Paul Helmke served five years as President of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, from July 2006-July 2011. Prior to this, Helmke was a lawyer and from 1988-2000, Mayor in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Helmke was President of the United States Conference of Mayors in 1997-1998 and was a Board member for the National League of Cities. He is a past-President of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and of both the national and Indiana Republican Mayors and Local Officials organizations. Helmke was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Indiana in 1998.

Helmke served on the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services - Violence Against Women Advisory Council and on the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education's Advisory Council for School-to-Work Opportunities and worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on special projects.

After upsetting a two-term incumbent in November 1987 with 52 percent of the vote, Helmke was re-elected mayor in 1991 and 1995. Helmke is only the second person in Fort Wayne history to be elected to three consecutive four-year mayoral terms. His 64.5 percent of the vote in 1995 tied the largest margin of victory for a Republican in the city of Fort Wayne.

As mayor, Helmke received national attention for his program of "Community-Oriented Government," his efforts to fight crime, redevelop brownfields, and advocate for urban interests. He reduced the city property tax rate and city debt, pursued an aggressive annexation program, strengthened the police department and started community policing (which helped bring the crime rate in 1999 to a 25-year low), helped revitalize the downtown, and supported economic development efforts that helped keep the unemployment rate below the state and national averages. Under Mayor Helmke's leadership, Fort Wayne was named an All-America City by the National Civic League in 1998.

Helmke has appeared on the evening news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as numerous Fox News shows, MSNBC's Hardball, C-Span's Washington Journal, and The Colbert Report. He was also a contestant on Jeopardy in the early 1970's.

In 1970, Helmke received an honors degree, with highest distinction, in political science from Indiana University (Bloomington , Indiana ). While at I.U., Helmke was selected to Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honorary, and was elected student body president. Helmke received his law degree from Yale University in 1973 (in the same class with Bill and Hillary Clinton).

Prior to becoming mayor, Helmke practiced law and served as an Assistant County Attorney. He taught Communications Law for a number of years in the mid-1980's. After leaving the mayor's office, Helmke was of counsel with Barnes & Thornburg , Indiana's largest law firm, for three years and then returned to his family law firm, Helmke Beams LLP.

A native of Indiana, Helmke and his wife, Deborah, a former public school kindergarten teacher in Fort Wayne, have two grown daughters. Paul Helmke continues to be advocate for better gun laws and is active in the movement.

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Former Maryland Congressman Michael D. Barnes acted as President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control) and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence), for six years with his term ending in July of 2006. Continuing a long career of public service he will remain involved as President Emeritus and Senior Advisor to the Board.

From 1979 to 1987, Mr. Barnes served in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his tenure, he chaired the House Sub-Committee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, championing human rights and democracy as civil wars raged in Central America. Mr. Barnes also led the national fight against drunk driving, working closely with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A former Marine, Mr. Barnes graduated from the University of North Carolina and received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School.

After leaving Congress, Mr. Barnes continued to involve himself in national and international issues as a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson. He served as the principal international advocate for the successful restoration of democracy in Haiti, and as counsel for the governments of Chile, Cyprus, Panama and South Korea. He also served as Chairman of the Center for National Policy; as Co-Chairman of the NAFTA Congressional Caucus and Forum; as Co-Chairman of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Programme; and as Chairman of the U.S.-Panama Business Council.

During his six-year tenure, Mike shepherded the merger with the Million Mom March Chapters to help make our movement stronger and more effective. He oversaw our name change from Handgun Control, Inc. to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence to the Brady Center. Mike also led a dramatic expansion of the Brady Center's litigation against the gun industry, leading to precedent-setting victories in the courts of New Jersey, Ohio and Indiana, court-ordered reform of gun dealers in California, and over $4 million in damages recovered for gun violence victims.

The Brady Campaign and Brady Center thank Mike for his six years of dedicated service.

Mr. Walker served as the President of Handgun Control, Inc and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence and from 1997 to 2000.

As the legislative director for Handgun Control, Inc, he directed the lobbying campaigns that led to the successful passage of the Brady Bill in 1993 and the federal assault weapon ban in 1994.

Prior to his work for Handgun Control, Bob worked for 14 years on Capitol Hill, including five years as a legislative aid to Rep. John B. Anderson and six years as Legislative Director to Rep. Mo Udall. He also served as Legislative Counsel for the AARP.

Currently, Bob is President of the Population Resource Center. Prior to joining PRC, Bob was a management consultant and President of Get America Working. He also served as the Executive Director of the Common Cause Education Fund.

Bob received his B.A. in Economics from Rockford College in Illinois in 1973 and his J.D. from the University of Illinois School of Law in 1976. In 1977, he attended the University of Sydney in Australia under a Rotary graduate scholarship.

Mr. Guest was President of Handgun Control, Inc and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence from 1996 to 1997.

He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Consumers Union (CU) in February 2001 after a long career in public service and the consumer interest, including 21 years as Chair of CU's Board of Directors. Consumers Union is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers.

Jim's public service career has spanned more than three decades. After graduating from Harvard law school and completing a Woodrow Wilson fellowship in economics at MIT, he worked as legislative assistant to Senator Ted Kennedy. In the early 1970s, Mr. Guest moved to Vermont where he served as Banking and Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Development and Community Affairs.

He was also the founding Executive Director of the American Pain Foundation, a national consumer information, education, and advocacy organization for pain prevention and management.

Mr. Aborn was President of Handgun Control, Inc and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence from 1992 to 1996.

Richard was one of the principal strategists behind the passage of the landmark Brady Bill and the federal assault weapons and large capacity clips ban. He has testified on Capitol Hill and in numerous state and local legislatures and worked closely with the White House, the Justice Department and the Treasury Department. As one of the chief spokespersons for Handgun Control, Mr. Aborn appeared on numerous national and local television and radio shows.

Currently, Richard is a partner of Constantine Cannon and has over two decades of experience in litigation, public and government affairs, program analysis, management, issue advocacy, and social sector enterprises.

He advises police departments and criminal justice agencies in the United States and in Europe on a variety of issues ranging from police integrity issues to use of force policy to building more effective relationships between police departments and criminal justice agencies. Current projects include the Los Angeles Police Department, the Hartford Police Department, Transport for London, the MET Police, British Transport Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Richard also advises organizations in both the public and private sector on the best methodologies to control internal corruption.

Richard previously served as the senior law enforcement advisor to the Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York in 2001. In that capacity, he was responsible for developing a comprehensive criminal justice policy for the City of New York. This policy included greater coordination of governmental agencies to focus on reducing recidivism, wireless technology for police officers, establishment of a 311 program, additional focus on firearms violence and a city based response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

Previously, Richard was an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's office where he prosecuted major felonies, including homicides. Upon leaving the District Attorney's Office, Mr. Aborn started the law firm of Aborn and Anesi where he managed complex litigation representing victims of fraudulent activity on an international basis and assisted corporations seeking to eradicate internal corruption.

He has lectured at the Law School of New York University, debated at the Yale Political Union, served as a Visiting Fellow at Columbia University and been a consultant to the Ford Foundation.

Charlie Orasin was a key player in the founding and growth of Handgun Control (HCI). He worked at HCI from 1975 until 1992.

Mr. Orasin's key accomplishments included building the organization's finances and constituency base that paved the way for the passage of federal, state and local laws to prevent gun violence. He laid the foundation for the passage of the Brady bill in 1993. He built strong relationships with law enforcement for the organization during the Brady bill fight. Mr. Orasin also laid the groundwork for the passage of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. In addition, under his leadership, armor piercing ammunition was banned.

Mr. Orasin helped establish the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence (now Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) in the mid 1980’s and then the Legal Action Project in 1989. He created the Handgun Control PAC, which helped elect and support friends in Congress.

After leaving HCI, he became a Vice President at Craver, Mathews and Smith, a direct response agency and provided strategic and fundraising advice for national non-profits from 1992 - 1994. He is currently Senior Vice President of Operations for the Defenders of Wildlife.

Mr. Shields became the organizations chairman in 1978 and retired in 1989. He was succeeded by Sarah Brady.

Before joining the organization, Pete had been an executive of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company for 26 years when his son, Nelson, was shot and killed in San Francisco in 1975, a victim in a series of killings that were known as the Zebra killings.

He took a leave of absence from Du Pont to help establish an organization to push for stronger gun-control laws. In December 1976 he resigned from Du Pont to become executive director of the National Council to Control Handguns, the predecessor to Handgun Control.

The organization played a major role in the passage of Congressional legislation in 1986 that outlawed armor-piercing bullets and the importation of parts for cheap handguns known as Saturday Night Specials.

Born in Manhattan, Pete attended the Hotchkiss School and earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1949. He was a Navy fighter pilot in World War II. Pete died in 1993 of cancer. His wife, Jeanne, is still a strong supporter of the cause and the organization.

Dr. Mark Borinsky founded the National Council to Control Handguns in 1974. He served as Chair until 1976. The organization's goal to pass common sense gun laws started with Mark.

After being robbed at gun point and almost killed, Mark saw the need for a national organization to focus its efforts on passing common sense gun laws to make it harder for dangerous people to gain access to dangerous weapons.