U.S. Gun Industry Targets Europe For Sale of 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles
For Release: Wednesday, May 1, 2002 U.S. State Department Waffles on Export Licenses For Civilian Sale of “Superguns” European Civilians May Soon Buy U.S. Made 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles Like Those Used to Assassinate British Soldiers in Northern Ireland, Take…
Statement of Violence Policy Center in Response to Supreme Court Refusal to Hear Second Amendment Cases
For Release: Monday, June 10, 2002 Today the Supreme Court denied review in two cases in which criminal defendants had asked the high court to strike down federal gun laws on Second Amendment grounds. In briefs filed in Emerson v. United…
Attorney General Ashcroft Misled Congress and the American People on Legality of Checking Terrorist Gun Purchase Records
For Release: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 Washington, DC – Attorney General John Ashcroft misled Congress and the American public when he repeatedly stated that the Justice Department was legally prohibited from checking gun purchase records in connection with the post-9/11…
CIA Letter Raises Further Doubts About Barrett Story on Sale of 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles to Bin Laden
For Release: Tuesday, August 6, 2002 Agency That Ran Secret Afghan Aid Program Flatly Denies Role in Transfer of 25 Barrett Sniper Rifles to bin Laden Organization Letter Confirms Earlier VPC Report Based On Interviews With Former CIA Officials That…
H.R. 2037 Gives Special Protection to the Unregulated Gun Industry
For Release: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 WASHINGTON, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) strongly opposes H.R. 2037, a bill designed to shield the firearms industry from accountability for their products. The bill is scheduled for markup in the House…
VPC Assails Gun Industry Pandering to Sniper Subculture, Calls For Condemnation, Investigation, And Legislation to Stop Deadly Trade
For Release: Thursday, October 10, 2002 Statement of Tom Diaz, Senior Policy Analyst, Violence Policy Center: More than three years ago, the Violence Policy Center warned in its report One Shot, One Kill (May 1999) about a growing sniper subculture in the…
Statement of Violence Policy Center in Response To Florida Jury Verdict Against Gun Distributor
For Release: Fiday, November 15, 2002 On Thursday, November 14, 2002, a jury in Florida found Valor Corporation, a gun wholesaler, liable to the tune of $1.2 million for distributing into the marketplace a Saturday Night Special that failed to…
VPC Welcomes President Bush’s Reaffirmation of Campaign Pledge to Support Reauthorization of Federal Assault Weapons Ban
WASHINGTON, DC – On the eve of the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, President Bush has kept his 2000 campaign promise and reaffirmed his support for the federal ban on assault weapons, Knight Ridder news service reported this past weekend.…
VPC Study Explains Assault Weapons’ Spray-Fire Design
For Release: Thursday, May 22, 2003 Bullet Hoses Documents History of Assault Weapons, Shows That Widely Available Civilian Assault Weapons Incorporate Specific Military Design Features for “Laying Down a High Volume of Fire Over a Wide Killing Zone” WASHINGTON, DC…
U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Dismisses Terror Threat of Pistol Disguised as Pen
For Release: Monday, November 17, 2003 Manufacturer Reported to Have Sold 4,000 “Pen Guns,” Brags “No One Will Know It’s A Pistol” Washington, DC – The U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is continuing to…