Brady Center Releases Report on New Wave of Hate Shootings

On the ten-year anniversary of the neo-Nazi shooting spree that terrorized the Midwest over July 4th weekend in 1999, the Brady Center has released a report called Guns and Hate: A Lethal Combination. It highlights a new wave of hate-motivated gun violence by extremists.

The Brady Center report explains how loopholes in our weak gun laws that have fueled hate shootings still remain. It also describes how the gun lobby has repeatedly used incendiary rhetoric that has been reflected in statements made by several of the killers.

Massachusetts High Court Urged to Uphold Safe Gun Storage Laws

The Brady Center, joined by law enforcement and other gun violence prevention groups, filed a friend of the court brief in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court urging the Court to uphold a life-saving gun safety law requiring that guns be secured to prevent accidents and unauthorized use.

Commonwealth v. Runyan considers a challenge to a safe gun storage law following the U.S. Supreme Court's Second Amendment ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. The Runyan case involves an appeal citing the Second Amendment in dismissing an indictment against a parent who failed to secure a semiautomatic rifle from his severely handicapped teenage son.

The Supreme Court, however, specifically states that its ruling does not call into question "laws regulating the storage of firearms to prevent accidents," such as Massachusetts' safe gun storage law.

The brief also highlights studies that have found a direct correlation between improper gun storage and accidental shooting deaths, and that unintentional shooting deaths among children have been reduced by twenty-three percent in states with safe storage laws.

Brady Center to Defend Pittsburgh Against NRA Lawsuit

The City of Pittsburgh announced it has retained the Brady Center's Legal Action Project attorneys to defend Pittsburgh against a National Rifle Association lawsuit seeking to strike down a new ordinance aimed at stopping gun trafficking.

The NRA lawsuit seeks to invalidate Pittsburgh's anti-trafficking law. When guns are recovered at crime scenes and traced back to a gun trafficker, the traffickers frequently claim that the guns were "stolen" to hide their complicity in gun trafficking.

The law requires that gun owners notify police when their gun is lost or stolen, which also aids law-abiding gun owners by enabling police to quickly investigate and retrieve stolen guns.

Brady President Paul Helmke said of the lawsuit "The NRA's leaders say just 'enforce the laws on the books' — and then they sue to stop the enforcement of common sense laws."

Brady Center Issues Report Showing Need for Making Brady Background Checks on All Gun Sales

A new Brady report makes a strong case for Brady background checks on all gun sales in America, including those at gun shows. Allowing dangerous people such as convicted felons and domestic abusers to buy guns without Brady background checks threatens the safety of our families and communities.

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg has introduced legislation to close the gun show loophole that allows people to buy guns at gun shows in most states without passing a Brady criminal background check.

Our national policy should be: no background check, no gun, no excuses.

Brady Center Issues New Report on How Mexican Drug Gangs Are Exploiting Weak American Gun Laws

The Brady Center released a new report called Exporting Gun Violence: How Our Weak Gun Laws Arm Criminals in Mexico and America. The report details how America's lack of effective gun laws is helping to create a regional security risk and costing Mexican and American citizens their lives. The same weak gun laws that are enabling the supply of Mexican criminals are supplying criminals in the U.S. as well.

Brady President Paul Helmke said, "For too long, we have been putting our own citizens at risk by making it so easy for criminals to get gun. Now our neighbors are threatened as well, and our national security is at risk." He stated that "'enforcing the laws on the books' will never be enough: we need stronger laws, and strong enforcement of those laws."

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Restrictions
on Guns for Domestic Abusers

The U.S Supreme Court rejected arguments by convicted domestic abuser Randy Edward Hayes and the gun lobby that federal law allowed Hayes to possess firearms.

The 7-2 ruling in United States v. Hayes was a blow to gun lobby groups that had urged the Court to severely narrow the federal Lautenberg Amendment that bars gun possession by abusers convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Congress' intentions and underlying concerns in its 1996 law were clear: "Firearms and domestic strife are a potentially deadly combination nationwide." Justice Ginsburg was citing the Brady Center's brief in her opinion.

Brady President Paul Helmke, said the ruling is "the right one for victims of domestic abuse and to protect law enforcement officers who are our first responders to domestic violence incidents."

Brady Center Suit Against Utah Gun Shop
Gets Green Light

A District Court judge in Utah has ruled that a lawsuit against pawn shop Sportsman's Fastcash may proceed to trial. The Brady Center suit charges that the pawn shop illegally sold a pistol grip shotgun to shooter Sulejman Talovic.

On February 12, 2007, Talovic, armed with two high-powered firearms, a backpack full of ammunition, and a bandolier of shotgun shells around his waist, turned the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake into a war zone in a matter of minutes. He killed five people, and wounded four.

The Utah court denied the pawn shop's motion to dismiss the suit filed by Carolyn Tuft. As described in the complaint, Tuft was shot and wounded and her 15-year-old daughter was killed, with a gun the pawn shop sold to Talovic in violation of federal and state gun laws.

Indiana Supreme Court Denies Gun Manufacturers' Appeal

In a landmark ruling, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the City of Gary, Indiana's lawsuit against gun manufacturers can proceed to trial. In a major setback to the gun industry, the ruling allows Gary's lawsuit against sixteen gun manufacturers and six gun dealers to proceed to trial. Brady Center lawyers represent the City of Gary in the case.

Brady President Paul Helmke said that the ruling "is an important victory for the people of Gary and particularly those who have suffered from the gun industry's supply of guns to criminals and gun traffickers."

U.S. Supreme Court Decision May Lead to Stronger Gun Laws

The U.S. Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision in D.C. v Heller may have the "unintended consequence" of helping to enact stronger gun laws, according to a report issued by the Brady Center.

In June, the Justices disagreed by the narrowest of margins, 5 - 4, on whether the Second Amendment provides an individual, non-militia based right to bear arms. All nine Justices agreed, however, that a wide variety of gun laws are presumptively constitutional, including restrictions on carrying concealed weapons, guns in schools and other sensitive places, and bans on "dangerous and unusual" weapons.

While the decision gives criminal defendants a legal tool to use to potentially avoid criminal convictions or mitigate their punishments and will inspire the gun lobby to challenge gun laws, it may also clear some of the wedge politics that have blocked the nation from passing sensible gun laws in the future, the report says.

Brady Center Takes Alaska Dealer to Court for Supplying Rifle to Criminal Murderer

The Brady Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Simone Young Kim, who was shot and killed while working in Juneau, Alaska. The killer, Jason Coday, was a fugitive from justice and a methamphetamine user who was prohibited from buying or possessing guns, yet he was able to walk out of Rayco Sales gun shop with a rifle without being subjected to a background check. Two days later Coday used the gun to kill Kim, a total stranger.

The lawsuit, filed along with Mark C. Choate of Juneau, contends that the gun dealer is liable for Kim's death for negligently and potentially illegally providing the rifle to the shooter.

7/4/2009

Ten Years After Chicago Racial Killings, Brady Center Report Cites New Wave Of Hate Shootings Law Enforcement And Gun Violence Prevention Groups Urge Massachusetts High Court To Uphold Safe Gun Storage Law In New Book, "Lethal Logic," A Leading Advocate For Sensible Gun Laws Tears Down Gun Lobby's Bumper Sticker Slogans In Virginia, Voters Will Have Clear Choice On Which Gubernatorial Candidate Would Close Gun Show Loophole More News from the Brady Center

Guns and booze don't mix, Tennessee lawsuit argues (Reuters) After months of stalls, legislators slap limits on buying handguns (Star-Ledger) Closing the ‘Terror Gap’ on Gun Purchases (CQPolitics) Editorial: The Fast-Draw-but-Don’t-Drink Law (New York Times) More Issues in the news

Jul. 2, 2009 - Ten Years After Chicago Racial Killings, Brady Center Report Cites New Wave Of Hate Shootings Jun. 29, 2009 - Law Enforcement And Gun Violence Prevention Groups Urge Massachusetts High Court To Uphold Safe Gun Storage Law Jun. 23, 2009 - In New Book, "Lethal Logic," A Leading Advocate For Sensible Gun Laws Tears Down Gun Lobby's Bumper Sticker Slogans Read More