade.
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TOYAMA – Classes resumed at an elementary school in the city of Toyama on Tuesday amid tight security, a week after a man killed a security guard who worked at the school and a police officer, with a knife and a gun, as well as firing bullets at the school.

tl; dr

 

[2aguy]

This 15 year old girl made a powerful statement......it isn't the gun that is the problem.........

11-year-old girl brings loaded AR-15 to gun legislation hearing in Idaho

An 11-year-old girl appeared Monday at a legislative hearing in Idaho, toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Any one who would allow a 11 year old to carry a loaded weapon is a fucking idiot.

And you wonder why people don't want you fucking idiots handling guns.

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

That is why, you dumb ass....they are supervised by adults.....and millions of kids are using guns under adult supervision every single day......you have no idea what you are talking about.....you are an idiot.

I stated science. Putting a loaded gun in the hands of children is a mistake. They should never be handed a loaded weapon. The kids I see shooting, there is an adult with their hands on them.

I read an article from an expert gun trainer who said that people's brains are not fully developed to recognize risk until they are 26.

Your story said an 11 year old was toting a loaded weapon. That is fucking stupid & when gun people do this stupid shit, why should we allow them to carry in public?

Moron...again....millions of kids in this country use guns safely under the supervision of adults......that is a fact...

Also a fact, you are a moron.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

Moron...again....millions of kids in this country use guns safely under the supervision of adults......that is a fact...

Also a fact, you are a moron.

My father taught marksmanship in the Army and we went out with him so many times just plunking tin cans and the like.
We were taught gun safety and respect for a gun before anything else. It was as a youngster that I became informed
and comfortable around a gun.
When people educate themselves the hysteria and fear goes away.

 

[RealDave]

This 15 year old girl made a powerful statement......it isn't the gun that is the problem.........

11-year-old girl brings loaded AR-15 to gun legislation hearing in Idaho

An 11-year-old girl appeared Monday at a legislative hearing in Idaho, toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. Bailey Nielsen was with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Any one who would allow a 11 year old to carry a loaded weapon is a fucking idiot.

And you wonder why people don't want you fucking idiots handling guns.

Anyone who ever studied child psychology will tell you that the brain of a 11 year old is not fully developed especially the part that recognizes danger and calculate risk.

That is why, you dumb ass....they are supervised by adults.....and millions of kids are using guns under adult supervision every single day......you have no idea what you are talking about.....you are an idiot.

I stated science. Putting a loaded gun in the hands of children is a mistake. They should never be handed a loaded weapon. The kids I see shooting, there is an adult with their hands on them.

I read an article from an expert gun trainer who said that people's brains are not fully developed to recognize risk until they are 26.

Your story said an 11 year old was toting a loaded weapon. That is fucking stupid & when gun people do this stupid shit, why should we allow them to carry in public?

Moron...again....millions of kids in this country use guns safely under the supervision of adults......that is a fact...

Also a fact, you are a moron.

There may be qualified youth instructors but allowing a 11 year old to carry a loaded assault type rifle is
dumber than shit

 

[RealDave]

Moron...again....millions of kids in this country use guns safely under the supervision of adults......that is a fact...

Also a fact, you are a moron.

My father taught marksmanship in the Army and we went out with him so many times just plunking tin cans and the like.
We were taught gun safety and respect for a gun before anything else. It was as a youngster that I became informed
and comfortable around a gun.
When people educate themselves the hysteria and fear goes away.

Well educate yourself that children's brains are not developed well enough to addess risk.

In the 7th grade I represented my homeroom at a funeral for a classmate that had an accident while going to the barn to shoot rats. I'm sure his father thought he had taught him to respect guns too.

Child Psychology - get a book. Read it.