Assault Weapons

Apr 9 2013

Vice President Biden says Republicans are behind the times

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate’s top Democrat said Tuesday he will force a vote this week on whether to open debate on tougher gun laws, increasing pressure on legislators from both parties negotiating a possible compromise on a package that some Republicans have threatened to filibuster.

Jan 28 2013

Production, sale or marketing

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Without discussion, a Los Angeles City Council committee today approved a motion calling on the city’s three pension fund managers to divest from companies involved in the production, sale or marketing of assault weapons or high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The proposal was introduced earlier this month by Councilwoman Jan Perry, who said the city needs to respond to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children were killed.

Jan 10 2013

Senator Feinstein, other legislators pledge to pass new law

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to support the reinstatement of a federal ban on assault weapons.

A 1994 ban on certain automatic firearms expired 10 years later and attempts to renew it have failed. But some legislators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), have pledged to pass a new ban in light of the shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.

Charles Butler  |   OW Contributor
Dec 20 2012

Double standard in a murder capital

Illinois Sen. Donne Trotter, candidate for the now open second congressional seat, was arrested by TSA Wednesday before last for trying to board an airplane at O’Hare Airport with a handgun and ammunition. He has been charged with a Class 4 felony.

May 9 2011

Anti-tank rocket launcher recovered

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The city took control of more than 2,000 firearms during its annual gun buy-back program over the weekend, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today.

The event, held Saturday at a half-dozen locations across the city, yielded 91 assault weapons, the largest cache of that most dangerous weapon in the program's history, though the overall take was lower than last year, according to city officials.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.