The Board of Trustees of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center have announced that Dan Gross, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence (formerly PAX), has been elected the new President of the nation's largest gun violence prevention organizations.

Gross brings to the Brady organizations a legacy of trailblazing, innovative work, and a passion for reducing gun deaths and injuries. Since 1998, the Center to Prevent Youth Violence has created high impact public health and safety campaigns designed to decrease gun deaths and injuries among youths by changing social norms and individual behaviors.  
The native New Yorker co-founded CPYV in December 1997, after his brother Matthew sustained a serious gunshot injury to his head while visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building.  Prior to establishing CPYV, Gross was a marketing and advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson. 

» Click here to send Dan a welcome message
» Click here to read the full press release
» Click here to read an article in USA Today

Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence

The Brady Center’s Legal Action Project helped defeat gun lobby challenges to gun laws in four important cases in January 2012:

In NSSF v. ATF, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed a gun lobby challenge to an Obama Administration rule requiring that gun dealers in the Southwest border states notify law enforcement of bulk sales of semi-automatic rifles, a key indicator of gun trafficking.  The court agreed with an amicus brief filed by LAP contending that ATF had authority to promulgate the rule.

In Birdt v. Beck, a federal judge upheld Los Angeles County’s strong concealed carry laws, agreeing with an amicus brief filed by LAP.  This victory follows victories at the district court level in similar cases in Yolo County and San Diego County, in which LAP also filed amicus briefs.  

In Piszczatoski v. Filko, a federal judge upheld New Jersey’s strong public carry laws, throwing out the Second Amendment Foundation’s challenge.  Agreeing with LAP’s amicus brief, the judge stated that "the Second Amendment does not include a general right to carry handguns outside the home."

In Jennings v. McCraw, a conservative judge in Lubbock, Texas agreed with LAP's brief and dismissed the NRA's challenge to a Texas law prohibiting teens and young adults 18-20 years old from carrying concealed weapons in public.

The gun lobby has already stated that it will appeal its defeats, and LAP will continue to defend the important and life-saving gun laws at issue in each case on appeal. 

Click here for more information about the Legal Action Project.   

On January 30, 2012, the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of the federal Gun Control Act’s prohibition on licensed gun dealers selling handguns to people under the age of 21.

The NRA filed an appeal in the case, Jennings v. ATF, in the Fifth Circuit after Judge Sam Cummings of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismissed its case on September 29, 2011.  The Brady Center also filed an amicus brief in the district court.

The Brady Center’s brief states that the Gun Control Act of 1968 barred sales of handguns to people under the age of 21 because of the risks of gang violence and high rates of violent crime and homicide associated with this age group.  The brief cites studies showing that young persons under 21 often lack the same ability as adults to govern impulsivity, judgment, planning for the future, and foresight of consequences.

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News from Washington D.C.: Candlelight Vigil at Shiloh Baptist Church

» Take Action Now: E-mail Your U.S. Senators to Vote 'NO' on H.R. 822"

The "Packing Heat on Your Street" bill (H.R. 822),  that passed the U.S. House of Representatives has stalled in the U.S. Senate thanks in part to your calls and e-mails.

It is still important to make your voice heard in the U.S. Senate as H.R. 822 is still pending and could be brought up at anytime.  If you haven't done so, please e-mail your U.S. Senators to oppose this legislation and stop dangerous, violent, and untrained people from out-of-state to carry loaded guns in your community, and your state.

H.R. 822 is so extreme it would allow dangerous, violent, and untrained people from out-of-state to carry loaded guns in your community, and your state would be powerless to stop them.

Help us stop this dangerous legislation in the U.S. Senate!

» Click here to view our press release on H.R. 822
» Click here to view editorials and op-eds on H.R. 822
» Click here for our "Packing Heat on your Street" Report
» Click here for more information