Chief Scott M. Knight

March 14, 2012 By Administrator Leave a Comment

Chaska Minnesota Police Department

Chief Scott M. Knight

Republican Congressman Mike Castle from Delaware had to ask Chief Knight to repeat his statistic. “Since 1963 more Americans have died from gunfire than perished in combat in the whole of the 20th century.”

Our country’s war losses are staggering and devastating to our families, but when you hear that we lose 30,000 Americans every year to gun violence, it does make you stop and think … and ask the question again.

Chief Knight is head of the Chaska, Minnesota’s police department and chair of the Firearms Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the largest association of law enforcement executives in the world. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activists Tagged With: gun, gunshow loophole, victim, violence

Caitlin Brady

March 14, 2012 By Administrator Leave a Comment

Arizona Field Organizer

I’m not doing this because I work for the Brady Campaign . . .

I’m doing this as someone who worked to get Gabby Giffords elected… someone who knew Gabe Zimmerman, her staffer who was killed last January… and as someone who understands all too well that it could have been you or me standing in front of that Safeway in Tucson.

My heart breaks to think of all the lives that were changed forever because it was way too easy for a disturbed man to get semi-automatic with a high-capacity assault clip. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activists Tagged With: brady, gun, prevention, victim, violence

William Kellibrew, IV

March 14, 2012 By Administrator 2 Comments

Breaking the Cycle of Violence

“I think the more we tell our stories, the more we give others the permission to tell theirs,” says William Kellibrew, president and spokesman of the William Kellibrew Foundation. “That helps break the silence and moves people to act.”

William has been moved to speak out and act because of his tragedy. William’s mother and brother were shot in front of him when he was a young boy. The shooter turned to William, placing the gun to his head. William begged for his life and was let go. After a nearly three-hour standoff, police entered to find three bodies, including the killer’s. The shooter was a convicted felon who had spent 11 years in prison, but illegally got his hands on a gun.

The William Kellibrew Foundation is dedicated to helping victims of gun violence and domestic violence find their voices and restore their lives. The Brady Campaign and Brady Center are honored to house the Foundation in its Washington, DC office. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activists Tagged With: gun, prevention, victim, violence

Joan Peterson

March 14, 2012 By Administrator Leave a Comment

Raising Minnesota’s Voices

“When we are organized, we can do something,” says Joan Peterson, national representative to the Board of Directors of the Brady Campaign, and a leading voice for Protect Minnesota, the result of an operating merger between Citizens for a Safer Minnesota and the Minnesota Million Mom March. Joan says that email activist campaigns have made all the difference in local advocates’ ability to build momentum to help pass strong gun laws – or defeat bad ones.

Minnesota’s gun violence prevention and other advocacy groups have pooled resources to pay for Democracy in Action, a web-based tool that makes possible an e-mail network and e-alerts to Congress. Joan admits that working together through the e-mail network “has made us stronger as a group. Since we are now using one state monthly e-mail and one state newsletter, we can call attention to issues as they come up in one voice.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activists Tagged With: gun, gunshow loophole

Mindy Finklestein

March 14, 2012 By Administrator 1 Comment

Remembering the North Valley Jewish Community Center Shooting

Mindy Finkelstein was in the right place at the right time – playing capture the flag on a sunny morning with five and six year old campers at the North Valley Jewish Community Center’s summer camp. On their way to the arts and crafts, though, it all went wrong.

That’s when Mindy was shot … along with three campers … by a self-proclaimed new-Nazi, out on parole and clinically insane. He got his weapon, a semi-automatic weapon, at a gun show. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activists Tagged With: gun, gunshow loophole, North Valley Jewish Community Center, violence