Press Releases

For Release:  Monday, May 14, 2001 Last year, the NRA promised that if George W. Bush won the election, they’d be operating out of the White House. Today’s announcement is just the latest proof that this brazen statement was not an idle boast. WASHINGTON, DC -The Bush gun violence plan released today focuses almost solely on prosecution, ignoring the wide range of proven strategies from point of manufacture to end use that can be employed to…

For Release:  Tuesday, May 8, 2001 VPC Joined by Members of Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Leading Hispanic Organizations Washington, DC The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Hispanics and Firearms Violence, a comprehensive overview of the effects of gun violence on Hispanic communities on both the national and regional levels. Joining the VPC at a Capitol Hill press conference were U.S. Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), and Hilda Solis (D-CA), as well as representatives of…

For Release:  Tuesday, May 1, 2001 Shooting Ranges Exempt from Pollution Control Laws—Including President Bush’s Recent Lead Emissions Rule “Lead is a persistent and highly toxic substance that can cause a range of environmental and health problems,” Bush said in a statement. “It has an especially harmful impact on the health of children and infants.” —The Washington Post, April 18, 2001 WASHINGTON, DC—The Violence Policy Center (VPC) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) today released Poisonous…

For Release:  Tuesday, April 24, 2001 The Violence Policy Center (VPC) strongly supports Senator Reed’s legislation to close the gun show loophole. The VPC first uncovered the threat posed by gun show sales in its 1996 study Gun Shows in America: Tupperware Parties for Criminals. This study for the first time exposed the dangers of gun shows, where many sales are legally completed without background checks of any type. The lack of a background check means easy…

For Release:  Wednesday, April 18, 2001 Most Firearms Were Legally Acquired Washington, DC The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Where’d They Get Their Guns? An Analysis of the Firearms Used in High-Profile Shootings, 1963 to 2001, an examination of 65 high-profile shootings over the past four decades. The report provides details for each shooting including: the identity of the shooter; the number of people killed and wounded; the make, model, and caliber of the gun(s) used…

For Release: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 Unique Resource of Gun Industry Production Data Washington, DC The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released the latest edition of Firearms Production in America which details gun production in the United States from 1975 to 1998. The bi-annual 184-page publication lists every domestic manufacturer that produced more than 1,000 firearms in any given year by federal licensee name or most commonly known trade or product name. For handguns, manufacturing information is broken…

For Release:   Monday, April 9, 2001 President George W. Bush’s budget for the 2002 Fiscal Year does almost nothing to prevent gun violence even as America approaches the second anniversary of the April 20th Columbine High School massacre, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) stated today. The VPC is a national nonprofit educational organization working to stop gun death and injury in America. In a budget that is virtually bereft of measures to prevent gun violence,…

For Release:   Friday, March 23, 2001 WASHINGTON The most recent school shooting-this time at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, CA-is the latest bloody testament to our nation’s gun violence crisis the Violence Policy Center (VPC) stated today. The El Cajon shooting follows by less than three weeks the shooting at Santana High School in Santee, CA. The VPC is a national organization working to stop gun death and injury in America. Josh Sugarmann,…

For Release:   Thursday, March 22, 2001 This fact sheet provides background information for journalists covering today’s shooting at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, California. California Firearm Laws [1] Purchasers of concealable weapons must fill out and submit a California Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) form and undergo safety training. Secondary sales between private individuals including those at gun shows must go through a licensed firearms dealer. Ten-day waiting period required for purchase of…

For Release:   Monday March 5, 2001 WASHINGTON Today’s handgun shooting at the Santana High School in Santee, California, is the latest incident starkly illustrating the need for a ban on the most deadly category of firearms the easily concealable handgun the Violence Policy Center (VPC) stated today. The VPC is a national organization working to reduce gun death and injury in America. The Santana High School shooting follows last month’s shootings, outside the White…

For Release:  Wednesday, February 7, 2001 It’s the Guns Stupid, Says VPC WASHINGTON Today’s alleged shooting by Robert Pickett with a handgun at the White House is the latest incident starkly illustrating the need for a ban on the most deadly categories of firearms – small, easily concealable handguns and high-powered assault weapons the Violence Policy Center stated today. The VPC is a national organization working to reduce gun death and injury in America and…

For Release:   Wednesday, January 31, 2001 Only Eight States Report Women Using Handguns to Kill in Self-Defense in 1998  WASHINGTON, DC In 1998, for every time a women used a handgun in the United States to kill in self-defense, 101 women died in handgun homicides, according to a new VPC report, A Deadly Myth: Women, Handguns, and Self-Defense. The VPC report analyzes unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data. VPC Health…

For Release:  Friday, January 26, 2001 How Can the Nation’s Chief Law Enforcement Official be a Member of an Organization that Compares Federal Law Enforcement Agents to Nazis, VPC Asks WASHINGTON, DC As a member of the National Rifle Association, attorney general nominee John Ashcroft supports an organization that has labeled federal law enforcement agents – including those of the Justice Department’s own Federal Bureau of Investigation “jack-booted government thugs” and compared FBI agents to…

For Release:  Tuesday, January 9, 2001 WASHINGTON, DC The Violence Policy Center (VPC), a national organization working to reduce gun death and injury in America, today released John Ashcroft: The Wrong Choice to Enforce America’s Gun Laws, an eight-page report detailing U.S. Attorney General-Designate John Ashcroft’s record on guns. The report contains seven sections detailing Ashcroft’s record: Gun Lobby Campaign Spending; Dismantling the Brady Law; Placing Prosecutions of Illegal Gun Traffickers at Risk; Opposing the Federal…

For Release:  Thursday, January 4, 2001 National Rifle Association Will Be Running The Justice Department Under Ashcroft, VPC Warns WASHINGTON The Violence Policy Center (VPC), a national organization working to reduce gun death and injury in America, today announced its strong opposition to the nomination of former Missouri Senator John Ashcroft for United States Attorney General. The VPC announcement represents the first time in the organization’s 12-year history that it has publicly opposed a federal…

For Release:  Thursday, December 14, 2000 Report Reveals Latest Effort by Gunmakers to Market Firearms to Children and Teens and Should be Warning to Unaware Holiday Shoppers  WASHINGTON, DC The Violence Policy Center (VPC), joined by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), today released its new study, From Gun Games to Gun Stores: Why the Firearms Industry Wants Their Video Games on Your Child’s Wish List, at a Capitol Hill news conference. The 19-page full-color report exposes the…

For Release:  Wednesday, December 6, 2000 Connecticut Leads Nation in Gun Production WASHINGTON The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Firearms Production In America, 1975-1997: A State-by-State Breakdown. The 155-page study examines 22 years of federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) firearms production data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The data is organized by state, broken out by firearm type (pistol, revolver, rifle, and shotgun), and categorized by caliber for pistols and…

For Release:   Tuesday, December 5, 2000 1996 Violence Policy Center Report First Exposed Gun Show Loopholes WASHINGTON The Violence Policy Center (VPC) joined U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in their effort to close the gun show loophole by requiring mandatory background checks at all sales at gun shows. At a news conference today, Senator Reed announced he will take up the effort to close the gun show loophole in the 107th…

For Release:  Thursday, October 26, 2000 South Carolina Ranks #1 in Rate of Women Murdered by Men The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 1998 Homicide Data, an annual report detailing female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The report provides a state-by-state ranking of female homicide rates. South Carolina ranked first in the rate of women killed by men. “This study dispels the gun…

For Release:  Wednesday, September 13, 2000 Tom Diaz, author of Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America and Senior Policy Analyst at the Violence Policy Center (VPC), testified before the Senate Commerce Committee today. Diaz revealed how the firearms industry has secured its future through the recruitment of children to the gun culture. In 1998, 2,887 children and youth 18 years of age and younger were killed by firearms. That number of deaths in an…