ReportWire

Tag: Weapons

  • Panel urges state to offer tax breaks for ‘personalized’ firearms

    BOSTON — A state panel is recommending that lawmakers carve out a sales tax break for “personalized” firearms as part of broader efforts to reduce gun deaths.

    In a report, the Special Legislative Commission on Emerging Firearm Technology calls for passage of legislation that would authorize a sales tax break for purchases of firearms equipped with the new technology and set penalties for firearms sellers and gun owners who violate the proposed regulations.


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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • The Shitposting Cartoon Dogs Sending Trucks, Drones, and Weapons to Ukraine’s Front Lines

    The Shitposting Cartoon Dogs Sending Trucks, Drones, and Weapons to Ukraine’s Front Lines

    The fundraising drives are organized on Discord, Signal, and Telegram—but not on X, the platform that the NAFO movement has thrived on for years.

    “People are being forced away from X, just because Russia basically bought the platform,” the UK-based fella tells WIRED, citing the prevalence of Russian bots and pro-Kremlin accounts allowed on the platform under Musk’s stewardship. X did not respond to a request for comment.

    One of the most successful and prolific NAFO fundraisers has been Ragnar Sass, who runs the NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade, which has raised more than $10 million to date for Ukrainian troops. That money has allowed Sass and his brigade to send more than 460 vehicles to Ukrainian troops, as well as more than 1,000 drones and other equipment to soldiers on the ground. They have even rescued 32 Ukrainian pets.

    Sass’s brigade not only supplies the trucks, but also kits them out with custom technology designed specifically for combat such as jammers and night vision cameras. The trucks and jeeps are then painted, including NAFO lettering, and driven in convoys to the front lines in Ukraine.

    “What makes us different, is that we are analyzing every week what are the most effective electronic warfare solutions,” Sass tells WIRED while coordinating his brigade’s 33rd convoy to the Ukrainian front lines.

    Sass is an Estonian entrepreneur and cofounder of cloud-based software company Pipedrive, which was valued at more than $1 billion in 2020. He has been operating in Ukraine for more than a decade, and in 2019 launched a startup incubator in Kiev called Lift99.

    When the war broke out in early 2022, Sass donated $20,000 to the Ukrainian army. “Many people followed, and by the end of day, we collected $200,000,” Sass says. By March 2022, Sass had organized his first convoy of 14 cars, and by June of that year, he joined with NAFO.

    Sass’ operation incentivizes donations by offering a patch to anyone who donates more than €100 ($110), and he says to date they have sent out more than 10,000 patches to donors in more than 50 countries.

    The NAFO fundraisers are needed, Sass says, because of the glacial pace that organizations like NATO operate in response to wartime situations.

    “We are the fastest and most effective,” Sass says. “We can fundraise and deliver help in a matter of days. Like we did with Kursk: We started a campaign on Thursday evening. Next week, car and drones were handed over to units in Kursk. This war will be won by drones, and NATO procurement is from the stone age.”

    David Gilbert

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  • What the US Army’s 1959 ‘Soldier of Tomorrow’ Got Right About the Future of Warfare

    What the US Army’s 1959 ‘Soldier of Tomorrow’ Got Right About the Future of Warfare

    Then there’s the matter of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), the Army’s futuristic “smart” goggles. Currently based on a ruggedized version of the Microsoft HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, the IVAS is both night vision goggles and futuristic heads-up display, capable of feeding sensor inputs into a soldier’s line of sight. The Army has long experimented with helmet-mounted displays for decades as part of various “future warrior” programs, and the IVAS hasn’t been immune to the pitfalls of previous efforts—namely, complaints from soldiers about “mission-affecting physical impairments” like headache, nausea, and discomfort associated with prolonged use. And the future of the long-delayed headset now appears uncertain anyway: According to Breaking Defense, the service may end up going back to the drawing board with a new primary contractor for the sophisticated system as part of its IVAS Next initiative after auditing its existing night vision goggle capabilities. Still, between the ENVG-B and IVAS, helmet-mounted night vision devices have progressed far beyond anything Sawicki’s chain of command had previously imagined.

    Armor Up

    The bulletproof vest and camouflage suit combination that Sawicki donned for his AUSA debut, referred to in contemporaneous publications as “layered nylon armor” and “layered nylon vest,” is actually a bit closer to modern Army personal protective equipment than the flak jackets that were accompanying soldiers downrange during the Vietnam War. Currently under development, the Soldier Protection System (SPS) offers modern soldiers a “lightweight modular, scalable and tailorable suite of protective equipment,” according to the Army’s description. What this really means is that the protective ensemble comes in several different pieces that work together to maximize soldier survivability without impairing mobility; in terms of body armor, this refers primarily to the soft armor Torso and Extremity Protection subsystem and the hard armor Vital Torso Protection subsystem that, using reinforced ceramic plates, offer improved ballistic protection against small arms fire.

    Protecting soldiers from bullets is one thing, but protecting them from the effects of nuclear explosions, as Army leaders told The New York Times Sawicki’s suit would, is another thing entirely—at least, in terms of equipment. While the well-worn Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) ensemble has been safeguarding Americans service members against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats for years, it’s an entirely separate system of personal protective gear rather than one integrated into the SPS or the standard-issue Army Combat Uniform. And while the 1959 design calls for specially designed “‘welded’ combat boots” and “molded plastic gloves” to help protect soldiers on an irradiated battlefield, modern troops must, unfortunately, go into battle with their Army Regulation 670-1-authorized boots and tactical gloves, apart from what’s in their MOPP kit. Then again, if the nukes do start flying, nobody will survive long enough for ground combat anyway.

    Bullet Time

    While the 1959 “soldier of tomorrow” appears armed with an M14, advances in firearms technology have long since left the beloved battle rifle in the dust. The Army began replacing the M14 with the lighter-weight 5.56-mm M16 assault rifle in the late 1960s, which was itself replaced by the shorter-barreled M4 carbine during the Global War on Terror in the 2000s. Replacing the M16 and M4 family of rifles has proven difficult in the past, but it’s safe to say that the promises from Army brass in 1959 of a lighter standard-issue rifle for soldiers have, for the most part, come true in the intervening decades—even if the new XM7 rifle, recently adopted under the service’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program, is actually noticeably heavier than the M4.

    So, too, has the promise of “new high-velocity bullets.” While the Army in the early 2000s fielded the 5.56-mm M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round for improved performance over the standard M855 ammo previously adopted in the 1980s, the service undertook a major small arms study in 2017 to determine whether soldiers required a different caliber ammunition to deal with the sudden proliferation of body armor among adversaries. The study determined that the Army’s next rifle should come chambered in 6.8 mm, which would purportedly offer significantly improved performance at range compared to both 5.56-mm and 7.62-mm rounds. From there, the Army ended up selecting Sig Sauer to produce its two 6.8mm NGSW systems in 2022, weapons the service began officially fielding earlier this year. It may have taken several decades, but the Army’s new high-velocity round is finally here.

    Rocket Man

    While certain elements of Sawicki’s combat kit are clearly represented in recent military innovations, others simply never came to fruition. The automatic foxhole-digging charges, for example, never materialized as an effective replacement for the beloved handheld entrenching tool, despite their prevalence among military futurists at the time. But if there’s one vision that has persisted in military and defense circles, it’s that of jetpack-equipped troops.

    The Defense Department has pursued the militarized jetpack for decades, starting with research and development in the 1950s and culminating in October 1961 with the successful demonstration of Bell Aerosystems’s Small Rocket Lift Device (or, colloquially, the “Bell Rocket Belt”) for President John F. Kennedy at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Army ended up abandoning development of the Rocket Belt over fuel constraints that limited its potential tactical applications, but US military planners would revisit the concept time and again in subsequent decades.

    Jared Keller

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  • Healey moves to implement gun control law

    Healey moves to implement gun control law

    BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is moving to implement a tough new gun control law in response to a lawsuit challenging its provisions and a effort to repeal the restrictions.

    On Wednesday, Healey signed an executive order attaching an emergency preamble to the bill she signed in July that expanded the state’s bans on “assault” weapons and high-capacity magazines, outlawed so-called “ghost” guns and set new restrictions on open carry of firearms, among other provisions.

    Gun control groups praised the rare maneuver, which they said is aimed at blocking an effort by critics of the new law to block its implementation as they gather signatures to put the issue before voters in two years.

    “After years of advocating for these gun safety measures to become law, we weren’t going to stand by and let the gun lobby get in the way of our progress,” Anne Thalheimer, a survivor fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network, said in a statement. “We’re grateful to Governor Healey for standing with us and taking decisive action to ensure that this lifesaving law is implemented.”

    But the Massachusetts Gun Owners’ Action League, which has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the law’s training and licensing requirements, said Healey’s “radical move” signing the executive order makes hundreds of thousands of lawful gun owners across the state into “felons in waiting.”

    He accused the governor and Democratic lawmakers of waging a “consistent effort to silence our voices and mislead the general public.”

    “Ever since this tantrum against the Supreme Court decision Bruen started last year, the so-called ‘process’ has become even more putrid,” said Jim Wallace, GOAL’s executive director, in a statement. “At every turn, the Legislature and now the governor, have avoided honest public input, especially from the 2A [Second Amendment] community.”

    Wallace said despite the order the group is still urging the federal judge to issue a temporary injunction to block the law from going into effect as the ballot initiative and legal challenge plays out in court.

    Besides the legal fight, critics of the new law or gathering signatures to put the question before voters in the 2026 election. They argue that the restrictions will hurt businesses, cost jobs and deprive legal gun owners of their constitutional rights.

    The new law, which passed despite objections from the Legislature’s Republican minority, added dozens of long rifles to a list of prohibited guns under the state’s assault weapons ban, and outlawed the open carry of firearms in government buildings, polling places and schools, with exemptions for law enforcement officials.

    It also set strict penalties for possession of modification devices such as so-called “Glock switches” that convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic, military-style weapons. The state’s red flag law, which allows a judge to suspend the gun license of someone deemed at risk to themselves or others, was also expanded under the legislation.

    Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including real-time license checks for private gun sales and stiff penalties for gun-based crimes.

    Gun control advocates argue the strict requirements have given the largely urban state one of the lowest gun-death rates in the nation, while not infringing on the right to bear arms.

    Despite those trends, Democrats who pushed the gun control bill through the Legislature argued that gun violence is still impacting communities across the state whether by suicide, domestic violence or drive-by shootings.

    Second Amendment groups have long argued that the tougher gun control laws are unnecessary, and punish law-abiding gun owners while sidestepping the issue of illegal firearms.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Protesters gather outside Raytheon

    Protesters gather outside Raytheon

    ANDOVER — Massachusetts Peace Action and Merrimack Valley People for Peace held a peace protest Thursday outside defense contractor Raytheon’s plant, 362 Lowell St.

    The two groups were stationed outside the plant’s front gate as a statement against nuclear weapons and Raytheon’s involvement in developing weapons for the U.S. military.

    Planned protests mark the International Days of Action Against Nuclear Weapons.

    Another protest is set from noon to 1 p.m. Sunday in Shawsheen Square at the intersection of Routes 28 and 133.

    By Angelina Berube | aberube@eagletribune.com

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  • 2 students arrested with weapons at El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento

    2 students arrested with weapons at El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento

    THESE THREATS, AND TWO STUDENTS WERE ARRESTED FOR BRINGING WEAPONS TO SCHOOL IN SACRAMENTO. DEPUTIES SAY SCHOOL STAFF FOUND THE TWO STUDENTS WITH WEAPONS AROUND 930 THIS MORNING AT EL CAMINO FUNDAMENTAL HIGH SCHOOL. A 14 YEAR OLD REPORTEDLY HAD AN AIRSOFT GUN WITH THE ORANGE TIP REMOVED IN HIS WAISTBAND. HE’S NOW BEEN SENT TO JUVENILE HALL OFFICIALS SAY A 15 YEAR OLD HAD TWO POCKET KNIVES. HE WAS RELEASED TO HIS PARENTS. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS WHILE THE TWO STUDENTS KNEW EA

    2 students arrested with weapons at El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento

    The students knew each other but did not appear to have collaborated or be planning violence, the sheriff’s office said.

    Two students were arrested with weapons Monday morning at El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento, according to the sheriff’s office.A 14-year-old had been showing other students what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. The gun was actually an airsoft pistol with its orange tip removed. He was taken to Juvenile Hall. The other student, a 15-year-old, was found to be in possession of two knives. He was cited and released to his parents. The students knew each other but did not appear to have collaborated or be planning violence, the sheriff’s office said. The arrests are the latest among several involving weapons at schools or social media threats of violence in recent days across the region.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter

    Two students were arrested with weapons Monday morning at El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento, according to the sheriff’s office.

    A 14-year-old had been showing other students what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. The gun was actually an airsoft pistol with its orange tip removed. He was taken to Juvenile Hall.

    The other student, a 15-year-old, was found to be in possession of two knives. He was cited and released to his parents.

    The students knew each other but did not appear to have collaborated or be planning violence, the sheriff’s office said.

    The arrests are the latest among several involving weapons at schools or social media threats of violence in recent days across the region.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter

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  • Suspected Trump Gunman Was Once Charged With Possession of a Weapon of Mass Destruction

    Suspected Trump Gunman Was Once Charged With Possession of a Weapon of Mass Destruction

    Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected gunman involved in an apparent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida on Sunday, was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction over 20 years ago.

    “I figured he was either dead or in prison by now,” Tracy Fulk, the charging officer in the case, tells WIRED. “I had no clue that he had moved on and was continuing his escapades.”

    According to court records from the Guilford District Court in North Carolina obtained by WIRED, Routh was arrested by the Greensboro Police Department on December 16, 2002.

    Local reporting from Greensboro News and Record in 2002 states that Routh was pulled over by police during a traffic stop. Routh then drove to the business United Roofing, where he proceeded to barricade himself for three hours, the police said at the time.

    Fulk says he was well known in the area, and that police would get alerts about him allegedly related to, as she remembers, weapons and explosives.

    “One night I recognized him in his vehicle,” she says. “I knew he didn’t have a driver’s license, so I stopped him right in front of his roofing shop, which was what used to be on Lee Street in Greensboro. He stopped, and as I approached his truck he pulled a sack away from the center of the seat, and I saw a gun. So of course I drew my gun and started saying, ‘Hey! Show me your hands, show me your hands.’ And he just basically pulled into his driveway and ran into his house. So we ended up having a [Special Response Team] callout and a big standoff for a couple of hours before they went in and we arrested him.”

    Routh was charged with possession of a fully automatic machine gun, referred to in court filings as a weapon of mass destruction. He was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, as well as driving without a valid license and resisting, delaying, and obstructing law enforcement, according to Greensboro News and Record.

    While the disposition of the case isn’t entirely clear, Routh did plead guilty to carrying a concealed gun.

    Trump was not harmed on Sunday while playing golf. Law enforcement apprehended Routh after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle sticking out of a perimeter fence on the course and engaged with the threat, firing at least four rounds in that direction. It’s unclear whether the gunman fired a shot. Law enforcement later found an AK-47 style rifle with a scope and a GoPro in the bushes.

    Law enforcement personnel investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club after an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

    Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    Leah Feiger, Tim Marchman

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  • Gun control foes push to repeal restrictions

    Gun control foes push to repeal restrictions

    BOSTON — Opponents of Massachusetts’ new gun control law are gearing up to repeal the tough restrictions, which they say will hurt businesses, cost jobs and deprive people of their constitutional rights.

    A law signed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey in July expanded the state’s bans on “assault” weapons and high-capacity magazines, outlawed so-called “ghost” guns and set new restrictions on the open carry of firearms, among other provisions.

    The move was in response to concerns about mass shootings and gun violence.

    But critics of the new restrictions say they are unconstitutional and argue the changes will do little to reduce gun violence. They’ve started gathering signatures on petitions to put a repeal of the law before voters in the 2026 elections.

    The chief organizer of the repeal effort, Cape Cod Gun Works owner Toby Leary, said on Thursday that the petition-gathering effort is well underway and he is seeing strong support for putting the question on the ballot.

    “A lot of businesses and jobs are at stake,” Leary said during a livestreamed briefing sponsored by the state’s Republican Party. “The effects of this law on businesses will be catastrophic. Jobs will be lost. Businesses and livelihoods will be lost.”

    Leary said among the many concerns gun shop owners have about the new restrictions is that the expansion of banned firearms will reduce the kinds of rifles and other weapons that can be sold in the state, which will hurt bottom lines. He estimates about 50% of his business will be “put on hold” if the law isn’t repealed.

    “But this is also about freedom,” Leary said. “This law is so unconstitutional on every level. A lot of ordinary people are going to run afoul of this law.”

    Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including real-time license checks for private gun sales and stiff penalties for gun-based crimes.

    Gun control advocates argue the strict requirements have given the largely urban state one of the lowest gun-death rates in the nation, while not infringing on the right to bear arms.

    Despite those trends, Democrats who pushed the gun control bill thorough the Legislature argued that gun violence is still impacting communities across the state whether by suicide, domestic violence or drive-by shootings.

    Second Amendment groups have long argued that the tougher gun control laws are unnecessary, and punish law-abiding gun owners while sidestepping the issue of illegal firearms.

    The new law, which passed despite objections from the Legislature’s Republican minority, added dozens of long rifles to a list of prohibited guns under the assault weapons ban, and outlawed the open carry of firearms in government buildings, polling places and schools, with exemptions for law enforcement officials.

    It sets strict penalties for possession of modification devices such as Glock switches that convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic, military-style weapons. The state’s red flag law, which allows a judge to suspend the gun license of someone deemed at risk to themselves or others, was also expanded under the law.

    The repeal effort is one of several seeking to block the law. The Massachusetts Gun Owners’ Action League, which is affiliated with the National Rifle Association, plans to file a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the new law’s training and licensing requirements. Other legal challenges are expected.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • The Japanese Robot Controversy Lurking in Israel’s Military Supply Chain

    The Japanese Robot Controversy Lurking in Israel’s Military Supply Chain

    Japan, for example, makes it relatively easy to export dual-use technologies to the United States and Europe, and vice versa. Because they are recognized as trusted countries under Japanese export law, companies in those states are generally free to use Japanese dual-use technology to produce arms—and to, in turn, export those arms to other states (subject to their own export controls).

    This, itself, has drawn the BDS activists’ ire: They want FANUC to end its relationship with American defense contractors like General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, which sell considerable advanced weaponry to Israel. “We demand that such business relationships be immediately terminated and that the two companies never do business with each other again,” Imano said in June. But the activists go further, arguing that FANUC is, despite what it says publicly, actually doing business with Israeli defense firms.

    “FANUC sells its robots and provides maintenance and inspection services to Israeli military companies such as Elbit Systems,” Imano claimed.

    FANUC has denied this charge. “When we sell products to Israel, we carry out the necessary transaction screening in accordance with Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, confirm the user’s business activities and intended use, and do not sell to Israel if the products are for military use,” the company wrote to HuffPost.

    The company added that, after reviewing their records of the past five years, “we have not sold any products for military use to the Israeli companies Elbit Systems, IAI, BSEL, Rosenshine Plast, or AMI from our company or our European subsidiary. We have also not sold any products for military use to other Israeli companies from our company or our European subsidiary.” The company identified one instance where one of their robotic arms had been sold to an Israeli company that produces military hardware “after confirming that the machine was to be used for civilian medical purposes.”

    At the same time, the company admitted that when they sell through intermediaries, of which Israel has several, they are not always able to guarantee “who the final customer is.”

    There is, however, ample evidence that suggests FANUC arms have made their way into the Israel defense manufacturing sector. Multiple job listings posted by Elbit Systems, the primary domestic supplier of the Israel Defense Forces, list “knowledge of FANUC … controls” as either an advantage to job applicants or a requirement. One such job listing, from June, comes from Elbit Cyclone, the division that won a contract to produce fuselage components for the F-35 fighter jet. In January, Israel’s Ministry of Defense published a video showing a FANUC robotic arm at an Elbit factory, handling munitions.

    Another Israeli company, Bet Shemesh Engines (BSEL), more than a decade ago created marketing videos and uploaded photos to their company website featuring the FANUC robotic arms. The CV of a former employee suggests the company used FANUC robotics to assemble aircraft engines, which may be used for civilian rather than military purposes. Bet Shemesh counts the Israeli Air Force as a major client.

    Justin Ling

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  • Three people charged for allegedly smuggling weapons, phones and drugs into Philly prison

    Three people charged for allegedly smuggling weapons, phones and drugs into Philly prison

    Three people were indicted Thursday on federal charges with bribery for allegedly conspiring to smuggle weapons, narcotics and phones into the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in Holmesburg.

    Breyanna Cornish, 29, and Jawayne Brown, 40, of Philadelphia, allegedly plotted with Ahmad Nasir, 43, an inmate currently at SCI Greene, a maximum-security prison in Franklin Township, Pennsylvania.

    MORE: Whizz to begin renting electronic bikes for delivery riders in Philly in September

    Brown and Nasir received additional charges for conspiracy to possess Suboxone with intent to distribute. The Schedule III controlled substance is typically used to treat opioid addiction.

    The trio now face potentially lengthy sentences and hefty fines. If convicted, Cornish could spend up 15 years in prison and pay a $500,000 fine, while Brown would face a maximum sentence of 25 years and a $1 million fine. Nasir faces the steepest sentence, with a possible 35 years’ imprisonment and $1.5 million fine.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not release further details on the alleged conspiracy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the case.

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    Kristin Hunt

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  • Gun rights group chips in $100K for court challenge

    Gun rights group chips in $100K for court challenge

    BOSTON — A national gun rights group pledges to help fund a legal challenge to overturn the state’s tough new gun control law that critics say will do little to prevent gun violence while depriving people of their constitutional rights.

    The Firearm Industry Trade Association said it has donated $100,000 to the Massachusetts Gun Owners’ Action League to support the group’s legal challenge against new restrictions on firearms licensing signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey.

    “Massachusetts is known as a birthplace of the American Revolution, but these lawmakers have turned their backs to rights that belong to the people and instead are instituting an Orwellian state over the citizens of the Commonwealth,” Lawrence G. Keane, the association’s senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

    “The fight to protect liberty and individual rights begins anew and we are confident that when federal courts apply scrutiny to this law, it will be relegated to the trash bin where it belongs,” Keane said.

    The new law, signed by Healey last month, adds dozens of long rifles to a list prohibited under the state’s “assault” weapons ban and outlaws the open carry of firearms in government buildings, polling places and schools, with exemptions for law enforcement officials.

    It sets strict penalties for possession of modification devices such as Glock switches that convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic, military-style weapons. The measure also expands the state’s red flag law, which allows a judge to suspend the gun license of someone deemed at risk to themselves or others.

    Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including real-time license checks for private gun sales and stiff penalties for gun-based crimes.

    But Second Amendment groups argue tougher gun control laws are unnecessary and punish law-abiding gun owners while sidestepping the issue of illegal firearms.

    GOAL, which is affiliated with the National Rifle Association, has dubbed the restrictions the “The Devil’s Snare” and say it represents the greatest attack on civil rights in modern U.S. history. The group has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the new law’s training and licensing requirements. Other legal challenges are expected.

    Members of the group have also filed a petition with the Secretary of State’s Office to begin gathering signatures on a petition to put a repeal of the law before voters next year. The group wants to suspend the law ahead of a 2026 statewide referendum.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Arrested, Pro-Palestine UT Dallas Students Battle Against Their Own School

    Arrested, Pro-Palestine UT Dallas Students Battle Against Their Own School

    Nine students and recent graduates of University of Texas at Dallas who were arrested in May during pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus now face the possibility of not receiving their degrees. Some of those being disciplined by the school were present at a Tuesday news conference in a park near the campus to announce they’ll fight the charges against them…

    Jacob Vaughn

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 885

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 885

    As the war enters its 885th day, these are the main developments.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 851

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 851

    As the war enters its 851st day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

    Fighting

    • At least five people were killed and 41 injured, including four children, after a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to Donetsk regional Governor Vadym Filashkin. About 61,000 people lived in Pokrovsk, which is about 24km (15 miles) from the front line, before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
    • Two people were killed in the northeastern region of Kharkiv when their car hit a Russian antitank mine near the border village of Lyptsi.
    • One man was killed in the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, after a Russian-guided aerial bomb attack.
    • Four people were injured after a Russian cruise missile hit a warehouse in the southern port city of Odesa, sparking a fire that spread across 3,000 square metres (3,590 square yards), Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said.
    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol as the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces after he was accused of incompetence and abuse of power, replacing him with Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov.
    • The Ukrainian military said it registered 715 cases of the use of ammunitions containing “hazardous chemical compounds” by Russian forces in May.
    Some of the people injured in the Russian attack on Pokrovsk receive hospital treatment [Alina Smutko/Reuters]

    Politics and diplomacy

    • The Kremlin warned the United States of “consequences” and summoned its ambassador after a Ukrainian attack on Moscow-annexed Crimea killed four people. Russia said the attack was carried out with US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles and claimed Washington bore responsibility.
    • In response to the Russian claims, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States regretted any civilian loss of life and that Russia was to blame for the war. “We provide weapons to Ukraine so it can defend its sovereign territory against armed aggression — that includes in Crimea which, of course, is part of Ukraine,” Miller told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said that Ukrainians “make their own decisions”.
    • Zelenskyy told Colonel Oleksii Morozov, the new chief of Ukraine’s state guard, to clear its ranks of people discrediting the service after two of its officers were accused of plotting with Russia to assassinate senior officials. The guard provides security for various government officials.
    • Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a visit to Beijing that he hoped China would “support efforts to strive for a peaceful end to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine,” that respects international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
    • The US said it would help print 3 million new textbooks for Ukrainian primary schools, after a Russian strike destroyed the Faktur-Druk printing house in Kharkiv in May.
    • The European Union imposed sanctions on 61 more companies, including 19 in China, for allegedly providing “dual-use goods and technology”, which could be used by Russia’s defence and security firms to advance its invasion of Ukraine. Others targeted included companies from Russia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, India, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.
    • The EU was due to open membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday at a ceremony in Luxembourg.

    Weapons

    • The US is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will send an additional $150m in critically-needed munitions to Ukraine. The shipment is expected to include munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), anti-armour weapons, small arms and grenades and 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, two US officials told the Associated Press news agency.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

    As the war enters its 813th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Friday, May 17, 2024.

    Fighting

    • Visiting Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the northeast was “extremely difficult” but “under control” after the military partially halted a Russian advance, most notably thwarting an invasion of Vovchansk, 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia.
    • Sergiy Bolvinov, the head of police investigations in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, accused Russia of taking “30 to 40” civilians captive in Vovchansk to use as “human shields” near their command centre.
    • General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said he did not believe Russia’s military had the troop numbers to make a strategic breakthrough in the Kharkiv region and he was confident Ukrainian forces would hold their lines there.
    • Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia was directing its most intense assaults on the front line near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia’s offensive has been unrelenting for months.
    • An air raid alert in the northeastern Kharkiv region remained in place for more than 16 and a half hours amid Russian drone and missile attacks. Officials said five drones hit parts of the city of Kharkiv, starting a fire. There were no reports of casualties. The alert was lifted in the early hours of Friday.
    • Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said a woman and her four-year-old son were killed when their car was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Two other people in the vehicle were injured.

    Politics and diplomacy

    • Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two held talks, walked in a park and drank tea. Xi said the two countries’ deepening relationship was a “stabilising force” in the world and that he hoped the war in Ukraine could be resolved peacefully. China has not condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Putin said he was grateful for China’s efforts to resolve the crisis.
    • Russia expelled Adrian Coghill, the United Kingdom’s defence attache, from Moscow a week after Britain ordered Russia’s defence attache to leave London for being an “undeclared military intelligence officer”. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Moscow’s move was because Coghill “personified the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine“.
    • Sri Lanka said it would send a high-level delegation to Russia to investigate the fate of hundreds of nationals reportedly fighting in the war in Ukraine. The Defence Ministry said social media campaigns via WhatsApp have targeted ex-military personnel with promises of lucrative salaries and citizenship in Russia, warning its nationals not to be duped.

    Weapons

    • The United States announced sanctions on two Russian nationals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Russia had already used at least 40 North Korean-produced ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
    • Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang was selling weapons to Russia, saying it was a “most absurd theory”, according to state media. UN monitors have found debris from North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
    • Denmark said it would send Ukraine a new military aid package, mostly of air defence and artillery, worth about 5.6 billion Danish crowns ($815.47m).

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  • After year of hoaxes, real bomb targets Satanic Temple

    After year of hoaxes, real bomb targets Satanic Temple

    SALEM — Police say an actual explosive device was used against the Satanic Temple this week, following numerous hoax threats over the past year as well as an arrest of a man in January who had planned an attack.

    Salem police were called to the Satanic Temple around 4 p.m. Monday as staff arrived to find a previously activated explosive device on the property at 64 Bridge St. The incident was traced back to 4:14 a.m., when cameras captured a person throwing “an explosive device onto the porch of the Satanic Temple,” a police press release Monday night said.

    “No one was present in the building at the time,” the release read, “and the device and damage it caused were not discovered until staff arrived at approximately 4 p.m.”

    Addressing the matter Tuesday morning, Salem police Chief Lucas Miller said the Satanic Temple is “a target on a scale much larger than Salem, and I do think that we need to really examine security there.”

    “The Temple is very cooperative with the Police Department, and they’re receptive to any ideas we have about improving security, so that’s something we’ll be looking at very closely,” Miller said. “The FBI has joined this investigation, and they’re the big kids when it comes to law enforcement. They have really talented investigators and resources that a small police department doesn’t really have, so they’re a very welcome addition.”

    The Satanic Temple has been a regular target of hoax threats in recent years, with many of those threats also impacting the nearby Carlton Innovation School and in at least one case resulting in an evacuation of the school to Salem High. (tinyurl.com/2s4cc5f2)

    There had been two arrests, however, in separate incidents in the past two years. A Chelsea man was arrested in June 2022 for arson at the Satanic Temple after he set fire to the front porch, and earlier this year a Michigan man was arrested and charged in that state with planning to bomb the building. Authorities have not linked any of the incidents at this time.

    “Salem detectives have worked closely with Temple staff on investigating these threats and incidents,” the news release read. “The bombing is currently under investigation by detectives from the Salem Police Criminal Investigation Division, along with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.”

    Monday morning’s bombing could have been worse, Miller explained.

    “The device failed to cause as much damage as we believed the person who threw it intended, but it did cause damage and did ignite,” he said. “But it didn’t have nearly as powerful an effect as the perpetrator intended.”

    The Carlton School was operating normally Tuesday morning, Miller said. The Police Department has “spread out both our school resource officers and our regular beat officers to pay specific attention to schools today,” he added.

    “The schools weren’t the target here. The Satanic Temple was,” Miller said. “With Carlton’s proximity, while concerning, there’s no indication the device was powerful enough to impact the school.”

    Mayor Dominick Pangallo also addressed the incident in a statement, saying “while I am glad no one was injured in this attack, I nevertheless condemn this action in the strongest possible way.

    “Salem is a welcoming place and violent attacks like this are utterly reprehensible,” Pangallo wrote. “On behalf of the city, I want to extend our support for the staff and members at the Temple and the residents of the neighborhood who have been impacted by this crime. We’ll continue working to identify ways to improve the security of the area, to help ensure the safety of all our community members.”

    By Dustin Luca | Staff Writer

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 775

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 775

    As the war enters its 775th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

    Fighting

    • At least three people were killed and eight injured in the southern city of Zaporizhzia after a Russian missile hit several apartment blocks, an industrial building as well as medical and educational facilities.
    • One woman was killed and three others injured after Russia attacked the town of Bilopillia in the northern Sumy region with guided bombs. The attack struck the centre of the town of 15,000 people, damaging shops and a city council building.
    • One person was killed and five injured, including three children, after Russian shelling triggered a fire and the collapse of a building roof, officials said.
    • Officials in Zvyahel in Ukraine’s central Zhytomyr region urged people to stay indoors amid fears of “air pollution” after a Russian drone attack hit infrastructure. No casualties were reported. Russia launched 24 drones on targets across Ukraine, authorities said, with 17 brought down.
    • Moscow requested an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s 35-nation Board of Governors over alleged Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Kyiv has denied attacking the plant, accusing Russia of spreading disinformation.
    • Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Russia had struck as much as 80 percent of Ukraine’s conventional power plants and half its hydroelectric plants in recent weeks in the heaviest attacks since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    Politics and diplomacy

    • United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Cameron will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday during a trip to the United States where he will urge Congress to pass a $60b aid package for Ukraine that has been blocked by Republicans.
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted a photo on Telegram showing Lavrov meeting Wang but gave no information on the content of their discussions.

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  • NH man arraigned on gun, assault charges in brewery incident

    NH man arraigned on gun, assault charges in brewery incident

    NEWBURYPORT — Donald Terenzoni, 35, of Newton, New Hampshire, was arraigned Friday on multiple gun and assault charges, stemming from an incident at True North Ale Brewery in Ipswich last week when his gun fired accidentally, injuring himself and three others.

    Terenzoni appeared in Ipswich District Court (which meets in Newburyport) and pleaded not guilty to charges of carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

    He is accused of accidentally or negligently discharging a firearm inside the brewery at 116 County Road on March 29.

    Terenzoni suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police, and three other individuals — including a juvenile — were left with minor injuries as well. A subsequent investigation determined Terenzoni was not licensed to possess a firearm in Massachusetts, according to police.

    Ipswich police had said they responded to the scene around 5:17 p.m. on a report of a gunshot. They discovered that Terenzoni accidentally fired a gun inside the dining area, suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound as a result. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released the same day.

    Police had originally said there were two victims — a juvenile in the dining area who was grazed by a piece of shrapnel and another individual — who both suffered minor injuries. In court Friday, a third victim was added to that list.

    The judge imposed conditions that Terenzoni stay away from the brewery, have no direct or indirect contact with the alleged victims, not possess any firearms, destructive devices, or dangerous weapons, and set cash bail at $500.

    As of 2017, it is no longer necessary to have a license to carry a concealed pistol or revolver in New Hampshire.

    Terenzoni is originally from Peabody, but has lived in Newton with his wife and four children for the past seven years, according to court records. While he lives out of state, he is in Massachusetts on a daily basis as he works in Salisbury as a construction foreman for SPS New England.

    “He came to court today voluntarily from New Hampshire and has submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court,” said Terenzoni’s attorney. “He has absolutely no reason to show up, and he looks forward to defending these charges in court. He has very viable defenses to these charges.”

    A pretrial date was set for May 13.

    By Michael McHugh | Staff Writer

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 769

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 769

    As the war enters its 769th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

    Fighting

    • Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian forces had captured 403 sq km (156 sq miles) of territory since the start of the year and last month, secured control over five towns and villages in eastern Ukraine.
    • Ukraine rejected Shoigu’s claims, saying its troops continued to defend Tonenke and Nevelske, which Shoigu mentioned among the settlements taken by Russia.
    • At least 18 people, including five children, were injured after a Russian missile attack damaged a college and a kindergarten in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
    • About a dozen people were injured after Ukrainian drones struck several industrial sites in the Russian region of Tatarstan, about 1,300km (800 miles) from the front lines, including Russia’s third-largest oil refinery and a factory producing Shahed drones.
    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill lowering the mobilisation age for combat duty from 27 to 25 years old.
    • Russia named Sergei Pinchuk as the new commander of the Black Sea Fleet after a spate of Ukrainian attacks on its military ships.

    Politics and diplomacy

    • Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s top prosecutor, told the Reuters news agency that there were “hallmarks of genocide” in Russian crimes across Ukraine, including the mass killings of civilians in Bucha outside Kyiv in 2022. Kostin said such crimes should be tried domestically and by the International Criminal Court.
    • A Moscow court sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, a Russian-Canadian activist and independent news site founder, to eight years and four months in prison for social media posts criticising the Ukraine war. Verzilov, 36, rose to prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the feminist opposition group Pussy Riot and left Russia in 2020.

    Weapons

    • NATO foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss a proposal for a 100 billion euro ($107bn) five-year fund to provide aid for Kyiv that would give the security alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine.
    • Germany’s Defence Ministry said Berlin will provide Ukraine with 180,000 rounds of artillery shells through a Czech-led plan to buy ammunition for Ukraine.
    • Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had seized 70 kilos (154 pounds) of home-made explosives and explosive devices “hidden in icons and ready for use” following a cargo inspection near the Latvian border. It alleged the explosives had been sent from Ukraine through multiple European Union countries.

     

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  • Hampstead officers identified in shooting

    Hampstead officers identified in shooting

    HAMPSTEAD — Two police officers who shot an armed man outside an Oldham Road home March 18 have been identified.

    Hampstead Deputy Chief Adam Dyer and Detective Alan Randell fired at Robert Boulter, 51, after the man pointed a rifle at police outside the residence at 42 Oldham Road.

    Attorney General John Formella provided the update in a press release Monday.

    Boulter sustained injuries that were not life threatening, Formella added. He was transported to a local hospital.

    The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, Formella said. The investigation will continue to determine if Dyer’s and Randell’s use of deadly force was justified.

    A report is expected to be released once the investigation is complete.

    Police officers initially responded to the house after receiving an emergency call that an armed man inside, identified as Boulter, was making threats. It was previously reported that when officers arrived, they heard a gunshot come from inside the home.

    Boulter stepped out the front door with a rifle. Officers saw Boulter aim the firearm at another officer before Dyer and Randell fired at him.

    By Angelina Berube | aberube@eagletribune.com

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