Two firefighters shot dead in New York state

AFP/New York

The incident—which comes as debate rages in the United States about gun control following the Newtown school massacre—happened shortly before 6am (1100 GMT) in Webster, a suburb of Rochester.

“The responding firefighters, when they pulled up at the scene, were fired upon by one or more shooters,” Webster police chief Gerald Pickering told a press conference.

“Four of the firefighters were shot. Two are deceased, two were transported to area hospitals... it’s still an active crime scene.”

Pickering later said it appeared there was only one shooter, and that the suspect was found dead at the scene, killed by an apparent gunshot wound.

The two wounded firefighters were listed in guarded condition at a local hospital, according to the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

Monroe county sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said there was no longer any “active shooting” at the scene, where a security cordon was put up and residents were evacuated. Firefighters were still battling to contain the blaze.

The incident in Webster comes 10 days after the shooting rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children, aged six and seven, and six adults were killed.

The shooter, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their home before heading to the school, where he eventually took his own life.

The Newtown shooting has revived debate in the United States on the country’s gun laws, which are far more lax than in most other developed nations.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has pledged to introduce a bill in January that would ban at least 100 military-style semi-automatic assault weapons, and would curb the transfer, importation and the possession of such arms.

US firearm sales have sky-rocketed since the Newtown school massacre, as debate over gun control rages and enthusiasts fear certain assault weapons and high-capacity magazines could be banned.

President Barack Obama basically has put gun enthusiasts on warning, Larry Hyatt, owner of a gun shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, referring to efforts to outlaw certain weapons in the wake of the Newtown shooting.

A semi-automatic Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in which a disturbed local young man shot dead 20 young children, six adults and his mother before taking his own life.

“Right after it, anti-guns (activists) started talking. The president said he wanted quick action, and so that is going to fuel the buying frenzy, and it is,” Hyatt said, describing the rush as largely “politically motivated”.

“We have been in business for 50 years, and we have seen (fear-based buying) before,” Hyatt said. “But this is more intense because the president got in the media and basically said, ‘if you want a gun, you better get it now’” .

That means bigger business for an already huge industry: the gun and ammunition manufacturing industry in the US groups about 300 companies with combined yearly sales estimated at around $7bn.

Florida, the most heavily armed state, rocketed this week to a new record of active carry permits—over 1mn—a state government spokesman said. Florida has 19mn people.

“To shed some more light on the magazine situation at present, it really has been unprecedented in the last five days,” Pete Brownell, whose company is the world’s largest supplier of firearm supplies, posted on a guns forum.

Brownell said the company had seen the average demand for over three-and-a-half years’ worth of PMAGs (polymer magazines) fly off the shelves in just 72 hours.

“We’re working like crazy to get these orders to you as quickly as possible,” Brownell added.

Newspapers in rural areas around the country also reported a roaring pre-Christmas trade in guns and magazines, especially at gun shows, long considered a loophole by gun control activists as they often don’t require buyers to undergo any background checks. There were an estimated 310mn non-military firearms in the US in 2009, roughly one per citizen, and people in America are 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than someone in another developed country.

The US has suffered an explosion of gun violence over the last three decades including 62 mass shooting incidents since 1982. The vast majority of weapons used have been semi-automatic handguns and rifles obtained legally by the killers.

The December 14 bloodshed, the latest in a string of mass shootings in the US, has reopened a national debate on the country’s gun laws, which are far more lax than in most other developed nations.

Obama said he would support a new bill to ban assault rifles and put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of a panel looking at a wide range of other measures, from school security to mental health.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has pledged to table a bill on January 3 that would ban at least 100 military-style semi-automatic assault weapons, and would curb the transfer, importation and the possession of such arms.