killing people as a favorite. the gun buyback programs across the country are seeing a huge spike in the aftermath of friday s school shooting rampage. previously scheduled buyback events in san francisco and oakland, california drew hundreds of people. many of them said they turned over their weapons because they were moved by the connecticut tragedy. i feel this is something that might hurt somebody some day, you know, then i would feel terrible about that. when the community says enough is enough, i think you ve got a good chance of something like this. the gun owners received $200 for each weapon they brought in. there were similar buybacks in brooklyn, new york and washington, d.c. and in prince george s county, maryland. you think about the staggering number. there are more than 200 million guns already on the streets of america. so one, that questions how effective any gun control could be. it seems like the genie is way out of the bottle. i guess every little bit help
shot them one by one. we are taking you live to oakland for the latest in just about ten minutes. voters are heading to the polls today in three contests. wisconsin, maryland and the district of columbia are holding republican primaries. mitt romney predicted a win in wisconsin and holds a big lead in maryland polls. wisconsin will be a key swing state in november. it s one of the few winner-take-all stakes in the republican race. rick santorum seems to be looking beyond today s contests. he says may will be his big month for delegates. the world wants clarity in the trayvon martin case. now there is a little bit more. it s in the form of higher resolution video of george zimmerman s arrival at the sanford, florida, police department the night he killed trayvon martin. as you know, the neighborhood watch volunteer claims he fired in self-defense after trayvon hit him in the nose and banged his head against the sidewalk. the clearer footage does appear to show some mark or
this morning on world news now intense standoff. riot police in france set off explosions to force out a gunman wanted in a school shooting rampage. that gunman accused of having ties to al qaeda has been holding police at bay for more than 24 hours. it is thursday, march 22nd. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now. good thursday morning, everybody. i m paula faris. and i m rob nelson. that suspected gunman is linked to seven shooting deaths and investigators say he was planning to kill even more people. we ll update you on a very long standoff in the city of toulouse.
window of opportunity to use diplomacy to force iran from building a nuclear weapon. but the white house s strategy was criticized by speaker john boehner, meeting on capitol hill with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the looming threat of a nuclear iran cannot be ignored. ambiguity could lead to serious miscalculations. reporter: the president explained why he called georgetown law student sandra fluke, who was labeled a slut by radio host rush limbaugh. i wanted sandra to know that that i thought her parents should be proud of her. reporter: president obama said the u.s. would know pretty quickly after meeting at the bargaining table whether iran was indeed serious about halting their nuclear program. rob and paula? all right. thanks a lot, t.j., for that report. now, in chardon, ohio the 17-year-old charged with a school shooting rampage that killed three students has now appeared in court. t.j. lane showed no emotions and did not enter a plea. the judge actu