| Chapter
11
Guns and Gun Control
By David J. Krajicek
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Website: www.csgv.org
Founded in 1974, this Washington-based group says it includes 45 national organizations with total membership of about 100,000. The groups include religious organizations, child welfare advocates, public health professionals and social justice organizations. Among them are the National Urban League, United Federation of Teachers, U.S. Conference of Mayors, United Church of Christ and the American Jewish Conference.
The coalition says its has a “four-pronged strategy to defeat the gun lobby and reduce gun deaths: a progressive legislative agenda to close illegal gun markets; building a stronger grassroots gun control movement; changing laws by changing our elected leaders, and litigation.”
Legal Community Against Violence
Website: www.lcav.org
This group, based in San Francisco, was founded in the days after a 1993 shooting there by a man with an assault rifle left nine people dead.
The group specializes in keeping tabs on gun laws. Its website provides reliable summaries of federal, state and local guns laws, as well as information on more than 200 court cases that hinge on Second Amendment rights.
National Shooting Sports Foundation
Website: www.nssf.org
This Connecticut-based group, a non-profit founded in 1961, often is aligned ideologically with the NRA. The organization says its membership includes more than 3,600 manufacturers, distributors, retailers, sportsmen's organizations and publishers.
Its mission statement:
“Our purpose is to provide trusted leadership in addressing industry challenges and to deliver programs and services to meet the identified needs of our members. We will concentrate our efforts on measurably advancing participation in and understanding of hunting and the shooting sports; reaffirming and strengthening our members' commitment to the safe and responsible use of their products, and promoting a political climate supportive of America's traditional firearms rights.”
Second Amendment Foundation
Website: www.saf.org
Based in Bellevue, Wash., this non-profit was founded in 1974. It describes itself as “ a pioneer in innovative defense of the right to keep and bear arms, through its publications, public education programs and legal action.”
The organization publishes Gun Week, a venerable thrice-monthly newspaper directed toward what it describes as “shooters, collectors and activists.” It also publishes Women & Guns and various newsletters geared toward the gun lobby.
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute
Website: www.saami.org
As the name indicates, SAAMI is supported by some 30 guns and ammo manufacturers. Its website includes a glossary of gun terms and web links to its members.
Violence Policy Center
Website: www.vpc.org
Since the early 1990s, this Washington-based non-profit has sought to stop gun violence “through research, advocacy and education,” it says.
An excerpt from its own backgrounder:
“The VPC approaches gun violence as a public health issue, advocating that firearms be subject to health and safety standards like those that apply to virtually all other consumer products…As the most aggressive group in the gun control movement, the VPC has a record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels—including first revealing the threat posed by gun shows, drastically reducing the number of gun dealers, banning the possession of guns by domestic violence offenders, and exposing gun industry marketing to women and even children.”
The Violence Policy Center produces reports on gun issues—titles such as “More Gun Dealers Than Gas Stations,” “Putting Guns Back Into Criminals’ Hands” and “Cease Fire: A Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Firearms Violence.”
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