Media Brady in the News
Cleveland Plain Dealer Dec 2, 2008
Area, state leaders meet to discuss illegal gun trafficking
CLEVELAND -- Area mayors and state legislators will gather Tuesday in Cleveland to hear how other large cities deal with gun trafficking and violence. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will speak at 1 p.m. at the House of Blues, East 4th Street and Euclid Avenue, on stopping the flow of illegal guns into cities. The lecture is open to the public. Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg co-founded the coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, in 2006 to work with legislators to close loopholes in state laws that enable criminals to obtain guns. In an interview, Menino said the group represents more than ...read the full article
Columbus Dispatch Nov 30, 2008
Editorial: On target: Background checks have served U.S. well by stopping illegal purchases
From 1994 through 2007, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act stopped the sale of firearms to 1.63 million felons, minors, severely mentally ill people and others prohibited from owning guns. The next Congress can make this good law better by closing the loophole that allows about 40 percent of gun buyers to escape federal background checks. The Brady legislation, named after Jim Brady, the press secretary injured in the 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, was signed by President Bill Clinton 15 years ago today. It requires licensed gun dealers, who make about 60 percent of firearms sales nationally, ...read the full article
Houston Chronicle Nov 29, 2008
Weapons sold in Houston kill in Mexico
Drug cartel gangsters waging a criminal insurgency against Mexican society and government are making the Houston area their marketplace of choice, as they spend millions of dollars statewide buying military-style weapons and ammunition. Gangsters have honed in on this city because of its glut of gun shops, its proximity to the border, and its long-established networks for smuggling narcotics into the United States, federal law-enforcement officials said. The surge in fraudulent purchases comes as more than 4,000 people have died in Mexico's criminal underworld violence this year. Authorities can point to numerous crimes, including the infamous 2007 Acapulco Massacre to illustrate the carnage ...read the full article
Boston Globe Nov 27, 2008
A chance for sensible gun laws
WITH THE historic election of Barack Obama, the nation finally has an opportunity to enact sensible national gun policy. Obama should look to big cities, especially Boston, for guidance. Big-city mayors know all too well the devastating impact a failed national gun policy has had on people living in urban America. Most of the 83 Americans who die every day from gun violence live in cities. The average annual US death toll from guns is 34,000 Americans. Comparatively, over the past 30 years, 1,035,000 Americans have died from guns in the United States versus 655,000 US service men and women killed ...read the full article
Tennessean Nov 23, 2008
Some gun owners give in to fear mongering
From a campaign statement by President-elect Barack Obama on the U.S. Supreme Court Heller decision, June 26, 2008, and taken from the Web site, www.bradyvoter.org. "I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view, and while it ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice Scalia himself acknowledged that this right is not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations ...read the full article
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Nov 21, 2008
Council considers law to deter sales of guns to criminals
Pittsburgh City Council members on Thursday vowed to pass legislation that would punish gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours, even if the measure lands the city in court. "I say, bring it on," Councilwoman Tonya Payne said during a public hearing. "If they want to take us to court, I say we go to court." The legislation targets handgun "straw purchasers," people with clean criminal records who buy guns and sell or give them to criminals. The ordinance would require people to report missing guns within a day of realizing the firearm is gone or ...read the full article
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Nov 20, 2008
Editorial: Gun owners must keep weapons away from kids
Youngsters are going to do some terribly irresponsible, dangerous things at times. The recent tragedy at a South Florida high school, plus two ensuing incidents at other schools, should serve as a reminder that parents who own guns must show extra care and responsibility, becausetheir children may not. There have been three recent incidents involving guns in schools -- the horrible tragedy at Dillard High School involving the shooting death of 15-year-old Amanda Collette, a scare at Walker Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. when an 8-year-old third-grader brought a gun to class, ...read the full article
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Nov 19, 2008
Council targets 'straw' gun buys
It might be unconstitutional and unenforceable, but Pittsburgh City Council members said they intend to fight for passage of a law that would punish gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours. "This is not going to be the end of the world (for gun owners)," Councilman Doug Shields said Tuesday during a meeting in council chambers, Downtown. "This is common-sense regulation of the world's most dangerous consumer product." A public hearing on the legislation will be held in the chambers at 10 a.m. Thursday. Council could vote on the ordinance later this month. The legislation targets handgun ...read the full article
MSNBC Nov 19, 2008
The Agenda: Gun Control
Automakers' pleas for $25 billion in aid makes the Boston Globe front page. Put gun control advocates on the list of interest groups measuring Obama's issue coattails and hoping to sew up a legislative victory. In a new Penn/Schoen post-election poll passed along to First Read by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, two out of three respondents said that they believed that "common sense" gun regulations -- like background checks, waiting periods, and a renewal of the assault weapons ban -- should be enacted in the first year of the Obama administration. The pollsters, who asked 1083 voters in ...read the full article
National Post Nov 16, 2008
Canada gets tough with Chicago gun dealer
TORONTO -- Canadian officials have told the United States they want to bring a Chicago gun dealer to Toronto to stand trial on charges of smuggling more than 200 handguns across the border. The case, which may be a first for Canada, appears to signal a harder line against gun smugglers as Toronto grapples with a rash of gang-related shootings that have claimed several innocent bystanders. Seventy per cent of the crime guns seized by Toronto police have been smuggled into the country from the United States. There have been 211 shooting incidents in the city so far this year, 35 of ...read the full article
Area, state leaders meet to discuss illegal gun trafficking
CLEVELAND -- Area mayors and state legislators will gather Tuesday in Cleveland to hear how other large cities deal with gun trafficking and violence. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will speak at 1 p.m. at the House of Blues, East 4th Street and Euclid Avenue, on stopping the flow of illegal guns into cities. The lecture is open to the public. Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg co-founded the coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, in 2006 to work with legislators to close loopholes in state laws that enable criminals to obtain guns. In an interview, Menino said the group represents more than ...read the full article
Columbus Dispatch Nov 30, 2008
Editorial: On target: Background checks have served U.S. well by stopping illegal purchases
From 1994 through 2007, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act stopped the sale of firearms to 1.63 million felons, minors, severely mentally ill people and others prohibited from owning guns. The next Congress can make this good law better by closing the loophole that allows about 40 percent of gun buyers to escape federal background checks. The Brady legislation, named after Jim Brady, the press secretary injured in the 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, was signed by President Bill Clinton 15 years ago today. It requires licensed gun dealers, who make about 60 percent of firearms sales nationally, ...read the full article
Houston Chronicle Nov 29, 2008
Weapons sold in Houston kill in Mexico
Drug cartel gangsters waging a criminal insurgency against Mexican society and government are making the Houston area their marketplace of choice, as they spend millions of dollars statewide buying military-style weapons and ammunition. Gangsters have honed in on this city because of its glut of gun shops, its proximity to the border, and its long-established networks for smuggling narcotics into the United States, federal law-enforcement officials said. The surge in fraudulent purchases comes as more than 4,000 people have died in Mexico's criminal underworld violence this year. Authorities can point to numerous crimes, including the infamous 2007 Acapulco Massacre to illustrate the carnage ...read the full article
Boston Globe Nov 27, 2008
A chance for sensible gun laws
WITH THE historic election of Barack Obama, the nation finally has an opportunity to enact sensible national gun policy. Obama should look to big cities, especially Boston, for guidance. Big-city mayors know all too well the devastating impact a failed national gun policy has had on people living in urban America. Most of the 83 Americans who die every day from gun violence live in cities. The average annual US death toll from guns is 34,000 Americans. Comparatively, over the past 30 years, 1,035,000 Americans have died from guns in the United States versus 655,000 US service men and women killed ...read the full article
Tennessean Nov 23, 2008
Some gun owners give in to fear mongering
From a campaign statement by President-elect Barack Obama on the U.S. Supreme Court Heller decision, June 26, 2008, and taken from the Web site, www.bradyvoter.org. "I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view, and while it ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice Scalia himself acknowledged that this right is not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations ...read the full article
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Nov 21, 2008
Council considers law to deter sales of guns to criminals
Pittsburgh City Council members on Thursday vowed to pass legislation that would punish gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours, even if the measure lands the city in court. "I say, bring it on," Councilwoman Tonya Payne said during a public hearing. "If they want to take us to court, I say we go to court." The legislation targets handgun "straw purchasers," people with clean criminal records who buy guns and sell or give them to criminals. The ordinance would require people to report missing guns within a day of realizing the firearm is gone or ...read the full article
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Nov 20, 2008
Editorial: Gun owners must keep weapons away from kids
Youngsters are going to do some terribly irresponsible, dangerous things at times. The recent tragedy at a South Florida high school, plus two ensuing incidents at other schools, should serve as a reminder that parents who own guns must show extra care and responsibility, becausetheir children may not. There have been three recent incidents involving guns in schools -- the horrible tragedy at Dillard High School involving the shooting death of 15-year-old Amanda Collette, a scare at Walker Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. when an 8-year-old third-grader brought a gun to class, ...read the full article
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Nov 19, 2008
Council targets 'straw' gun buys
It might be unconstitutional and unenforceable, but Pittsburgh City Council members said they intend to fight for passage of a law that would punish gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours. "This is not going to be the end of the world (for gun owners)," Councilman Doug Shields said Tuesday during a meeting in council chambers, Downtown. "This is common-sense regulation of the world's most dangerous consumer product." A public hearing on the legislation will be held in the chambers at 10 a.m. Thursday. Council could vote on the ordinance later this month. The legislation targets handgun ...read the full article
MSNBC Nov 19, 2008
The Agenda: Gun Control
Automakers' pleas for $25 billion in aid makes the Boston Globe front page. Put gun control advocates on the list of interest groups measuring Obama's issue coattails and hoping to sew up a legislative victory. In a new Penn/Schoen post-election poll passed along to First Read by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, two out of three respondents said that they believed that "common sense" gun regulations -- like background checks, waiting periods, and a renewal of the assault weapons ban -- should be enacted in the first year of the Obama administration. The pollsters, who asked 1083 voters in ...read the full article
National Post Nov 16, 2008
Canada gets tough with Chicago gun dealer
TORONTO -- Canadian officials have told the United States they want to bring a Chicago gun dealer to Toronto to stand trial on charges of smuggling more than 200 handguns across the border. The case, which may be a first for Canada, appears to signal a harder line against gun smugglers as Toronto grapples with a rash of gang-related shootings that have claimed several innocent bystanders. Seventy per cent of the crime guns seized by Toronto police have been smuggled into the country from the United States. There have been 211 shooting incidents in the city so far this year, 35 of ...read the full article