Press Releases (2008)

October 23, 2008

State Senate and Assembly Scorecard in Albany

Groups also highlight the gun lobby’s favored candidates

 
(Albany): New York’s leading gun violence prevention organization, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, joined with GunFreeKids.org this morning at a Capitol press conference to release a joint scorecard for candidates running for the State Senate and Assembly.  The advocates highlighted candidates who demonstrated consistent support for strong gun violence prevention measures, while drawing a sharp distinction with those candidates supported by the gun lobby through endorsements and financial contributions.

Jackie Hilly, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said: “Gun violence costs all New Yorkers in the lost potential of its victims, the devastation of families and neighborhoods and medical costs associated with attempting to save lives. New York State cannot afford to have elected officials who ignore this tragic scourge on our state and its law abiding citizens.”  Hilly continued “with this scorecard the voting records of all candidates and the financial support of the gun lobby will be apparent to all New Yorkers as they cast their votes this November. A well informed electorate is the best defense to failed policies and special interests.”

Andy Pelosi, Executive Director of GunFreeKids.org, said “We created this scorecard as a way to document where the candidates stand on the gun violence prevention issue, but more importantly we view it as a resource guide for voters so that they may decide for themselves, who really supports life saving measures to reduce the threat of gun violence in our communities and who is beholden to the interests of the gun lobby.

Pelosi continued, “Approximately 225 candidates running in both houses were rated based on answers to a questionnaire, past votes, gun lobby endorsements and campaign contributions.  We are pleased to note that nearly 60% received grades of “A” or “B”. We did award far more failing grades of “F” in the State Senate, where the gun lobby continues its stranglehold over a large portion of the members.  Perhaps it’s no coincidence that when the Assembly passes strong gun violence prevention measures each year, they can only watch them die on the vine in the Senate.

The link to the 2008 scorecard can be found on GunFreeKids’ website: http://www.gunfreekids.org/sites/gunfreekids.com/files/gfk_nys_scorecard.pdf 

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June 26, 2008 

U.S. Supreme Court rules (5-4) that 2^nd Amendment protects an individual right to possess a handgun. 

However, decision also supports a system of strong gun laws.

As you may know, earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the 2^nd Amendment in the case, District of Columbia v. Heller. While we disagree with Justice Scalia's majority opinion conferring an individual right to bear arms, the sky has not fallen for those of us involved with gun violence prevention.  Yes, the court decided to ignore long standing precedent that included over 200 federal court cases on the subject (not to mention a few Supreme Court cases).

Nevertheless, Justice Scalia and the majority have provided us with two important things:

1. They have affirmed, what many people, including the gun lobby, a number of politicians, and some members of the general public chant as a mantra, which is the 2^nd Amendment confers an individual right to bear arms. Great, that's one less excuse politicians can hide behind and destroys the number one talking point for the gun lobby.

2. More importantly, the court also stated that reasonable regulations can be imposed on the carrying and sale of guns, and acknowledged that "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited and [The Court's] opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms," (p. 54-55).  In addition, an important footnote added: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be exhaustive."(footnote 26, p. 55)

After reviewing the Heller decision, we firmly believe that most, if not all of our current gun laws (including background checks, licensing, and bans on assault weapons) can pass constitutional muster. More importantly, we have been provided with a road map in which to move forward with legislation that can promote public safety by targeting illegal guns and weapons of war.

Our fight to reduce the 30,000 gun deaths in our country continues and we need you to remain committed to the cause and help bring others in.

If you would like to read the Heller decision, click here: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf

April 3, 2008

Gun Distributor Warns That Brooklyn Gun Manufacturer Henry Repeating Arms Company May Have Shipped Rifles For Sale Loaded With Ammunition

Suspected Rifles May Include ‘Youth’ Rifles for Children

Washington, DC–According to an “Urgent Notice” for gun dealers issued by firearms distributor Sports South, Inc., Brooklyn rifle manufacturer Henry Repeating Arms may have shipped rifles for sale loaded with ammunition. The warning (http://www.vpc.org/henry.htm) was posted on the distributor’s web site (http://www.sportssouthinc.com) up until Wednesday, April 2, and stated:

“URGENT ATTENTION REQUIRED!!!!

We have been notified by Henry Repeating Arms that some rifles may have been shipped by them loaded with ammunition. If you have any Henry Rifles in inventory they must be inspected to make sure they do not contain ammunition. Also, please inspect any incoming Henry Rifles. This does not relate to a specific model or date. Each gun in your inventory must be checked for ammunition. Henry Repeating Arms apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.”

The warning has recently been removed. No mention of the possibly loaded rifles is made on the Henry Repeating Arms web site (http://www.henryrepeating.com) which promotes some of its rifle lines as “youth” rifles for children.

Andy Pelosi, executive director of New York-based GunFreeKids.org, states, “Henry Repeating Arms should move swiftly to make the general public aware of the threat posed by these loaded guns. An ‘apology’ for any ‘inconvenience’ to gun dealers is inadequate. State and local authorities need to know how this occurred and what steps may be necessary to prevent future incidents.”

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center adds, “The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should move immediately to identify any federal laws or regulations that have been violated while doing everything in its power to make sure that each and every one of these guns is identified and that proper safeguards are put in place to ensure that such a public safety threat is never again repeated.”

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.