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Acknowledging that public opinion is against them and that a loss in the Supreme Court of the United States is likely eminent, gun control groups are regrouping and preparing to try new tactics to accomplish their unpopular goals. "We've lost the battle on what the Second Amendment means," campaign president Paul Helmke told ABC News. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically." He later went on to say, "We're expecting D.C. to lose the case, but this could be good...

Brady Center review used ATF data, but agency disputes conclusion. Georgia gun stores supplied more guns that were later recovered at crimes in other places than any other state in the nation, according to a Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence review of 2007 federal data. As a source for guns, Georgia outranked much more populous states such as Florida, which was second, and Texas, which was third. According to the Brady Center, federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data showed 2,631 crime guns recovered in other states were traced to Georgia stores. Georgia, as in virtually every...

The nation's leading gun control group filed a "friend of the court" brief back in January defending the gun ban in Washington, D.C. But with the Supreme Court poised to hand down a potentially landmark decision in the case, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fully expects to lose. "We've lost the battle on what the Second Amendment means," campaign president Paul Helmke told ABC News. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically." While the Brady Campaign is waving the...

NEWS RELEASE Second Amendment Foundation 12500 NE Tenth Place  • Bellevue, WA   98005 (425) 454-7012  • FAX (425) 451-3959  • www.saf.org SAF BLASTS BRADY BUNCH OVER EFFORT TO BLOCK PRO-GUN JUDICIAL NOMINEES For Immediate Release:   5/29/2008 BELLEVUE, WA – In their continuing effort to destroy the Bill of Rights, the Brady Campaign has launched a joint effort with the extremist CREDO Action to block confirmation of federal judicial nominees who accept the Second Amendment as protective of a fundamental individual civil right. “If there were ever any question that the zealots at the Brady Campaign are determined to crush individual...

Lawmakers who favor gun control are not optimistic about next year even though Democrats may be running Congress and the White House. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), the sponsor of legislation that would reinstate the expired federal assault weapons ban, dismissed the idea that her bill might pass in the 111th Congress. “It’s a pro-gun House, a pro-gun Senate and [Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)] won’t want to deal with it,” McCarthy said. McCarthy stressed that she is not giving up on reauthorizing the weapons ban that sunsetted in 2004, but also made clear she is...

Friday, April 18, 2008 As this unusual campaign season has unfolded, we’ve seen the candidates ratcheting up their politically expedient rhetoric in an attempt to distinguish themselves as the “candidate of choice” for every constituency, while testing the far reaches of credibility in the process. We’ve heard blatantly anti-gun politicians claim to be supportive of the Second Amendment. We’ve seen hypocrisy, and we’ve heard double-speak and insults to our intelligence. When it comes to campaign rhetoric on the Second Amendment, we’ve seen a change in the way many anti-gun politicians campaign. Rather than talk openly about their desire to ban...

KENNER, La. (AP) — The cake had been served and the children were jumping up and down in a big, inflatable castle when the birthday party turned to bedlam. Clarence McGraw's jaw dropped as he saw the visitors coming, guns drawn. The screaming began. Children ran everywhere in the courtyard of the low-income apartment complex; adults fell to the ground. Bullets flew. The killers wounded three youngsters, but for reasons police can't explain, it was 19-year-old McGraw they were after. And McGraw he lay in the center of the green square, the gunmen stood over him and fired again. He...

Washington, D.C. – Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement: "Today, the Justices of the Supreme Court thoroughly discussed the Second Amendment of the Constitution for the first time in nearly 70 years, in the District of Columbia v. Heller case. Their probing questions, and the lawyers' responses, highlighted the complex history and competing approaches to gun regulation in our country. I am hopeful that their ruling will uphold the right of people in communities like the District to enact common sense gun measures they feel are needed to protect themselves and...

Paul Helmke’s mind is filled with stories about gun violence. The former Fort Wayne mayor can talk about the first time he struggled with the idea of guns, when as a North Side High School student he turned on the news to find a friend from grade school had been accidentally shot in the back. The current president of the non-profit Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence talks about a Fort Wayne police recruit killed in 1987 by a training officer because he didn’t know the gun was loaded. That happened one month before Helmke took office in 1988, but...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two major safety and security organizations -- the American Society of Safety Engineers and ASIS International -- joined the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in filing a "friend of the court" brief urging the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm a 2007 federal district court ruling striking down Oklahoma's 2005 guns-at-work law as unconstitutional. In a suit filed by ConocoPhillips and others -- ConocoPhillips v. Henry -- the lower court held that the law, which made it a crime in Oklahoma for employers to bar guns from company property, impermissibly conflicted with the...

Four months after Peter Hamm, spokesperson for The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, verbally attacked the college-based, grassroots organization Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, telling a Fox News reporter, "You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," he is stepping up the rhetoric. Not content with encouraging college students to forgo their educations rather than fight for a cause in which they believe, Mr. Hamm has resorted to baseless conspiracy theories and slander. In a February 19, 2008, interview with Anna Hipsley of Australia’s ABC News radio,...

I wouldn't have believed it. In fact, I didn't believe it. So, I went to the ATF myself to check it out. It's true, Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center, formerly with the National Center to Ban Handguns, holds a federal license for gun dealing. I saw this first on Dave Hardy's site, Arms & The Law, which is always well worth reading. While I trust Dave implicitly, Dave didn't list a source and I didn't want to find myself chasing an Internet legend. So, off to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did I go....

Did you know that Josh Sugarmann, of the Violence Policy Center, has a Federal Firearms License? And that the business address is that of The Violence Policy Center? You do now. Also, given the ATF’s recent crack down on FFLs, I wonder when the VPC’s last inspection was? And how many transfers they’ve done. If none, then that could mean they’re not a business and, per ATF, that is bad. If they have, they’re hypocrites. Said FFL exempts them from the DC handgun ban, as well.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ranks Connecticut in third place among states with the toughest gun laws in the nation. And while the Constitution State achieved 54 points out of a possible 100, a statewide organization says the Brady scorecard fails to give Connecticut credit for having a law no other state has to confiscate guns. "Connecticut has a unique law on its books, a law that several other states are now considering," said Lisa Labella, co-executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence in Trumbull. "The law allows police to apply for warrants to seize guns from the...

I asked this question last week of the candidates for President now campaigning in Iowa, and I think that for most of the American people [pdf] the answer is clearly “no.” In the last ten days, two states in the heart of the country have sustained mass shootings by people armed with military-style assault rifles – two attacks with assault weapons in less than a week. One shooter attacked a mall full of employees and Christmas shoppers in Omaha. The other attacked a church in Colorado. Together, they left twelve people dead.Yet today assault weapons remain perfectly legal to buy...

Arnold Schwarzenegger has angered America's powerful gun lobby by backing legislation requiring semi-automatic handguns to mark bullets with serial numbers to help police identify casings found at crime scenes. The former Hollywood action hero, who played trigger-happy characters in violent films such as The Terminator, approved the crime-fighting technology despite opposition from the National Rifle Association, which said it could be used to implicate the innocent. The law, the first of its kind in the US, will require all semi-automatic guns made or sold in California to "microstamp" every bullet fired with the weapon's make, model and serial number. America's...

In the early fall of 1994, the gun control movement achieved unprecedented success in Congress. The "Brady Bill" had been enacted in November 1993, and went into effect in February 1994. After a very tough political fight, President Clinton's omnibus crime bill was passed in August 1994. The bill included a 10-year ban on so-called "assault weapons," as well as other gun controls. Handgun Control, Inc. (which later changed its name to "The Brady Campaign" promptly began to push for legislation which it called "Brady II." Although the bill was introduced, it did not receive a hearing in the final...

Washington, DC - On August 28, activists in cities across America will hold a national day of protest to focus attention on the scourge of illegal gun trafficking. August 28th is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's historic March on Washington in 1963. The Brady Campaign and its network of Million Mom March Chapters is supporting the efforts of Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition to draw attention to gun violence by organizing local events to be held in cities across America. So far, Brady Campaign activists have confirmed more than a dozen events, and more are expected. “August 28,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A U.S. Senate committee today cleared for full Senate action a bill that would significantly improve the Brady background check system by giving states new financial incentives to report to the system records of individuals who are barred from buying guns. Similar legislation (H.R. 2640) was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 13. "Senator Patrick Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee took an important step today to help prevent tragedies like Virginia Tech," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "This measure will strengthen the Brady background...

Lax gun laws and enforcement in the US only feed the 'iron river' of weapons across the border. It's not only poverty propelling Mexicans into the US. Rising gun violence by drug gangs, and lately a military surge against them, have driven many to cross the border. And where do these drug cartels get their arsenal of weapons? El Norte, of course. Lax gun laws and lax enforcement in the United States have made it easy for Mexican gunrunners to buy and transport everything from AK-47s to Stinger antiaircraft missiles, which then allows the cartels to use these high-powered weapons...

It's one of the oldest debates in the book — public health and safety versus personal freedom. Smokers and non-smokers went the rounds over that issue, as have people concerned about the Patriot Act. Now the National Rifle Association is reading from the same books. This debate comes down to how much information is too much information for the government. If law enforcement officials can curb violent acts against innocent people by gaining more access to the who, what and where of shady gun purchases, isn't that a good thing? We think so. The NRA and various members of Congress...

Today, one day after the District of Columbia announced an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of the D.C. Circuit’s recent Parker opinion striking down the District’s handgun ban, the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence posted another installment in its online critique exposing the blatant flaws in the Parker decision. Parker remains the only federal appeals court decision in American history to strike down a gun law as a violation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The critique, “Second Amendment Fantasy: The D.C. Circuit’s Opinion In The Parker Case,” exposes the court’s...

CHICAGO (AP) - Standing before a church congregation that has witnessed inner-city violence firsthand, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday that more must be done to end a social ill that is "sickening the soul of this nation." Obama told churchgoers at the Vernon Park Church of God on Chicago's South Side that too many young lives are being claimed by violence and more must be done to combat the problem. "From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois senator told the crowd. "The...

Washington, D.C. – Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and its Illinois Million Mom March Chapters, issued the following statement today about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich calling for the Illinois Legislature to vote on a statewide ban on high-capacity ammunition clips like the ones used by the Virginia Tech shooter: “I applaud Governor Blagojevich for asking Illinois’ public servants to meet and vote on a specific measure to help make the children and families of Illinois safer. The headlines about the loss of life from shootouts and drive-by shootings in Illinois seem to be endless....

“You hate guns.” Never mind that this was said after we'd shot a hundred rounds at a local skeet range. Each. Of the six shotguns available, I'd tried four of them. Over and under. Two semi-automatics. Pump. Great fun. Never mind that I grew up with guns. First a stick. Then a cap gun, water gun. BB gun. .22 caliber rifle. .20 gauge side-by-side shotgun. Made in Spain. Two triggers. A very pretty gun. Hate guns? Hardly. Nonetheless, I think about it carefully before I reply. “I'm not anti-gun,” I finally say. “I'm pro gun-control.” Someone else makes a comment...

Million Mom March Chapters Reflect on Seven Years of Advocacy, and Push for Common-Sense Gun Laws to Keep Families Safe WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Mother's Day, May 14, 2000, more than 700,000 mothers and others gathered on the National Mall to demand that Congress take action to protect families and communities from gun violence. In the seven years since that event, the Million Mom March Chapters have continued to work for sensible gun laws. This Mother's Day, we remember all that mothers have done to help put an end to gun violence, but we also remember the more...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (BCPGV) will hold a Lobby Day at the State Capitol on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 with a press conference at 11:00 a.m. on the East Lawn of the Capitol. Assembly Member Mike Feuer will speak about new microstamping technology, which will revolutionize crime fighting and help law enforcement solve more gun crimes, more quickly. He will be joined by Emeryville Police Chief Ken James who will speak about the new microstamping technology as a crime-fighting tool from the viewpoint of law enforcement; and State Superintendent of...

On Thursday, May 10, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to consider legislation that would ban most .50 caliber and larger firearms (including popular hunting rifles), increase firearms license fees, and authorize future fee increases by unelected bureaucrats. A3998 would ban and criminalize the possession of most firearms of .50 caliber or larger, including one of New Jersey’s most popular hunting rifles (the in-line muzzle loader), .50 caliber handguns, the .50 bmg rifle, and dozens of collectible Civil War and post-Civil War era firearms. These firearms are not involved in criminal activity, and are used...

There were 33 shrines on the campus of Virginia Tech, lovingly built of flowers, letters, candles, photos and gifts. One for each of the 32 students and teachers who died April 16, and one for Seung-Hui Cho, who shot them all and then himself. At Cho's memorial, smaller than the others, there was a plastic bottle filled with flowers, cards and an American flag, according to New York Times reporter Christine Houser. One of the notes read, simply, "I forgive you."Another read: "Dear Cho. You are not excluded from our sorrow in death although you thought you were excluded from...

Virginia claims that it has closed a loophole that put guns in the hands of a deranged student who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech. But there’s always the next loophole to worry about when it comes to the lack of gun control in this country. In this case, Gov. Tim Kaine issued an executive order on Monday that would theoretically have barred Seung-Hui Cho from buying the weapons for his campus massacre. Months before, Mr. Cho had been forced by a judge to undergo psychological treatment. But because his care was as an outpatient, Mr. Cho was not on...

"United Against Gun Violence," a rally and candlelight vigil honoring victims of gun violence, will be held Monday, May 14. The event, scheduled to go from 6 to 8 p.m., is hosted by the Mercer County Million Mom March Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. May 14 will be the seventh anniversary of the original Million Mom March on Washington, D.C., to demand sensible gun laws. James Brady, a former White House press secretary, was seri ously wounded as a result of an as sassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981. This is the fifth time...

LAST week's tragedy at Virginia Tech in which a mentally disturbed person gunned down 32 of America's finest - intelligent young people with futures ahead of them - once again puts the phenomenon of an armed society into focus for Americans. The likely underestimate of how many guns are wandering around America runs at 240 million in a population of about 300 million. What was clear last week is that at least two of those guns were in the wrong hands.

Since the VT shootings in Blacksburg, Virginia, we have seen all manner of wild-eyed, anti-gunners come out of the woodwork to cynically use this crime as a chance to beat their gun grabbing drums. But, proposing that we send government Stormtroopers to smash down the doors of every home with a gun in it to confiscate their Constitutionally legal firearms is a step I haven't seen in a purportedly responsible newspaper. That is, until the Toledo Blade published a proposal for taking away our right to self-protection that included "Special squads of police" with unlimited powers to confiscate all guns....

There was a time in American history when the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms” promoted safety and a sense of well-being among the citizenry of the United States. Today, however, the Second Amendment seems to do nothing more than act as a precipitant of violent and life-threatening behavior. The days when the “right to bear arms” was relevant are now more than 200 years past, and furthermore, the demographics of America have changed beyond anyone’s wildest prophecy. We no longer live in tight-knit farming villages where family solidarity is vital. Nor do we live in a country where minutemen...

With the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech in which 32 people were slain on campus by a lone gunman who turned his weapon on himself, no doubt the clamor to ban personal ownership of guns will be raised again. Yet amidst the grief and anguish over this terrible incident it should be noted that the campus itself had gained a well-known reputation as a "gun free zone." Virginia Tech earned that reputation from widespread, national coverage arising from the 2005 disciplining of a student who brought a permitted firearm on campus. That reputation was further enhanced in January of 2006,...

Gun limits would make rampage less likely Thursday, April 19, 2007 3:34 AM Stricter gun control is needed. Without the gun, the killer at the Virginia Tech campus is nothing but a loner who might not have been able to inflict big damage so easily. Some argued guns don't kill, people do. This argument is total nonsense. The government regulates cars and drivers. And the United Nations forbids proliferation of nuclear weapons. The 21st century is no pioneer era. There is no need to own a gun to defend oneself that way anymore. The gun is designed to kill. The...

The urge of lawmakers amid the unthinkable is to entertain the feel-good notion of legislation that could have prevented the awfulness.     The inclination to legislate the worst impulses out of the human condition is understandable in the wake of the horror at Virginia Tech that left 32 dead at the hand of a gun-toting sicko, who then shot himself. But as we know only too well, if only from anecdotal experience, laws have their limits.     To take the principle of gun-control measures to the ultimate level, let's say America decided in the coming weeks that it no longer could tolerate...

Blacksburg, VA – Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the Virginia Tech University community, and to the families of the victims of what appears to be one of the worst mass shootings in American history. "Details are still forthcoming about what motivated the shooter in this case to act, and how he was able to arm himself. It is well known, however, how easy it is for an individual to get powerful weapons in our country. "Eight years ago this week,...

Still love those guns, Virginia? Ready to admit that it's madness for any psycho to be able to saunter into a gun shop and acquire firepower capable of killing 32 innocents? Feel different now that the blood is the blood of so many of your most promising young people? You've been shrugging for decades as illegal guns from your state plague our city, killing and maiming and terrorizing New Yorkers by the thousands, at one point comprising 47% of the guns our cops recovered. You even yukked it up with a "Bloomberg Gun GiveAway" raffle at a gun shop that...

Right, sure, guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people. We've heard it already. Ah, but there are so many people with guns. And their guns are so easy to come by. Particularly, not to put too fine a point on it, in places like the great State of Virginia, which, you'll recall, is a state so annoyed by the crackdown efforts of such anti-homicide types as New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg that it recently passed a law making it a crime for undercovers to run stings on the great state of Virginia's fine gun dealers. And the...

High capacity ammo clips became widely available for sale when Congress failed to renew a law that banned assault weapons. Web sites now advertise overnight UPS delivery of the clips, which carry up to 40 rounds for both semi-automatic rifles, including 9mm pistols, and handguns. "High capacity magazines read extreme firepower and gusto. Stock Up!" is the headline of one of many gun shop Web sites. Virginia law enforcement officials have not identified the weapon used in the shootings today at Virginia Tech, but gun experts say the number of shots fired indicate, at the very least, that the gunman...

Yesterday’s mass shooting at Virginia Tech — the worst in American history — is another horrifying reminder that some of the gravest dangers Americans face come from killers at home armed with guns that are frighteningly easy to obtain.

Did you read it yet? This story is so flabbergasting, I'm going to walk you through it here to ensure you don't miss it. There's no clearer illustration of just how unreality-based and ignorant the Left is in this country. [Link to anti-gun story: http://slapstickpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/04/colorado-statue-honoring-fallen-navy.html]

Chief Copy Editor, sescott@smu.edu The Political Science Symposium hosted its annual debate Tuesday night in the Hughes-Trigg Theater. Glen Caroline, director of the Grassroots Division of the National Rifle Association, and Peter Hamm, communications director of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, faced off in a discussion about gun control in America. Each representative was given 15 minutes to present arguments to the audience. After that, they got five minutes to rebut the other's argument, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience. Thanks to a winning coin toss, Caroline gave the first volley. He started his argument by...

House Bill No. 760 was introduced in the State House of representatives last week. The bill was introduced by representatives Cruz, Youngblood, Parker, Wheatley, Bennington and Curry. The legislation calls for every gun in Pennsylvania to be registered with the state, and each registration must be renewed annually. The registration would cost the gun owner $10 per gun each year. The bill also calls for each gun owner to be fingerprinted, have a back ground check, and to submit pass port-style photos for registration cards. The registration card for each gun would then have to be carried with that gun...

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." OK, what does this mean? Does it mean that all people should have the ability to possess whatever arms they wish? Pro-gunners disagree on the limits of this bill: some people believe it should be absolute, and any and all arms should be legal. Some pro-gunners draw what seems to be obvious limitations, for instance, the owning of a nuclear weapon or other weapon of...

Dear Dana, The following histrionics are brought to you by the Brady Campaign via the emails that I receive from them: "Brady Gun Law Defense Fund [image]Last week, a Federal Appeals Court overturned Washington D.C.’s long-standing restrictions on handguns — a decision that endangers all of America’s gun laws. This case is most likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court and we have a tidal wave of work to do before it gets there. This battle — to its very core — is the most important battle we have ever waged. We need your help today to build a strong...

IN OVERTURNING the District of Columbia's long-standing ban on handguns yesterday, a federal appeals court turned its back on nearly 70 years of Supreme Court precedent to give a new and dangerous meaning to the Second Amendment. If allowed to stand, this radical ruling will inevitably mean more people killed and wounded as keeping guns out of the city becomes harder. Moreover, if the legal principles used in the decision are applied nationally, every gun control law on the books would be imperiled. The 2 to 1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down...

(AP) TRENTON, N.J. New Jersey is looking to become the second state to outlaw a powerful gun that critics say can be used by terrorists to shoot down an airliner. Democratic lawmakers and Ceasefire N.J., an antigun group, unveiled a plan today to make it illegal to sell .50 caliber weapons in New Jersey. Legal Community Against Violence, a public interest law center that favors gun control, says California is the only state with a similar law to what's proposed in New Jersey. Maryland strictly regulates the rifle by requiring enhanced background checks and other requirements for its purchase. Supporters...

URGENT GUN RIGHTS ALERT - IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED The Illinois Senate is about to debate a ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. If passed, you would have 90 days to register your guns with the State Police or face arrest and felony prosecution. If you were caught with an AR-15 and 4 magazines, you’d get life in prison. THREE THINGS YOU MUST DO TO SAVE YOUR GUN RIGHTS 1. Beginning on Tuesday, March 6th, call your State Senator and POLITELY tell him or her that you are opposed to Senate Bill 16 – the Daley Assault Weapons Ban – and...