Difference between revisions of "Brady Campaign"

Latest revision as of 13:55, 20 May 2015

Some critics note that the Brady Campaign has been ineffective since the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in January 1995. Since then the "assault weapons" ban has been allowed to expire; legislation protecting gun manufacturers and dealers against lawsuits by crime victims has been enacted in Congress and in several States; and the pro-gun opinions of former senator John Ashcroft were no impediment to his confirmation as Attorney General in 2001.

[edit] History

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a sister organization that was also spun out of Handgun Control, Inc. on June 14, 2001. It is a registered not-for-profit organization which allegedly focuses on education but is far more interested in litigation and political lobbying.

On October 1, 2001, the Million Mom March merged with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.^[2]

Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT, The Brady Campaign experienced a bump in new supporters^[3] and a briefly renewed interest in passing legislation to reduce gun rights. The Brady Campaign leadership has been leading the effort on Capitol Hill to pass a set of reforms, including an expansion of the Background Check program. Their leadership has met with President Obama and Vice President Biden to craft a package of bills aimed at reducing gun rights.^[4]

[edit] Leadership

Mark Borinsky founded the National Council to Control Handguns in 1974. He served as Chair until 1976. Charlie Orasin was a key player in the founding and growth of Handgun Control (HCI). He worked at HCI from 1975 until 1992.

Nelson "Pete" Shields became the organization's chairman in 1978 and retired in 1989.

James Brady and his wife, Sarah, have been influential in the organization since at least the mid-1980s. Mrs. Brady became chair in 1989, and the Bradys became the namesakes of the organization in 2000.

From 2000 to May 2006 former Maryland Congressman Michael D. Barnes was the president of the Brady Campaign. He was succeeded by former Fort Wayne, Indiana mayor Paul Helmke.

In February 2012, on Sarah Brady's 70th birthday, Dan Gross was announced as the new president. He is one of the founders of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence (formerly PAX).

[edit] Stated Mission

From Brady Campaign's website:

As the largest national, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, the Million Mom March and the Brady Center are dedicated to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in their communities. The Brady Campaign, the Million Mom March and the Brady Center believe that a safer America can be achieved without banning all guns.

In 1976, HCI's Chairman Nelson "Pete" Shields stated that the long-term goal of the organization was a ban on handgun ownership.^[5]

We'll take one step at a time, and the first is necessarily – given the political realities – very modest. We'll have to start working again to strengthen the law, and then again to strengthen the next law and again and again. Our ultimate goal, total control of handguns, is going to take time. The first problem is to slow down production and sales. Next is to get registration. The final problem is to make possession of all handguns and ammunition (with a few exceptions) totally illegal.

[edit] Activities

During the Clinton Administration, HCI was the chief supporter of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, known as the "Brady Bill", enacted in 1993 after seven years of debate; and successfully lobbied for passage of the first-ever Federal assault weapons ban, banning the manufacture and importation of so-called military-style "assault weapons", a provision that was arbitrary and symbolic. The ban expired in September 2004. This has since been replaced by a computerized background check system.

In May 2005, Florida passed a "Stand Your Ground" law that authorized persons attacked in their own home or automobile to use lethal force in self-defense without a duty to retreat;^[6] Brady Campaign workers passed out fliers at Florida airports warning tourists that, under what they called the "Shoot First" law, tourists could be shot for simply being rude to a Florida resident.^[7] When such laws were proposed in other states, the Brady Campaign warned they would result in vigilantism.^[8]

On March 19, 2009, a federal judge ordered a temporary injunction blocking the implementation of the rule allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry firearms concealed within National Park Service lands within states where their permits are valid, based upon "environmental concerns", in response to efforts by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.^[9][10] On May 20, 2009, the injunction was overturned by the passing of an amendment to (of all things) the Credit CARD Act of 2009, added by Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) over the screeching objections of the Brady Campaign.^[11]

In 2012, the Brady Campaign clearly showed that it's fine and dandy for drug lords and other criminals to have guns and murder people, as long as the government is the one supplying them, when they relentlessly attacked Republicans’ efforts to obtain documents regarding the Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal^[12]

[edit] Fails

U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 2008 and 2010 have affirmed the right of citizens to own and use firearms in their homes for self-defense. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) ruled that the Second Amendment was an individual (rather than collective) right, like the rest of the Bill of Rights. McDonald v. Chicago (2010) ruled that the Second Amendment was incorporated against the states under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and struck down^[13] a Chicago ordinance banning handguns. In both cases the Brady Campaign was loudly butthurt with the outcome,^[14] stating that they were worried that a decrease in government regulation of firearms would result in more gun deaths and gun violence. They however have babbled that they are pleased that neither case outcome precluded "the Second Amendment allows for reasonable restrictions on firearms, including who can have them and under what conditions, where they can be taken, and what types of firearms are available." further attempts at skullbuggery by gun grabbers in the future.^[15]

Then there's the ongoing description of hollow-point handgun ammunition as "cop-killers," in blatant contradiction with every known principle of ballistics. This misinformation was widely exploited by media outlets, despite the fact that most types of hollow-point ammunition actually penetrate far less than conventional jacketed rounds, thus being incapable of defeating police department-issue Kevlar vests.

[edit] Responses

The Brady Campaign has come under severe criticism from both gun-owners groups (such as the NRA) and from non-aligned parties as well, due to its habitual use of inaccurate information and unsourced data blatant fabrications regarding firearms and ammunition^[16][17].

Gun advocacy groups have protested the demonisation of a sport through disinformation and unfounded hysteria. Some of the more famous examples include the labelling of semi-automatic or self-loading rifles as "assault weapons." Writer Richard Lowry pointed out that the term "assault weapon", used in the 1994 crime bill that followed the 1993 Brady Bill is a manufactured term.^[18] This term is used by the Brady Campaign to refer to semi-automatic or self-loading rifles.^[19] This is done in order to equate them in the public imagination with assault rifles,^[20][21] and the Brady Campaign has repeatedly used the terms interchangeably.^[22][23] The Brady Campaign tries to contend that semiauto and select-fire weapons are as good as identical, since a semi-automatic rifle may be fired rapidly.^[24]

They also can't seem to stop yowling for the ban of imaginary non-existent "plastic guns".^[25][26] This apparently started after they got scared about the emergence of polymer-framed handguns by Austrian firearms manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H..^[27] People with their craniums clear of their colons pointed out that those handguns still contain many vital components made of metal (such as the slide, barrel and ammunition), and can be detected by plain old conventional screening technologies. In addition, the type of polymer used in the so-called "plastic guns" is of a type that is opaque to X-ray scanners, rendering discussion over these "plastic guns" moot. There are no fully functional guns consisting only of polymer parts.^[25][28][29] (It's interesting to note that The Terrorist Firearms Detection Act in question only outlawed guns with less than 3.2 oz of metal in them, making the law nothing but political theater for both sides; as 83.7% [by weight] of any Glock pistol is normal ordnance steel.)^[29]

[edit] Identity confusion

As noted previously, the Brady Campaign was founded in 1974 as The National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH). Unfortunately, this name was often confused with the similarly-named "The National Council to Ban Handguns", subsequently known as "The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence" also started in 1974.^[30][31] These two organizations, The National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH) and "The National Council to Ban Handguns" were entirely separate organizations.

[edit] Further reading

• "A Reporter At Large: Handguns," The New Yorker, July 26, 1976, pp. 57-58
• "First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws" The CDC, October 3, 2003^[32]

[edit] See also

• Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
• List of American firearms topics
• Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
• The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition

[edit] References