1. Illinois Governor Turns to Brady Campaign to Help Pass State Assault Weapons Ban
2. Pennsylvania Activists Target House Chair O'Brien on Illegal Gun Legislation
3. Alert from Brady's Law Enforcement Relations Department Leads to Gun Industry Change on Coloring of Ceramic Coated Firearm
4. Brady Center Brings Gun Violence Prevention Message to L.A.'s Hispanic/Latino Community
5. Brady Campaign Honors Long-Time Friend Seattle Police Chief Kerlikowske at Tribute Lunch

In the wake of multiple tragic shootings in the Chicago area of two innocent young girls inside their homes from drive-by assault weapons fire, Governor Rod Blagojevich asked the Brady Campaign to help him draw attention to legislation that would ban assault weapons in Illinois. The first step was to alert our StoptheNRA eActivists who deluged their state representatives with emails and phone calls. Part two was a rally at the capitol where local activists gathered by the busload in Illinois's state capitol, in support of banning these deadly, military-style weapons.

The family members of the young assault weapon victims, accompanied by the Brady Campaign's Illinois Field Director Jennifer Bishop, were flown to the rally in the Governor's airplane. The Governor himself led the rally/press conference as state legislators, law enforcement, victims, and community members all spoke out about the need to stop more senseless deaths in Illinois from assault weapons.

Members of the Brady-supported PATH Coalition (Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns) gathered recently to protest the decision of State House Judiciary Chair Denny O'Brien to block PATH's number-one priority bill: a one-handgun-a-month policy to stop the flow of illegal guns to criminals.

As a result of their efforts, activists were able collect more than 2,000 signatures in Rep. O'Brien's district demanding action on this important legislation (HB 871).

Currently, federal law does not limit the number of firearms that a person can buy in one transaction. Gun traffickers take advantage of this federal loophole by purchasing large numbers of guns, usually handguns, from gun dealers and reselling them on the street to criminals. For more information on illegal gun legislation in Pennsylvania, please visit the PATH Coalition's website: www.pathcoalition.org.

When the Brady Law Enforcement Relations Department learned of a new process that can disguise a real gun to look like a toy, alerts were immediately distributed through our national partners to all police departments making their officers aware of these guns that appear to be toys and to help notify parents that real firearms, which go through this process, could easily be mistaken as a toy by children.

The process of applying a thin ceramic coating to a firearm can be beneficial to hunters, law enforcement officers, or anyone whose firearm is exposed to the elements for an extended period. The problem arose when a couple of companies started offering this process in various colors. They are now coating firearms with red, blue, green, and pastel colors such as pink and yellow, which makes the guns look more like toys.

The response to this alert has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, several companies have received so many calls from law enforcement officers about the ceramic coating process, they have either quit coloring guns entirely or have restricted the process to colors that are easily associated with a working firearm. Two chiefs' associations have already worked with legislators to have bills introduced to ban this coating process, and other associations are considering it.

This is a significant victory that equates to lives saved: we were able to get the gun industry to change a very bad business practice by alerting our law enforcement allies.

The Brady Center is launching this week a public awareness campaign with the Hispanic Communications Network (HCN) to reduce the incidence of gun violence in Hispanic/Latino communities.

The pilot initiative, focused in Los Angeles, will produce five different radio vignettes to be aired via HCN's 200 national radio stations; a columna in the largest circulating Hispanic/Latino newspaper in L.A., La Opinion; and a radio spot to be featured on a national radio talk show called Bienvenidos a América. The primary message will be keeping your family safe from gun violence and stopping the flow of illegal guns into communities.

This effort will culminate with our participation and dissemination of materials at Los Angeles's Festival de Fiesta Broadway on April 30, the city's largest Cinco de Mayo festival, which is attended by more than 500,000 people.

This campaign is another step in a multi-year effort to reach out to Hispanic/Latino communities in the U.S., in response to the disproportionate prevalence of gun violence in these communities. Other pieces of the outreach effort have included Spanish-language materials, and Brady Center web pages now available in Spanish.

Brady Grassroots Division and Law Enforcement Relations joined local activists and politicians at a tribute luncheon honoring Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske for his efforts to reduce gun violence both locally and nationally, sponsored by our state partner Washington Ceasefire. The Brady Campaign was an event sponsor and Jim and Sarah Brady added their admiration in an online communication to Washington state Brady members. The keynote for the event was Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Law Enforcement Relations Director John Shanks was one of the speakers. More than one hundred guests came to honor the Chief, including the Executive Director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Don Pierce and Bellevue Police Chief Jim Montgomery. The event was a great way to honor one of our strongest allies in the state of Washington and a true hero in the fight for a safer America.