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Who Takes the Fight Against Gun Violence into Our Nation's Courts? Demanding Justice For too long, those who make and sell guns have avoided responsibility for actions and decisions that bring violence to the nation's streets, danger into homes, and tragedy to families. The Legal Action Project is changing that. In courts across the country, Legal Action Project lawyers help those who demand that the gun industry be held accountable under the law for dangerous and irresponsible practices. Just as car manufacturers have been held liable for failing to install seat belts or air bags, gun makers should be liable for failing to install locks and other feasible safety features that would prevent unintentional and unauthorized use of guns. When gun companies profit by negligently pouring guns into a criminal market and misleading law-abiding citizens about the risks of having a gun in the home, they should be liable for the consequences. Whether brought by a mayor of a big city or a parent from a small town, the goal of every one of the Project's cases is to change the way the gun industry conducts business. The Project's lawyers work for the interests of victims and the public, and never charge a fee for their services. Our efforts include:
The Project helped the City of New Orleans become the first public entity in history to sue gun manufacturers and sellers for the terrible harm they inflict on the City and its residents. Dozens of other cities and counties represented by the Project, from Boston to Miami to Los Angeles, have filed similar suits. Bringing unprecedented scrutiny to the dangerous ways the gun industry does business, these cities and counties demand real reforms that will reduce gun violence and save lives. The NAACP, the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the country, challenges the gun industry's contributions to gun violence in a lawsuit against more than a hundred gun manufacturers and distributors. With the Project's lawyers among its counsel, the NAACP seeks a court order that would force these companies to end practices that allow guns to flow easily into criminal hands. The Project's lawyers bring cases on behalf of individual victims of gun violence, from lawsuits against the makers of assault weapons used in mass shootings, to actions against handgun makers whose unsafe designs allow children to die in unintentional shootings. If you or someone you know has been victimized by an irresponsible gun maker, seller, or owner, and you think our lawyers can help, please contact us. Defending the Laws With public support for sensible gun laws growing even stronger, gun control advocates continue to score major legislative victories at the federal, state and local levels. Every hard-won victory sets the stage for a second fight, as the gun industry and the gun lobby seek to frustrate virtually every enactment with a court challenge. The Legal Action Project is at the forefront in defending against these attacks. Project attorneys provide a full range of free assistance to government attorneys defending gun control laws, including statistical and other factual material supporting the laws, legal briefs filed in similar cases, updates on new court rulings, suggested expert witnesses and general tactical advice. The Project also enters these cases as amicus curiae ("friend of the court") on the side of the government, filing legal briefs joined by police organizations and other community groups with special concerns about gun violence. The Project files its own suits when government officials fail to carry out their duties required by law. Over and over, courts uphold these critical public safety laws against attack:
The Project's work has been critical to the defense of the Brady Law and the federal assault weapons ban, as well as numerous state laws directed at assault weapons and "Saturday Night Special" handguns, against legal challenges funded by the National Rifle Association. The Project's amicus briefs helped to convince the Supreme Court of Massachusetts that the state's attorney general had authority to issue regulations establishing safety standards for all handguns made or sold in the state. The regulations were the first of their kind in the country, and can serve as a model for other states to follow. The Project filed and won a suit to stop California's former Attorney General from continuing illegal registration of assault weapons after a statutory deadline for such registrations had expired. The decision cleared the way for the state to order owners of about 1,600 assault weapons to surrender them to law enforcement. Defending the Truth
The late former Chief Justice Warren Burger called the gun lobby's distortion of the Second Amendment a "fraud on the American public." The National Rifle Association and other gun groups spend millions of dollars each year trying to convince Americans that the Second Amendment gives every individual a right to own guns and makes reasonable gun control laws invalid. The language and history of the Second Amendment in fact establish that it confers only a collective right to maintain armed state militias. Decisions by the Supreme Court and dozens of other federal courts have confirmed that the Amendment has no relevance to gun control laws, that it guarantees only the people's right to be armed in service of a well regulated militia, and that today's militia is the National Guard. The fight against the Second Amendment fraud requires constant vigilance. The gun lobby's distortion campaign recently even garnered support in one courtroom, when a federal judge in Texas ignored overwhelming precedent to rule that the Second Amendment protected a man who threatened his estranged wife and young daughter with a pistol while subject to a domestic violence restraining order. Legal Action Project lawyers have filed briefs as amicus curiae seeking reversal of that aberrant decision on appeal. Project attorneys work to counter misrepresentations wherever they appear. They have written scholarly articles and guides for gun control advocates with the most persuasive responses to Second Amendment mythology, sponsored print and television advertisements exposing the gun lobby's distortions, and appeared on television and radio to spread the truth about the Constitution and gun control. The Legal Action Project is a program of The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Chaired by Sarah Brady, the Center was founded in 1983 to reduce gun violence through education, legal advocacy, research, and outreach to the entertainment community. National initiatives include prevention programs for parents and youth on the risks associated with guns, legal representation for gun violence victims, work with the entertainment community to encourage deglamorization of guns in the media, and research of the risks associated with guns and the efficacy of gun control laws
The Legal Action Project does not charge legal fees for its services. Therefore, we rely on contributions from the public to fund our vital efforts. You may contribute to The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence over the internet by clicking here. |
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