A Google News search for "assault weapons," sorted by date, turns up this same story four times on the first page--this one from China, two from the UK and one from Australia.

english.people.com.cn/200603/23/eng20060323_252864.html

66-year-old guns down teen for walking across his lawn         "I just killed a kid," Charles Martin told the emergency services operator. "I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice." He had gunned down Larry Mugrage, his neighbours' 15-year-old son. The teenager's crime: walking across Martin's lawn on his way home. Martin opened fire from his house and then, according to the police, walked up to the wounded boy and pulled the trigger again at close range, killing him. Even in a country with a long history of gun violence, the killing of Larry Mugrage in a quiet Cincinnati suburb on Monday stands out as particularly senseless. Martin seems to have been liked well enough in the neat bungalow-lined streets of Union Township, but he appears to have been obsessed with the territorial integrity of his patchy lawn. Neighbours said he would work himself into a rage if they mowed a foot over the invisible dividing line separating their gardens. "He was really warped on that stuff," one local resident said. Even after killing a young boy, who was apparently running home to fetch a video game, Martin, 66, seemed indignant. "I've been harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up," he told the operator. "Kid's just been giving me a bunch of shit, making the other kids harass me and my place, tearing things up." "Okay, so what'd you do?" the police dispatcher asked. "I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice." "You shot him with a shotgun? Where is he?" "He's laying in his yard," Martin said in a tone of calm satisfaction, as if he had just disposed of a dangerous animal. Larry Mugrage, a popular hard-working and clever schoolboy, added his name to a high and persistent death toll. A child is killed by a gun every three hours in the United States. According to the latest statistics, nearly 1,000 children under 19 are shot dead every year. Another 800 use guns to commit suicide, and more than 160 die in firearm accidents. Forty per cent of US households own guns, but those guns are 22 times more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting, or 11 times more likely to be used in a suicide, than in self-defence. On average, more than 80 Americans are killed by gunfire every day. But the US gun control debate has faded from the political scene. The Democrats, desperate to win support in conservative states where gun ownership rights are sacrosanct, have muted their enthusiasm for regulation. The party's last presidential candidate, John Kerry, made sure he was pictured shooting ducks at the height of the campaign in Ohio, a swing state. "The gun control debate on the national stage is non-existent for the time being," said Jens Ludwig, an expert on the issue at Georgetown University. "There are growing rumblings in Democratic circles that gun control is hurting them in the southern and western states they are trying to win." Instead, the cause has been left largely to pressure groups which have been repeatedly bulldozed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA). A nationwide ban on assault weapons such as semi-automatic rifles expired in 2004, and other restrictions have been rolled back state by state. Martin had every right to his 11mm bore shotgun. Ohio does not require anyone buying any firearm to have a permit. Nor does the state require gun owners to have a licence, although some inner city municipalities have stricter rules. Most state legislatures considering gun legislation are seeking to relax the remaining controls. Last year, Florida introduced a law giving its citizens the right to "stand their ground" and open fire, even in a public place, if they feel threatened, and the gun lobby is trying to pass a bill in the state that would allow workers to bring guns into their workplace with or without their employer's consent. Under pressure from the NRA, the Republican-run House of Representatives is investigating the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for "abuse" of its power for cracking down on rural "gun shows" where controls on sales are generally looser. Larry Mugrage will be mourned in Union Township as another victim of inexplicable rage, but the means used to kill him are unlikely to raise many eyebrows. Controls on shotgun ownership have never really been on the table in the debate, and that has been over for more than a year on the national stage. Source: China Daily

Oh, the UK Guardian has some additional paragraphs tacked on the end:

Larry Mugrage will be mourned in Union Township as another victim of inexplicable rage, but the means used to kill him are unlikely to raise many eyebrows. Controls on shotgun ownership have never really been on the table in the debate, and that has been over for more than a year on the national stage. Mr Martin would have been within his constitutional rights to guard his lawn with an AK-47. The 911 call Charles Martin called the emergency services operator after attacking Larry Mugrage. This is a transcript: Martin I've been being harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up. Kid's just been giving me a bunch of shit, making the other kids harass me and my place, tearing things up. Operator OK, so what'd you do? Martin I shot him with a goddamn 410 shotgun twice. Operator You shot him with a shotgun? Where is he? Martin He's laying in his yard. Guns in America 32.6% of adults keep guns in or around their home , according to a 2002 survey. An estimated 40% own a gun 30,136 people were killed by firearms in the US in 2003; 730 of these were accidental 1.3m rifles were manufactured in the US in 2004; as well as an estimated 294,000 revolvers; 728,500 pistols; and 732,000 shotguns. Only 132,50o of these weapons were exported

Perhaps the Brits and Aussies would be more comfortable if the guy was bludgeoned to death with a Cricket Bat.

it's nice to see that even foreign news sources are spouting those same "...you are 40% more likely to be killed with your own gun." bull shit statistics.

Correct me if I am wrong but I once read New Zeland's gun laws and their definition of AW was basically the same as our now defunct 94' ban.  

I am sure the Aussies and the Brits had some similar definitions at the same time.  Its not hard to figure out how to ban rifles because of their "evil" features and let the people have little in return.  

Plus, the libtards in these countries are still trying to justify in their heads what they did by saying "look, we did a good thing by banning guns whil in the EVIL USA they still have them.  Look what happens when people have guns!!!  We saved you from what the USA goes through by banning them.  Kiss our libtard asses!!!!"

Well, they don't exactly say that, but you get the idea.

Keep pushing people and eventually you push them over the line.

Kid found the limit. Too bad for the both of them.  If his parents had have made him leave the old man alone everything would be rosy.

rj

Quoted: Yet in any of their countries, the nutjob gardner would likely have been entitled to have his .410 as those are not banned in those countries and prior to this incident, he had done nothing to warrant prohibition.

I was thinking the same thing.

Don't you just love it when news articles spout BS "statistics" without citing a source to back them up? I mean, they didn't even attempt to cite a source at all in this one. At least sometimes they cite bogus sources, but they were too lazy to even do that.

According to what latest statistics?

Here, I'm going to make up own my statistic: news articles are full of shit 99% of the time.

Now I'm going to make a statement.

According to the latest statistics, news articles are full of shit 99% of the time.

Hmmm, see how that works?

The sad thing is that people just eat this stuff up without realizing that they were just served a pile of shit on a silver platter.

Why would foreign countries give two shits what happens in the US?

Quoted: Why would foreign countries give two shits what happens in the US?

www.un.org/events/smallarms2006/

Quoted: Why would foreign countries give two shits what happens in the US?

Admiral Yamamoto is reputed to have said, “You cannot invade America. There is a rifle behind every blade of grass.”

That's why

Quoted: Quoted: Why would foreign countries give two shits what happens in the US? www.un.org/events/smallarms2006/

Quoted: Quoted: Why would foreign countries give two shits what happens in the US? Admiral Yamamoto is reputed to have said, “You cannot invade America. There is a rifle behind every blade of grass.” That's why

Put it perfectly in a nutshell right there.

I had a neighbor just like Charles Martin when I was a kid.  
He tried to shoot my brother.  

My mother sent me the Guardian article.  Here's what I sent her back:

The guy was a jackass, that's not the gun's fault.


> Larry Mugrage, a popular hard-working and clever schoolboy, added his name to
> a high and persistent death toll. A child is killed by a gun every three hours
> in America. According to the latest statistics, nearly 1,000 children under 19
> are shot dead every year. Another 800 use guns to commit suicide, and more
> than 160 die in firearm accidents.

There are 8 3-hour periods in a day, and 365 days in a year.  That would mean that 2,920 are killed, not 1000.  So, which is it?  At least one figure is a blatant lie, and probably both.  Or is "shot dead" including murder AND suicide?  That would still be only 1,800.  I also find it fascinating that the suicide total is so close to the murder total.  I am also curious to see what their stats for other techniques of murder and suicide are.

Also... "children under 19"...? What the hell?  They are including 18 year olds in the child stats?  Last I checked, at 18 you can drive a car, vote, and join the Army.

While looking for CDC death stats, I found this, from "ifeminists"

http://www.wendymcelroy.com/ifeminists/2004/0303.html

Ha!  On her page, I also found the CDC death calculator that I was looking for, and looked up drowning deaths.  "Children" are as likely to drown as be shot.  Her point about the suicide rate is important too.  Japan has very strict gun laws and their suicide rate is through the roof.

> Forty per cent of American households own guns, but those guns are 22 times
> more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting, or 11 times more likely
> to be used in a suicide, than in self-defence. On average, more than 80
> Americans are killed by gunfire every day.

This statistic is bogus, because it only counts self-defense instances where the gun was fired and someone was injured badly enough to warrant a police report.  Also, 80 a day comes out to 29,200, while the CDC says for 2003 (the only year I found easily) the total, including NON-gun homicides was 17,638 (11,829 was the gun total)

I also break from the norm on this, but if someone wants to kill themselves, it's not my problem or anyone else's.  That's a private matter to be settled between them and their god.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm

> But the US gun control debate has faded from the political scene. The
> Democrats, desperate to win support in conservative states where gun ownership
> rights are sacrosanct, have muted their enthusiasm for regulation. The party's
> last presidential candidate, John Kerry, made sure he was pictured shooting
> ducks at the height of the campaign in Ohio, a swing state.

Did you know that much of John Kerry's grandstanding was preformed with a shotgun which would have been banned as an "assault weapon" by a poorly written and overly vague law that he endorsed?

viz: http://www.drudgereport.com/dncg.htm

Also, while looking for that bit of info, I found that apparently it would have been illegal for him to take his lovely gift back home:

http://www.gunlaws.com/Kerrys%20Illegal%20Shotgun.htm

> "The gun control debate on the national stage is non-existent for the time
> being," said Jens Ludwig, an expert on the issue at Georgetown University.
> "There are growing rumblings in Democratic circles that gun control is hurting
> them in the southern and western states they are trying to win."

Damned right.  As I understand it, at present 38 states now have "shall issue" concealed handgun permit laws, meaning that if you're not a felon you get to carry concealed.  Only a couple of backwaters like NY, CA, NJ and MD have crappy assault weapon laws similar to the federal ones that expired in 2004. (With a notable lack of increased bloodshed)

> Instead, the cause has been left largely to pressure groups which have been
> repeatedly bulldozed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA). A
> nationwide ban on assault weapons such as semi-automatic rifles expired in
> 2004, and other restrictions have been rolled back state by state.
>
> Mr Martin had every right to his .410 (11mm) bore shotgun. Ohio does not
> require anyone buying any firearm to have a permit. Nor does the state require
> gunowners to have a licence, although some inner city municipalities have
> stricter rules. Most state legislatures considering gun legislation are
> seeking to relax the remaining controls. Last year, Florida introduced a law
> giving its citizens the right to "stand their ground" and open fire, even in a
> public place, if they feel threatened, and the gun lobby is trying to pass a
> bill in the state that would allow workers to bring guns into their workplace
> with or without their employer's consent.

I agree with the stand your ground laws.  It's damned stupid to turn your back on someone intent on doing you harm.

> Under pressure from the NRA, the Republican-run House of Representatives is
> investigating the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
> for "abuse" of its power for cracking down on rural "gun shows" where controls
> on sales are generally looser.

"Gunshow loophole" explained:  Licensed dealers must do background checks when selling weapons.  Joe Citizen is allowed to sell a gun to his friend without any such checks. (These are called face-to-face transfers, and are legal only within a state, not across states.  Some states don't allow them, I think) So Joe goes to the gun show and wanders around offering to sell his gun. Dealer sales at shows are checked the same way as in a store.

> Larry Mugrage will be mourned in Union Township as another victim of
> inexplicable rage, but the means used to kill him are unlikely to raise many
> eyebrows. Controls on shotgun ownership have never really been on the table in
> the debate, and that has been over for more than a year on the national stage.
> Mr Martin would have been within his constitutional rights to guard his lawn
> with an AK-47.

Oooooh, the scary AK-47.  Personally I'd rather get shot with one round out of an AK than one out of a shotgun.  Regardless, the kid is dead.

> Guns in America32.6% of adults keep guns in or around their home , according
> to a 2002 survey. An estimated 40% own a gun
>
> 30,136 people were killed by firearms in the US in 2003; 730 of these were
> accidental

LIES!!!! LIES!!!! Look at the CDC page!

Do you have the email address of the idiot that wrote this?  I want to cc him.  I see that it's British, no wonder he hasn't got a clue what he's on about.

We need to make the media differentiate between AK47 and a new mediia safe CK47. Ak47's require a class III license and a CK is the semi auto civilian version

What do you think?

The whole situation is a sad thing. But if my neighbor is that waco a fence will go up. Or if the damned HOA won't allow I damned sure would tell my kids to stay the hell away from his grass. The guy needs to go to jail though. He should have used a paintballgun.