The Brady Campaign Analysis

The Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act, in short: The Brady Act, was United States legislation that was passed by Congress in 1993. The Brady Act required a five-day waiting period and criminal background check, performed by state and local law enforcement, for the purchase of a handgun. The Brady Act was instituted to curtail handgun violence and decrease the probability of a handgun ending up in a criminal’s hands. The legislation was heavily pushed by Senator James Brady and his wife, Sarah Brady, after Sen. Brady was seriously injured by a gunshot wound during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

When the state of Virginia enacted its one-gun-a-month law, specifically targeted at reducing the amount of gun trafficking, there was a significant drop in the number of out of state crime guns traced back to Virginia dealers. In twelve states where child access prevention laws were put in place and in effect for over a year, unintentional firearm deaths fell by 23 percent among children under the age of 15. Following Maryland’s adoption of a ban on “gun junk” firearm homicides dropped by 8.6 percent, a total of 40 lives saved. Finally, after the passage of the Brady Law in 1994, which required background checks to be issued prior to purchasing a firearm, aggravated assaults with a weapon dropped by 35 percent and a total of five hundred thousand people with a criminal record were legally prevented from obtaining a gun (Gun Control, 2013). According to gun control proponents, these few examples are more than enough evidence to show that sensible gun laws can and do work and that if more laws like them were put in place the results would be astonishing. In addition to sensible gun laws being put in place, gun control proponents strongly believe that closing loopholes is a key component that can reduce crime and make society safer. Gun control proponents like to point out that although some gun regulations are

The misinformation presented by the largest anti-gun group in the U.S., the Brady Campaign to

Dr Mark Borinsky was a man who has been robbed and almost been killed at gunpoint. The incident became a motivation for him to control the distribution of guns. As a result, in 1974 Dr. Mark Borinsky initiated The Brady Campaign and The Brady Center National as the National Council to control the ownership of handguns. Subsequently, The Brady Campaign and Brady Center was renamed to Handgun Control Inc. Afterwards, it was again renamed into its’ current name, namely The Brady

December 15, 1791, the day America’s Bill of Rights was ratified, was the day the initial infrastructure for our country’s basic rights were established. Since then, firearms have been a highly deliberated topic. Even today, the debate over whether we, as a country, should institute stricter gun laws continues to be an ongoing conversation throughout social media, the press, and within our governing bodies. But, since the approval of the Bill of Rights, gun laws have continued to be restricted in order to protect the lives of citizens who reside in America. The initial catalyst for more rigid gun laws was the horrific assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan, which also brought injury upon James Brady who, due to this incident, later became an advocate for gun laws. Ronald Reagan’s potential rendezvous with bloodshed brought about the initiation of Brady’s law as a safeguard to prevent another incident of this kind from besieging our country.

One of the most famous anti-gun organizations is the Brady Campaign, established in 1974, which has played a major role in the control of guns. Their main goal is to make it more difficult for convicted felons, the mentally unstable, and other such people to obtain guns (“About Us: History of the Brady Campaign”). They presented the Brady Act, passed in 1993, which would “impose a waiting period of up to five days for the purchase of a handgun, and subjects purchasers to a background check” (“Brady Act”). Since the imposition of this act, over one hundred million background checks have been conducted, and more than seven hundred thousand attempted purchases have been denied (“National Instant Criminal Background Check System”). Another major group is the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, or the CSGV. Their mission statement is “The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence seeks to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective policy advocacy.” They are composed of forty-seven national organizations, including religious and social justice organizations, child welfare advocates, and public health professionals.

The Brady Law was passed in February of 1994 in the name of James Brady, who was President Reagan's press secretary who was severely wounded by a bullet in the assassination attempt of Reagan in 1981. Since the enactment of the Brady Law, violent crimes committed with firearms have greatly reduced. In fact, from 1985 all the way up through 1993 the use of guns in crime was at an all time high. It was until the Brady Act was passed that the use of firearms in crimes decreased. Today the Brady Act continues to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a federal law that basically regulates the gun industry. The purpose of this federal firearms regulation is to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the ongoing effort to reduce crime and violence ("Gun Control Overview"). The Gun Control Act of 1968 was amended by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. In this

The National Rifle Association has a long, active history which have made it the powerful nonprofit interest group that still gets a lot of attention to this day. Founded in 1871 by retired Army and National Guard officers whose main goal was to promote the proper use of rifles and improve marksmanship. The idea of this interest group all started when the group’s first president, Ambrose Burnside who was a Civil War general witnessed firsthand his own soldiers lacking the ability to shoot straight, so from then on the NRA “focused on hunting, shooting and conservation, and no one thought of it as a gun lobby.” (Achenbach, Joel, Scott Higham, Sari Horwitz.) In the 1960’s there was a rise in assassinations, riots and

The Brady Campaign was formed as an interest group to prevent gun violence. The movement's mission states that they want “a safer America for all of us that will lead to a dramatic reduction in gun deaths and injuries” (Brady). The campaign was formed in 1974 but under a different name. Dr. Mark Borinsky, victim of gun violence, founded The National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH). Then in 1980 the name changed to Handgun Control, Inc. The association's name was then changed again in 2001 to the name we know today. They renamed the campaign after Jim Brady, President Ronald Reagan former press secretary, who was shot and wounded in 1981 during an assassination attempt on the president.

The Brady Campaign reports background checks do work. Their emphasis is pointed towards the permanent revision of the Brady Act enacted in 1998, requiring background checks for all firearms purchases. The Brady Campaign does not highlight the interim period from 1993 to 1998, where five day waiting periods were imposed through the legislation for firearms purchases.

There are many special interest groups that associate themselves specifically with gun control. Each stance people take on the issue has some sort of interest group to defend the people and their beliefs. Simply, people that think that there should be more restrictions on who has the ability to carry a weapon and the controls on accessing weapons or those who feel there are too many restrictions on weapons. The NRA, or National Rifle Association, is one of the largest proponents of the right for individuals to protect themselves and bear Arms (NRA). Whereas, the Brady Campaign is a group that pushes for tighter restrictions on gun control and their goal is to help reduce the amount of deaths caused by guns each year (Brady Campaign). The overall objective of special interest groups is establishing some sort of platform that many local citizens can associate themselves with in

Modern gun control began in 1968 with the Gun Control Act, it allowed the local law enforcement officials, state, and federal increased powers in regulating gun control to fight crime. The act made it illegal to sell or give firearms or ammunition to anyone who is believed to be less than eighteen years of age. There are exceptions to this law related to ranching, employment, target practice, farming, and hunting. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 changed this Act by requiring the buyer of a firearm to complete a background check. This Act was signed by Clinton in honor of James Brady, an assistant to the President, he was shot and paralyzed during an assassination effort on President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The “assassin” was a mentally unstable man who obtained a revolver from a pawn shop in Dallas, Texas.

In 1968, the Gun Control Act was passed after the assassinations of major political figures such as President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. This Act expanded regulations on the sale and distributions of firearms, including banning the sales of guns to individuals with a criminal background. In 1993, The Brady Law was an amendment added to The Gun Control Act 1986. This particular law required manufacturers to wait five days before hand guns were allowed to be sold to a person. In the last two decades gun violence and mass shootings have led politicians to re-evaluate the legislature regarding the legal accessibility to firearms by the public, especially military style assault rifles. The goal of reforming gun control is to

To coincide with prior restrictions of gun control the Brady Bill, which was passed in 1993, required all background checks on gun buyers (Schwartz).  According to Schwartz, such states as California and New Jersey have been creating stricter laws.  California had manufacturers stamp every gun with an individual code; therefore, if a specific gun was questioned in a crime, they would be able to trace it back to the owner.  New Jersey, not taking as extreme measures as California, enforced penalties for illegal gun possession as well.