On April 30, 2012, a federal judge in Hawaii threw out a challenge to Hawaii’s gun laws limiting the public carrying of loaded guns due to the severe risks posed by guns in public.  This is the latest of more than 40 courts since the Supreme Court's 2008 Heller decision to uphold restrictions on public carrying.

In the ruling in Baker v. Kealoha, Senior U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay cited the Brady Center’s friend of the court brief and agreed with the Brady Center that the Second Amendment is limited and does not override the right of the people to protect communities from the dangers of guns on our streets.  Hawaii’s strong gun laws have helped Hawaii achieve one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation.

Judge Kay also previously noted the importance of the Brady Center’s briefs defending gun laws, ruling, “As a participant in Second Amendment litigation across the nation, the Brady Center will provide the Court with information regarding national trends, and will also contribute substantive legal arguments to a discussion that may focus on procedural issues. ... the Court concludes that the Brady Center’s participation will be valuable to the just disposition of this case, and is in the best interests of the Court, the parties, and the public.”
 

If a state has strong laws that would prevent someone like Zimmerman — who had an arrest record and a violent past — from getting a concealed carry permit, tough luck.

These new bills would force states with strong gun laws like New York — where Zimmerman never could have gotten a permit — to honor the concealed carry permits of states with abhorrently low standards, such as Florida.

We stand with the American people in flatly rejecting the NRA's vision and replacing it with our own vision of an America where young people can go out to buy a pack of Skittles and can of tea in safety.

» Click here to read the Brady President's blog
» Click here to read the I am the NRA report
» Click here to read the VPC's report, Concealed Carry Killers

I am the NRA, click here to download the report

On March 30, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois ruled that the ban on public carrying in Illinois is constitutional under the Second Amendment following a challenge by gun lobby plaintiffs.  The Brady Center filed an amicus brief in the court in the case, Shepard v. Madigan, arguing that the ban was constitutional and should be upheld. 

The Brady Center’s brief highlights the severe danger posed by concealed weapons, with studies showing that the carrying of firearms in public is not a useful or effective form of self-defense and, in fact, repeatedly has been shown to increase the risks that one will fall victim to violent crime.

In their ruling, the court stated: "In an amicus brief filed with the Court, The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence ... encourages this Court to adhere to the long-recognized principle of judicial restraint, and not read into the Heller and McDonald decisions the constitutional right to carry guns in public." The court further stated: "The holding in Heller is narrow, and limited to the possession of firearms in one’s home for the purpose of self-defense."

A federal court in Illinois ruled that the ban on public carrying in Illinois is constitutional under the Second Amendment.

On March, 19, 2012, the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project and the NRA faced off in a first-in-the-nation case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, Colorado. The case, Peterson v. Garcia, will decide whether the Constitution allows Colorado to protect public safety by continuing its policy of regulating who can carry loaded and concealable guns in public.

After the case was dismissed on March 8, 2011, the gun lobby appealed to the 10th Circuit.  The Brady Center filed an amicus brief on July 18, 2011, and argued in court in defense of Colorado's laws and Denver's policy of not allowing nonresidents to carry guns in public.

Dangerous legislation has been introduced in Congress to force states like Colorado to honor concealed weapon licenses granted by other states, even by states with virtually no standards for concealed carry, and that allow carrying by people with violent pasts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit will decide whether Colorado may continue its policy of regulating who can carry loaded and concealable guns in public. 

Colin Goddard was in the right place at the right time – in French class at Virginia Tech -- on April 16, 2007. That same morning Seung-Hui Cho began a violent rampage with two guns across the college campus that left 32 dead and 17 wounded. He shot Colin four times.

Living for 32 is Colin's story of transformation from gunshot survivor to advocate with the Brady Campaign to demand that our elected leaders do more to protect us from gun violence or face the consequences of their actions.

This 42-minute documentary has received wide acclaim, including earning a selection for the 2011 Sundance Festival.
April 16, 2012 marks the Fifth Anniversary of Virginia Tech.  

Student organizers have arranged events on April 16, at colleges coast to coast. Living for 32 will be screened during the gatherings, and a Q and A session with Goddard will be live-streamed from George Washington University in Washington D.C. across the nation.

» Click here to locate screenings in your area or to learn how to join from wherever you are.

Click here to view the trailer for "Living for 32"