Press Releases

For Release:  Wednesday, June 2, 2004 New VPC Study, Vest Buster: The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum: The Gun Industry’s Latest Challenge to Law Enforcement Body Armor, Documents That the “Most Powerful Handgun In the World” Has Armor-Penetrating Power That Can Pierce the Highest Level of Bullet-Resistant Patrol Vests  Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released a new study, Vest Buster: The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum The Gun Industry’s Latest Challenge to Law Enforcement Body Armor,…

For Release:  Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Minnesota Gunmaker Offers Widest Range of “Copycat” Assault Weapons including AK-47s, AR-15s, MAC-10s, Galils, and MP5s of any Manufacturer in America, Illustrates Need to Strengthen Federal Assault Weapons Ban  Washington, DC – A Minnesota gunmaker, Vulcan Armament, Inc. of Inver Grove Heights (www.vulcanarmament.com), offers the widest range of new “copycat” assault weapon models of any firearms manufacturer in America, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reported today. The company’s 2004 catalog promises…

For Release:  Monday, May 3, 2004 Representative Jim Moran (D-VA), Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC), and DC and Virginia Law Enforcement Officials Warn of Public Safety Threat Posed by Rifles That Can Penetrate Armor Plating and Destroy Aircraf Washington, DC – Area law enforcement and public officials warned at a 10:30 AM press conference today of the homeland security threat posed by 50 caliber sniper rifles and endorsed federal legislation introduced by Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) to…

For Release:  Thursday, April 29, 2004 Current Law Allows the Import and Sale of Supposedly Banned Assault Weapons Washington, DC – Yesterday’s admission by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that the agency had issued import permits for a shipment of approximately 7,500 AK-47s and other assault rifles from Romania clearly demonstrates the need to significantly strengthen the federal assault weapons ban as well as the separate set of rules that apply…

For Release:  Monday, April 19, 2004 Washington, DC – Five years after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher with an arsenal that included a Hi-Point Carbine assault rifle and a TEC- DC9 assault pistol, assault weapons continue to threaten America’s police and public in spite of a 1994 federal law intended to ban these military-style weapons the Violence Policy Center (VPC) warned today. Without action by Congress and President Bush,…

For Release:  Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Ruling Squashes Latest Attempt to Overturn 28-Year-Old DC Gun Ban  WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan today dismissed a CATO Institute-backed lawsuit challenging the constitutionality on Second Amendment grounds of Washington, DC’s ban on the sale and possession of handguns. Judge Sullivan’s ruling in United States v. Parker upholds the ban, which was adopted by the City Council in 1976. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) had filed an…

For Release:  Wednesday, March 24, 2004 Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today applauded the Contra Costa, California, Board of Supervisors for its 4-0 vote to prohibit the sale of 50 caliber sniper rifles. The ban, intended to serve as a model ordinance for other cities across California, comes only 10 days after the New York State Assembly passed a similar ban on 50 caliber rifles. The Contra Costa legislative effort was spearheaded…

For Release:  Tuesday, March 16, 2004 New VPC Report Dissects FCI Distortions, Dismantles Pro-Gun Group’s Defense of Civilian Sale of Deadly 50 Caliber Anti-Armor Rifles, Links FCI to Sniper Rifle Industry Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Really Big Guns, Even Bigger Lies, a report rebutting a series of distortions and misstatements made by the Fifty Caliber Institute (FCI) in FCI’s specious defense of the civilian sale of 50 caliber anti-armor sniper…

 For Release:  Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today applauded the New York State Assembly for voting to ban 50 caliber sniper rifles as part of a gun violence prevention package passed yesterday. The measure must now go to the New York State Senate. The legislative effort was spearheaded by New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), the state’s leading gun violence prevention organization. The VPC has long advocated for…

For Release:  Friday, March 12, 2004 Violence Policy Center (VPC) Says Law Must be Strengthened to be Effective Washington, DC – This Saturday, March 13th, will mark six months until the federal assault weapons ban is set to expire. The failure of Congress and President Bush to act to renew, and more importantly strengthen, the assault weapons ban before September 13, 2004, puts the safety of America’s police and public at extreme risk, the Violence Policy…

For Release:  Wednesday, March 3, 2004 (March 3rd, 2004, Chicago, IL)-A new study shows that Illinois has more “post-ban” assault weapon manufacturers than any other state, according to the release of “Illinois: Land of Post-Ban Assault Weapons” conducted by the Violence Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C. Although the federal assault weapons ban was passed in 1994, the gun industry has willfully circumvented federal law and created through a process dubbed “sporterization” a new generation of assault…

“Political Victory” Will Not Adequately Protect Police, Public For Release:  Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Washington, DC – Senate action renewing the current federal assault weapons ban will do little to protect America’s police and public from assault weapons, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) warned today. The measure was passed as an amendment to a Senate bill granting America’s firearms industry limited immunity from lawsuits. “This bill merely continues the badly flawed 1994 ban, which is…

For Release:  Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today hailed the Senate’s resounding defeat of legislation to limit the civil liability of gun manufacturers (S. 1805). The Senate defeated the measure on a vote of 90 to 8 after amendments to require background checks at gun shows and extend the current federal assault weapons ban for 10 years were added to the bill today. VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand…

For Release:  Monday, March 1, 2004 Washington, DC – The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today condemned an effort by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to repeal the District of Columbia’s decades-old handgun ban. The amendment is scheduled for a vote tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2, as an amendment to a bill granting the gun industry limited immunity from civil liability. The Frist amendment was first introduced in the Senate as free-standing legislation by Senator Orrin…

For Release:  Tuesday, January 20, 2004 Washington, DC – Following today’s failed cloture vote on the omnibus spending bill (H.R. 2673), VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand released the following statement: The gun lobby loaded up the omnibus spending bill with provisions that would help arm criminals and protect corrupt gun dealers. The U.S. Senate wisely rejected the bill by failing to invoke cloture. Today’s vote is a win for public safety. The most egregious gun lobby-sponsored…

For Release:  Thursday, January 15, 2004 Ruling Refutes Claim by Attorney General Ashcroft That Second Amendment Protects an Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton last night dismissed a National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed lawsuit challenging the constitutionality on Second Amendment grounds of Washington, DC’s ban on the sale and possession of handguns. Judge Walton’s 68-page ruling in Seegars v. Ashcroft upholds the ban, which was adopted by the City Council in…

For Release:  Tuesday, December 9, 2003 Washington, DC – The fiscal year 2004 omnibus spending bill (H.R. 2673) now pending in the U.S. Senate contains provisions that are pro-criminal and anti-public safety, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) charged today. “The gun lobby loaded up the omnibus spending bill with provisions that will help criminals arm themselves while protecting corrupt gun dealers,” stated Kristen Rand, VPC legislative director. The most egregious provision would reduce the time…

For Release:   Monday, December 1, 2003 National Rifle Association had Challenged California’s Assault Weapons Ban on Second Amendment Grounds Today the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in a suit challenging the constitutionality under the Second Amendment of California’s strict ban on assault weapons. The 1999 assault weapons ban at issue in Silveira was adopted by the California legislature in response to the gun industry’s evasion of the state’s original 1988 ban. The 1999 California law is the…

For Release:   Monday, November 17, 2003 Manufacturer Reported to Have Sold 4,000 “Pen Guns,” Brags “No One Will Know It’s A Pistol” Washington, DC – The U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is continuing to place the general public at risk by refusing to use its regulatory powers to restrict the availability of a handgun disguised as a pen, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) charged today. Recently, the gun’s manufacturer,…

For Release:  Tuesday, October 28, 2003 Washington, DC – The U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is allowing the sale to the general public of a small-caliber handgun disguised as a pen – despite the clear public safety threat such “pen guns” represent – the Violence Policy Center (VPC) warned today. The public safety threat posed by the Stinger Pengun is made clear in an October 2002 “Officer Safety Bulletin” regarding the weapon issued…