Guns don't just fall from the sky into the hands of criminals. Illegal guns end up in our neighborhoods because of a small group of reckless gun dealers who allow large-volume sales and knowingly sell to "straw purchasers."

The Deadly Circle of Gun Trafficking
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Just one percent of gun dealers are responsible for selling nearly 60 percent of all guns traced to crime. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the gun industry turns a blind eye to negligent dealers because illegal sales help the bottom line.

We can stop illegal guns from pouring into our communities. The Brady Campaign has launched a landmark multi-year campaign to put an end to the pipeline of illegal guns from licensed gun dealers into the hands of criminals. The national Campaign Against Illegal Guns was launched on March 30, 2006, exactly 25 years after the assassination attempt on President Reagan and the shooting of Jim Brady. In Jim's honor, we will aggressively pursue three strategies that will significantly reduce the number of illegal guns on our streets:

1. Strengthen law enforcement tools to crack down on corrupt gun dealers.
   The NRA often argues that we don't need new laws, we just need to enforce the ones we have. The problem is, we aren't enforcing the ones we have and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) does not have the tools needed to do so. Congress needs to repeal irrational legal constraints that have tied ATF's hands in enforcing the law against dealers who feed the illegal market. And state legislatures and local governments need to give state and local law enforcement new tools to combat gun trafficking.
2. Extend Brady Background checks to all gun sales.
   Since the enactment of the Brady Law over 10 years ago, more than 1.3 million felons and other prohibited purchasers have been blocked from buying guns from licensed gun dealers. As important as the Brady Law is, it only applies to sales by licensed gun dealers, and four out of every ten guns are sold by unlicensed dealers with no background check at all. Brady background checks must be extended to all gun sales, wherever they occur. Our national policy should be no background check, no sale, no excuses.
3. Stop large-volume gun sales that supply traffickers.
   It is possible in most states for "straw purchasers" and traffickers to buy unlimited numbers of guns to sell to the illegal market. This must stop. State legislatures need to limit the number of guns a person can buy. Congress must pass national limits. A person who buys a dozen guns at a time is not buying them for hunting, but for resale to criminals on the streets.

These are sensible solutions that nearly every American can agree to. But as long as the majority of our elected officials are in the NRA's pocket, it's going to be difficult to enact them. Make no mistake: the NRA's real agenda is to boost the profits of the gun industry, and if we succeed in enacting these sensible solutions, the gun companies they represent will make less money. They are going to work harder than ever to keep their friends in office.

To win, we must reduce the NRA's stranglehold on the U.S. Congress. The Brady Campaign will be working hard throughout 2006 to oppose politicians who carry the NRA's torch and elect leaders who support common-sense gun laws that keep guns away from criminals. If we hope to succeed in changing the laws, we must first change the leadership, beginning with the November 2006 elections.

The national Campaign Against Illegal Guns provides us with a clear focus and a winnable strategy for our work. Thanks to the support of members like you, we are going to make illegal guns a key political issue at the local, state, and federal level in this election year and beyond.