Criminals, kids, and other prohibited persons are gaining access to guns with remarkable ease and continue to wreak havoc on communities around the country. And elected officials are doing little to stop them. That's the lesson of the 2005 Annual Report Cards of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Select Your State: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Overall, 32 states received a grade of "D" or "F" for the 2005 report card.

With the leaders of America's cities crying out for help from either the federal government or state Capitols, with front page stories providing daily examples of the pain inflicted on communities by the misuse of guns, and with major exposes in the news media about how illegal guns are wreaking havoc in our nation's cities, state legislative leaders who could do something about it continue the recent trend of winking at the gun lobby, doing nothing, and letting the gun lobby and the gun industry it protects get away with murder.

"We have cracked down on library books, cell phone calls, fertilizer purchases and wearing shoes in the airport, but we have done almost nothing, at the state or federal level, to make it harder for either a terrorist, garden variety armed robber, or young person to get their hands on a handgun," said Sarah Brady.

Consider these facts:

• From 2004 to 2005, only four states changed their "grade" -- and three of those grade changes were demotions. And most state legislatures are currently considering firearm-related legislation -- but the majority of legislation are bills pushed by the gun lobby that threaten to increase firearm violence rather than decrease it.
• Despite growing awareness of how to stem the tide of illegal guns - by limiting bulk purchases of guns, imposing Brady background checks on every gun purchase, and by allowing local municipalities to pass their own measures to stem gun violence -- only Illinois enacted important legislation to require background checks at gun shows in 2005.

That's the bad news -- but there are positive signs popping up across America like spring blossoms:

• In some key political battleground states, like Illinois, Colorado, and Maryland, courageous elected leaders and gun violence prevention advocates have challenged the gun lobby and intend to run for office as aggressive supporters of sensible gun laws designed to protect families and children.
• At least four states are considering state-level assault weapons bans to help assuage the dangers created by the sunset of the federal ban in September 2004.
• Other states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington state and Illinois are considering measures to stem the tide of illegal guns in their state. These measures will help police solve gun crimes, will hold gun stores accountable and will ensure that guns don't get into the hands of convicted felons, terrorists, and teenagers.
• Gun violence prevention advocates and leaders in major urban areas - New York, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Columbus, Detroit, Seattle and Los Angeles, among others -- are ramping-up the pressure on state legislatures to help them fight the easy availability of guns to prohibited purchasers, including youth.

The states that saw a grading change include:

• Florida, which went from a "D" to an "F+" as the first state in America to pass a "Shoot First" law, sanctioning the shooting of innocent bystanders in the name of self-defense;
• Alaska, which went from "D-" to "F+" for passing a law mandating that private businesses allow guns on workplace property;
• Kansas, which stripped local governments of the right to regulate firearms and dropped from a "C+" to "C-"; and
• Illinois, which took positive steps to strengthen background checks at gun shows and required child safety locks be sold with new handguns and moved from a "B+" to an "A-."

The Brady Campaign began grading state gun laws nine years ago. The scores by state, including complete category-by-category detail, can be found at www.stategunlaws.org.