The Brady Center applauds a recent decision that upheld a federal trial court ruling blocking a Wyoming law that would allow convicted domestic violence abusers to possess firearms. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled as the Brady Center had urged in its amicus brief in Wyoming v. United States, prohibiting the state from implementing its law to rearm domestic violence abusers

Brady Center files a lawsuit on behalf of Simone Young Kim's family

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.

Following the Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, our fight to enact sensible gun laws will be undiminished by the Supreme Court's decision in the Heller case.

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. But all nine Justices agreed 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.

Because the Heller ruling addresses a law enacted in the District of Columbia, which is a unique jurisdiction with shared federal/local responsibility, the ruling does not decide the application of the Second Amendment to state gun laws. The Heller ruling also clearly suggests that other gun laws less restrictive than the District's, whether federal or state, are entirely consistent with the Constitution.

The decision may embolden gun lobby interests to file legal attacks on existing state gun laws. These challenges will take time to move through the courts. With the help and expertise of the Brady Center's legal team, those attacks can, and must, be successfully resisted.

National law enforcement groups joined the Brady Center and other gun violence prevention groups in filing a "friend of the court" brief in United States v. Hayes urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court ruling allowing convicted domestic violence abusers to possess guns.

If upheld, the appeals court ruling could require the names of thousands of dangerous, convicted abusers to be purged from the Brady background check system, enabling these individuals to possess firearms. The "Lautenberg Amendment", enacted in 1996, prohibits abusers convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from possessing firearms.

The Brady Center Legal Action Project has taken a new case, representing Carolyn Tuft, a mother whose daughter was killed in a mass shooting at a popular shopping mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. The killer, armed with two high-powered firearms, a backpack full of ammunition, and a bandolier of shotgun shells around his waist, turned the mall into a war zone in a matter of minutes. Five people were killed, and four wounded, including an off-duty police officer.

The lawsuit contends that the gun dealer is liable for the shootings. One of the firearms he sold to the killer was a pistol-grip shotgun, which federal law prohibits from selling to anyone under 21. The killer was 18 at the time.

The Brady Center filed 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.

Two major safety and security organizations — the American Society of Safety Engineers and ASIS International - joined the Brady Center in filing the brief. After filing the brief, Brady Center President Paul Helmke said "Our workplaces need to be free from gun violence, and that is most likely to happen when they are free from guns."

Click here to read Guns for Gangs report.

A new Brady Center report tells the story of Frank D'Andrea's Connecticut gun shop — "a convenient, one-stop shopping place for violent and prolific narcotics traffickers, convicted felons and other prohibited persons," according to law enforcement. D'Andrea's gun store in the Bridgeport, CT area sold hundreds of guns to gangsters and drug traffickers and was cited for hundreds of legal violations.

Weak gun laws allowed D'Andrea to stay in business for more than two decades, until he was finally arrested and pled guilty to violating federal gun law.

In a landmark ruling with nationwide implications, the Indiana Court of Appeals today ruled that the City of Gary's lawsuit against gun manufacturers may proceed to trial.

The 3-0 Court ruling held that the 2005 federal "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" does not shield the gun industry from liability for irresponsible sales practices that funnel guns to the criminal market.

Brady Center Report Describes Risks Of Guns On College Campuses

Washington, D.C. — The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is releasing a new report — No Gun Left Behind: The Gun Lobby's Campaign to Push Guns Into Colleges and Schools — that draws attention to the gun lobby's efforts in recent years, and since the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech, to change college campus rules prohibiting firearms. The report describes gun lobby efforts in Utah, Maine, South Carolina and other states to force colleges to allow the possession and use of firearms by students and others on campus.

Brady President Urges Changes In Gun Laws Post-Virginia Tech

U.S. Gun Violence Epidemic is "our Daily Virginia Tech," Paul Helmke Tells National Press Club Audience

Washington, D.C. — In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, the President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced a series of recommendations for changes in Federal gun laws that he said would strengthen the nation's safety net against some future mass shootings.

Brady Campaign: Cho Seung-Hui Was A Prohibited Purchaser Under Existing Federal Law

Washington, D.C. — Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke issued the following statement:

"We believe that based on existing Federal law, Cho Seung-Hui should not have passed his Brady background checks and should not have been allowed to purchase firearms.

Nation Again Grieves Over A Tragedy
"Of Monumental Proportions"

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.

Statement Of Brady President Paul Helmke On Dc Circuit's Ruling Striking Down D.C. Handgun Law

Washington, D.C. - Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement:

"The 2-1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Parker v. District of Columbia striking down the District of Columbia's handgun law is judicial activism at its worst. By disregarding nearly seventy years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, two Federal judges have negated the democratically-expressed will of the people of the District of Columbia and deprived this community of a gun law it enacted thirty years ago and still strongly supports.

Washington, D.C. - As a national coalition of mayors prepares to convene in Washington, D.C. to urge action by the new Congress to curb illegal guns, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence released a report revealing that licensed gun dealers often are complicit in aiding gun traffickers, yet remain untouched by the law.