More evidence emerged this month that the gun debate is turning a corner in America.

Only days after signing the first gun control legislation in over a decade, the Bush Administration has now disavowed the most extreme outcomes implicit in the gun lobby’s view of the Second Amendment.

In its brief in the D.C. v. Heller case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bush Administration acknowledges that because of the “unquestionable threat to public safety that unrestricted private firearm possession would entail� that “various categories of firearm-related regulation are permitted by the Second Amendment.�

The Brady Center welcomes this surprising development. It demonstrates the problem with the “private purpose� interpretation of the Second Amendment. This view might have sounded good politically to the Ashcroft Justice Department [pdf], but now the Bush Administration realizes that the lower-court decision could “cast doubt on the constitutionality of� common-sense gun control laws like the “federal machine gun ban,� the restrictions on firearm possession by felons, and the licensing of gun dealers.

Rather than defend the long-standing view of virtually every Federal court – that the Second Amendment has an obvious militia purpose, and is no barrier to the adoption of gun control laws by legislative bodies responsible for providing public safety and for weighing competing views on the effectiveness of and need for such laws – the Bush Administration brief proposes a “heightened scrutiny� test when the gun control law “has no grounding in Framing-era practice.�

This test would consider the “practical impact� on the individual (“including the nature and practical adequacy of the available alternatives�) and the “strength of the government’s interest in enforcement of the relevant restriction.�

This case-by-case approach would permit “Second Amendment doctrine to develop in an incremental and prudent fashion,� according to the Bush Administration. Judges in different parts of the country could presumably reach different decisions on similar gun control restrictions based on the different law enforcement challenges in those communities.

Do we really want judges making those decisions rather than democratically-elected legislative bodies? Nine national police organizations have joined the Brady Center’s brief [pdf] defending the pre-Heller state of Second Amendment law, which gave this power to communities.

Police and mayors and district attorneys (all of whom are on briefs supporting the District of Columbia) know that gun control laws that make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons help keep their communities safe.

The Second Amendment should not be a barrier to the adoption of sensible gun laws that help save lives. We’re glad that the Bush Administration seems to agree.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)

Almost everyone agrees that we should make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons.

As I said in my last blog, we should be willing to put up with a little “red tape� if it helps us avoid more “yellow tape� at crime scenes.

Most Americans believe this, and by wide margins [pdf].

We see this principle in action today in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gov. Timothy Kaine is standing with the survivors and surviving families of the Virginia Tech massacre, as well as leading members of the law enforcement community, to demand stronger gun laws in that state.

First, in the aftermath of the shootings at Virginia Tech, the Governor ordered more records of the dangerously mentally ill into the Brady background check system. In doing so, Gov. Kaine closed the loophole that allowed the killer to get his guns from two gun stores.

This week, Gov. Kaine vowed to close another loophole, calling for background checks even from so-called “private-sellersâ€� at gun shows. What does that mean? Today, if a background check blocks a “prohibited purchaserâ€� from buying guns from a licensed dealer, that person can go find a “private seller” at a gun show who can sell him a gun with no questions asked.

[See an example of this practice at a recent gun show in Kentucky. An investigative reporter went to a show and found a “private seller” willing to sell him an SKS and an AK-47. The seller says to the reporter, on hidden camera: “No background check, no paperwork. If you see a gun here you like, pay me for it and take it with you.”]

That’s wrong. Gun shows should not be a haven for criminal gun buyers who want to evade background checks. Letting felons and other prohibited purchasers get away with legally buying guns is at odds with common sense, and recklessly puts lives at risk.

The naysayers argue that Virginia gun shows will close because of background checks, but the facts show otherwise. Gun shows continue to thrive where the gun show loophole is closed, because running background checks doesn’t deter legal gun buyers. They deter illegal ones.

Law-abiding gun buyers and sellers have nothing to fear from background checks. Only criminals and reckless dealers do.

All the same, I have read reports that some Virginia Delegates plan to spurn the Virginia Tech families, ignore the evidence, and stubbornly refuse to close the gun show loophole.

Soon those Delegates will meet Virginia Tech parents like Joe Samaha and Lt. Col. Peter Read. Each of these men lost a daughter in the French class inside Norris Hall on April 16, 2007.

I wonder, do those Delegates have the guts to look Mr. Samaha and Col. Read in the eye and tell them that someone else’s daughter may have to die because a few gun buyers are afraid of getting their backgrounds checked at a gun show?

I can’t imagine such a scene, but we’re about to find out in this session of the Virginia legislature.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is lucky have Gov. Kaine stand alongside the police and the Virginia Tech families in their fight to require background checks for all gun show sales.

The Brady Campaign is proud to stand with them.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)

Many of us in the gun violence prevention movement are excited about the year ahead.

America is turning a corner on the gun issue, because the people are finally being heard.

Today, President Bush signed into law the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 – what some have called “the first major new gun control bill in more than a decade.”

The President and Congress are to be congratulated for this achievement. They know that Brady background checks are designed to prohibit the dangerously mentally ill, felons, and domestic abusers from getting guns legally. They also know, however, that at present only an estimated 10-20% of the records of the dangerously mentally ill are in the system.

What’s more, fully 25% of felony records have yet to be added to the system. This is unacceptable.

Brady background checks have stopped an estimated 1.4 million people from legally buying guns since 1994, but background checks are only as good as the records in the system.

What we’ve been doing isn’t working, and the President and Congress have taken meaningful action to do better.

Most of the credit for today’s achievement, however, goes to the victims of gun violence everywhere, especially a member of Congress and the surviving victims and families of the Virginia Tech massacre. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, the lead sponsor of this bill in the House, and the Virginia Tech families know what it means to lose family members to gun violence.

Together, they have fought intensely since that terrible day in April to do everything in their power to prevent another dangerously mentally ill person from getting high-powered weapons and taking more innocent life.

Mrs. McCarthy lost her husband 14 years ago in the Long Island Rail Road shooting. Her passion to strengthen America’s weak gun laws compelled her to serve in Congress. In 2002, after yet another tragic shooting (in the Our Lady of Peace church in Lynbrook, New York) Rep. McCarthy and Sen. Charles Schumer introduced a bill similar to the one the President signed today.

Almost six years later, due to the hard work and dedication of gun violence victims, our elected officials finally took action. It is difficult for politicians to stare victims in the eye and say that nothing can be done to prevent yet another tragedy – especially when workable and necessary solutions are ready to be enacted.

Particular thanks go to Rep. McCarthy, Rep. John Dingell, Sen. Schumer, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Edward Kennedy, for their efforts to get this legislation adopted.

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act – now Law – is an important victory. The work of the Virginia Tech families has been vindicated, and the country has been made safer because of it.

This victory is just one reason I am optimistic about the future of our cause in this new year.

Another reason is the number of leading politicians across the country in 2007 who supported our efforts to reduce gun violence. Prominent examples at the state level include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California, who stood with the police and signed landmark microstamping legislation into law. Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey is fighting to ratchet up the penalties for straw purchases and require lost and stolen guns to be reported to the police. Gov. Ed Rendell in Pennsylvania personally appeared before the legislature to limit bulk purchases of weapons. Gov. Tim Kaine in Virginia is fighting to close the gun show loophole, as is Gov. Jim Doyle in Wisconsin.

These and other elected officials are ignoring the schoolyard bullying and slippery slope arguments of the gun lobby. They’re heeding the people’s common sense, instead. Most of us want to make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons.

Most people are willing to tolerate a little red tape if it helps prevent more yellow tape at crime scenes.

Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from common-sense gun laws that will reduce the toll of 30,000 gun deaths every year in this country.

• Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from preventing suspected terrorists from walking out of a gun store or a gun show fully armed.

• Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from getting a background check for every single gun purchase they make, including at gun shows (this is closing the gun show loophole).

• Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from strengthening Brady background checks to make sure that “prohibited purchasers” like felons, the dangerously mentally ill, and domestic abusers are denied guns at the point of sale.

• Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from reporting lost or stolen guns to the police in a timely manner.

• Law-abiding Americans (who aren’t in the legal gun business) have nothing to fear from being prevented from buying large numbers of guns in bulk purchases.

• Law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear from keeping military-style assault weapons out of most civilian hands, reserving them for military and law enforcement use only.

By wide margins, most Americans want these policies. We’re working hard to enact them into law.

These issues are winnable. As I look ahead, I’m optimistic for the future of the gun violence prevention movement.

The important victories of 2007 have helped our elected officials hear the majority of Americans in their call to strengthen our country’s tragically weak gun laws. While we have a lot of work to get done, we also have much reason to be optimistic about the future.

America is turning a corner on the gun issue, and I want you to be a part of what could be an historic moment for our country.

I ask you to join us in helping make 2008 a safer year for all Americans.

Happy New Year to everyone.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)