Press Releases

For Release:  Thursday, April 22, 1999 Colorado Tragedy an “Inevitable Result” of Youth Gun Culture NRA Shrinks Convention, Avoids Scrutiny of Youth Marketing In the wake of the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado – the latest and deadliest school shooting in America – the Violence Policy Center released a new report documenting the efforts of the National Rifle Association and the firearms industry to recruit children into the gun culture. “The gun industry needs…

For Release:  Tuesday, April 20, 1999 State of Colorado Firearm Laws1 No licensing or registration requirements related to firearm purchase or possession. No waiting period for purchase of handguns, shotguns, or rifles. Handgun possession by persons less than 18 years of age is a misdemeanor. Exemptions from the prohibition on handgun possession by persons less than 18 years of age exist for attendance at a hunter’s or firearms safety course, target practice at a shooting…

For Release:  Wednesday, April 7, 1999 NRA Spends Nearly $6.00 For Every “Yes” Vote – But Still Loses Voters Learn From Example of Failed Texas Law In response to Tueday’s defeat of a concealed handgun referendum in Missouri, the Violence Policy Center released the following statement from VPC Health Policy Analyst Susan Glick, MHS. Glick, author of a new report on the Texas concealed weapons law, License to Kill, and Kidnap, and Rape, and Drive Drunk…, appeared last week at press conferences in St.…

For Release: Friday, March 19, 1999 Offenses Include Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, Weapon Crimes, Drunk Driving, and Domestic Violence A new study by the Violence Policy Center shows that Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested 2,080 times since a law making the permits easier to obtain went into effect an average of nearly two arrests every day during that time. The entire analysis, based on data from the Texas Department of Public Safety, is embargoed until 12:01 a.m.…

For Release: Tuesday, March 16, 1999 Kristen Rand, director of federal policy for the Violence Policy Center, issued the following statement today at a press conference unveiling The Internet Gun Trafficking Act of 1999: I would like to thank Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) for taking the lead on legislation to ensure that firearm sales on the Internet comply with all gun laws. Forty percent of guns are bought from sources other than retail outlets. The Internet…

For Release:  Thursday, February 11, 1999 Jury Condemns Gun Makers’ Shadowy Practices The Violence Policy Center hailed today’s verdict against firearm manufacturers in federal court in Brooklyn as a landmark in the effort to hold the gun industry accountable for its irresponsible practices. “This is the first victory, but not the last,” said VPC Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand, who has studied litigation against the gun industry around the country. “1999 may be the ‘Year of…

For Release: Wednesday, January 20, 1999 “Making a Killing” is Groundbreaking Expose of Gun Business In a book published by The New Press this month, VPC Senior Policy Analyst Tom Diaz reveals how the gun industry has responded to stagnation in the firearms market by producing increasingly deadly guns – just as breezily as car companies once introduced tailfins.  Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America is a startling expose of the secretive gun industry and its…

For Release: Monday,  November 9, 1998 “Tupperware Parties For Criminals” Evade Many Gun Laws Kristen Rand, author of the 1996 study Gun Shows in America: Tupperware Parties for Criminals and director of federal policy for the Violence Policy Center, issued the following statement in response to President Clinton’s call for stricter regulation of gun shows: President Clinton’s new focus on gun shows, heralded in his Saturday radio address, is an important development. Thanks to legal loopholes created…

 For Release:  Wednesday, October 14, 1998 New VPC Report Exposes Voluntary Agreement’s Failure A widely hailed voluntary agreement on trigger locks between the White House and the firearms industry has made virtually no difference in the way handguns are sold, according to a new report released today by the Violence Policy Center. The agreement, first announced with great fanfare at a Rose Garden ceremony last October, effectively killed federal legislation requiring safety devices. The survey of…

For Release:  Wednesday, September 30, 1998 Debunks “Stranger in the Alley” Myth Promoted by Gun Lobby Includes First State-by-State Ranking of Female Homicide Rates A new report from the Violence Policy Center, When Men Kill Women: An Analysis of Homicide Data, offers the first-ever comparative ranking of each state’s female homicide rate and debunks many of the myths surrounding fatal violence against women. The study is set for release on Wednesday, September 30, to coincide with the…

For Release: Tuesday, July 21, 1998 Senate to Vote Wednesday on Feinstein Amendment to Block Sale of “Killer Clips” The Violence Policy Center today released a package of gun industry advertisements showing how high-capacity magazines – which were outlawed under the 1994 assault weapons ban – are still being sold legally because of a loophole in the law. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has announced that she will offer an amendment on the Senate floor Wednesday to close the loophole.…

For Release: Wednesday, July 8, 1998 “Clinton Cares More About Photo Ops Than Real Solutions” The Violence Policy Center issued the following statement from VPC Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand about President Clinton’s press conference on gun safety, scheduled for this morning: “President Clinton clearly hopes today’s White House press event will burnish his credentials as an opponent of gun violence. But action speaks louder than words – even words spoken in the Rose Garden. This week’s…

For Release:  Tuesday, June 30, 1998 New VPC Report Exposes How Sweeping Bill Lets Gun Industry Off the Hook Including Makers of AK-47, TEC-9, Street Sweeper Amendment by Torricelli and Feinstein Only Hope to Preserve Strategy of Tobacco-Like Suits Against Gun Industry The first major bill scheduled for a vote when the Senate returns from its July 4th recess next week would let dozens of gun manufacturers off the hook in lawsuits against them – particularly…

For Release:  Wednesday, May 20, 1998 Violence Policy Center Fights “Giant Leap Backwards” The federal government has quietly proposed a little-noticed regulation that will dramatically weaken the Brady Law in 29 states, according to comments filed today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) opposing the plan. The draft rule, written by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), would exempt a gun buyer from the Brady Law’s required federal background check if he or she…

For Release:  Thursday, May 14, 1998 Professors at Violence Policy Center Luncheon Explore “Hidden History” of Second Amendment A groundbreaking new historical analysis of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution exposes links between the amendment’s approval and appeasement of slave states during the campaign to ratify the Constitution, according to three professors who spoke at a Violence Policy Center (VPC) panel discussion Tuesday. These revelations which could forever change the way Americans view the…

For Release:  Thursday, March 26, 1998 New Violence Policy Center Document Set Details Marketing and Recruitment Efforts by National Rifle Association and Gun Industry The massacre of children by children at a Jonesboro, Arkansas middle school has focused new attention on America’s youth gun culture. “Most parents would be shocked at the gun lobby’s vision of childhood: Sesame Street with semi-automatic weapons. Possession and use of guns by young children, including participation in full-auto machine…

For Release:  Tuesday, March 17, 1998 Study Analyzes Why ATF Has Failed to Stop Import of Assault Weapons and Raises Questions as to Whether Most Recent Effort Can Succeed Study Contains Criminal Tracing Data, Advertisements with Photographs of Imported Assault Weapons President Clinton is expected to announce this month the results of a 120-day review of the process by which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) regulates the import of foreign-made assault…

For Release:  Tuesday, January 13, 1998 Texas Concealed Handgun License Holders Arrested for Crimes That Include Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, Weapon, and Drug Charges Texas Concealed Handgun License Holders Arrested for Weapon Offenses at Rate More Than Twice That of State’s General Population Aged 21 Years and Older More than 940 Texans holding concealed handgun licenses under the state’s “shall-issue” concealed handgun law have been arrested since January 1996 according to License to Kill, a new 23-page…

 For Release: Tuesday, December 9, 1997 New VPC Report Documents Shift in Party Line on Deadly Military-Style Guns Report Debunks “Myths” NRA Circulating as New Fight Looms on Assault Ban Trying to head off growing pressure to close loopholes in the 1994 assault weapons ban, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun industry have changed their tune on these deadly military-style guns, a report released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals. The report,…

For Release: Wednesday, November 19, 1997 Study Details How NRA’s Effort to Hook Kids on Guns Follows Trail Blazed by Tobacco Industry Reveals for the First Time Gun and Tobacco Industry Funding of NRA Washington—In its efforts to hook kids on guns, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is following a trail blazed by the tobacco industry according to a new Violence Policy Center (VPC) study conducted with the Global Survival Network. The 144-page study, Joe Camel…