Press Releases

For Release: Thursday, October 9, 1997 Today’s announcement by President Clinton and a number of U.S. gun manufacturers that some gun companies will voluntarily supply trigger locks with new handguns will offer far greater benefits to the gun industry than to America’s children, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) cautioned today. VPC Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand warns, “By endorsing this voluntary effort by the industry to supply trigger locking devices of their own choosing with…

For Release: Wednesday, September 3, 1997 The Miami postal clerk who yesterday shot and critically wounded his ex-wife, her friend, and then killed himself at a Miami Beach post office had a Florida concealed carry license for the two .357 handguns he pulled from his fanny pack and used in the shooting. According to the Florida State Division of Licensing, the gunman identified by the U.S. Postal Service as 64-year-old Jesus Antonio Tamayo was granted a concealed…

For Release: Thursday, August 21, 1997 The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Who Dies? An Overview of Firearms Injury and Death in America. The 24-page, semi-annual report offers a demographic breakdown of the latest trends in firearm-related injuries and deaths in the U.S. as well as an examination of the rising economic burden placed on trauma care systems that treat victims of firearms violence. The report is designed to be used by the press, policymakers,…

For Release: Friday, June 27, 1997 Today’s ruling by the United States Supreme Court that 1993’s Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act violates the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution foreshadows an inevitable debate in Congress over the value of the national five-day waiting period as well as the effectiveness of the proposed national “instant check” system. The Court held that the law’s requirement that local law enforcement officials make a “reasonable effort” to determine if potential…

For Release: Wednesday, June 11, 1997 Gun Lobby Promoted “Final War” Against Federal Government National Rifle Association (NRA) Led Fight, Warning “Final War Has Begun” Soldier of Fortune Publisher Robert K. Brown Also Serves on NRA Board of Directors Anti-government writings in Soldier of Fortune magazine regarding the federal government’s 1993 assault on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco being presented during the sentencing portion of the McVeigh trial were only a small sample of the language of war…

For Release: Monday, May 12, 1997 Measure That Would Gut 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Expected to be Offered as Amendment to Fiscal 1997 Supplemental Appropriations Bill Barr Amendment Would Put Guns Back into the Hands of Thousands of Abusers Representative Bob Barr (R-GA) is expected this week to try to amend the 1997 supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 1469) with language that would gut the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban passed by Congress last year.…

For Release: Wednesday, April 30, 1997 Victims Knew Their Attacker in 90 Percent of Cases Attack Was Not Crime Related in 94 Percent of Cases Two Thirds of Victims Killed with Guns A new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data of female homicide victims in Florida released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals that women in Florida are most often killed by people they know, usually an intimate, in a non-felony…

For Release: Wednesday, March 19, 1997 NRA’s $50,000,000 Deficit Revealed, Power Struggle for Control of the Organization Expands and Goes Public Organization Sells “Crown Jewels” at “Fire Sale” The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been “technically insolvent for several years,” buoyed only by “fund raising miracle[s]” such as “fortuitous unrealized gains from the stock market” and a “one time fire sale of upgrades in membership class” according to a December 7, 1996 “special report” of the…

For Release: Thursday, January 9, 1997 The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today hailed Senator Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) introduction of legislation to set minimum federal safety standards for domestically manufactured handguns. Senator Boxer announced the legislation at a press conference today at the Capitol at 10:30 AM in Room EF-100. “Toy guns, toasters and teddy bears are subject to more stringent health and safety regulation than are firearms and ammunition,” states Kristen Rand, director of federal policy…

For Release: Thursday, July 25, 1996 The revelation contained in today’s Washington Post that Paul Blackman, research coordinator for the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Institute for Legislative Action, believes that race plays a “significant” role in murder is unfortunately not surprising, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) stated today. Blackman went on to tell the Post, “Textbook epidemiology notes that despite the controversy of studying disease by race, differences in frequency and severity among racial groups may be too great…

For Release: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 Federal Gun De-Control Law Passed 10 Years Ago Has Allowed Gun Shows to Proliferate Gun shows have become “Tupperware® Parties for Criminals,” according to a new 72-page study that will be released on Wednesday, July 17, by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The study, Gun Shows in America: Tupperware® Parties for Criminals, will be released at a 12:00 noon Capitol Hill press conference outside at the House Triangle with study author…

For Release: Thursday, June 20, 1996 Extremism, Racism, Legal Woes, and Gun Industry Ties Are Rampant on NRA Board of Directors Study is Excerpted in NRA Expose Contained in July/August Mother Jones Magazine A new study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) in conjunction with Mother Jones magazine reveals that contrary to the National Rifle Association’s new theme that it represents “family values,” the NRA’s board of directors is characterized by extremism, racism, sexism, legal woes, and…

For Release: Thursday, April 18, 1996 Organization Continues To Use Anti-Government, Anti-Law Enforcement Rhetoric On Friday, April 19th, 1996 the first anniversary of the Oklahoma bombing the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) will open its 125th annual meeting. In defending its decision to open the annual event on the same day that former NRA member Timothy McVeigh allegedly bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the NRA has cited the costs of shifting the event…

For Release: March 18, 1996 Bill Would Protect Gun Dealers Who Knowingly Sell to Criminals and Minors Bill Would Cut Off Manufacturer’s Liability for Notoriously Defective Handgun If the U.S. Senate votes tomorrow to pass the grossly misnamed “Common Sense Product Liability Legal Reform Act of 1996” two of the primary beneficiaries will be unscrupulous gun dealers and the manufacturer of one of the most dangerous handguns ever produced, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) warned…

For Release: Monday, December 11, 1995 September 1995 VPC Study Reveals That at Least One in 10 Police Officers Killed in the Line of Duty Will Be Felled by Assault Weapons A study released by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) earlier this year documents that one out of 10 law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty will be slain by assault weapons. The study, Cop Killers: Assault Weapon Attacks on America’s Police, was the…

For Release: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 Law has Licensed Hundreds of Criminals to Carry Concealed Weapons On Wednesday, November 1, 1995 the Violence Policy Center (VPC) will release a comprehensive analysis of Florida’s law that allows citizens to carry concealed handguns. The study, Concealed Carry: The Criminal’s Companion, analyzes documents obtained from the Florida licensing authority and also includes details of incidents involving permit holders in Dade County. The study is the first to examine the actual…

For Release: Tuesday, September 12th, 1995 This is the press release for the September 1995 VPC study Cop Killers: Assault Weapon Attacks on America’s Police. For a copy of the complete study, please send a check for $10.00 to the Violence Policy Center, 1730 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Suite 1014, Washington, DC, 20036. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released “Cop Killers: Assault Weapon Attacks on America’s Police,” a study documenting the significant threat assault weapons…

For Release: Monday, July 24, 1995 Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) and Congressman Richard Durbin (D-IL) today will introduce the “Stop Arming Felons Act.” The bill would permanently close loopholes in federal law that have allowed convicted, violent felons access to firearms and explosives. Introduction of the bill follows recent action by the House Appropriations Committee that stopped a Republican-led, National Rifle Association-backed effort to revive a federal program at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and…

For Release: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 The House Appropriations Committee today stopped a Republican-led, National Rifle Association-backed effort to re-fund a federal program at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) that put guns and explosives back into the hands of criminals. Today’s vote reversed a June 28th subcommittee party-line vote to restore the guns-for-felons program in the fiscal year 1996 appropriation for the Department of the Treasury. The program was de-funded in fiscal years…

For Release: Tuesday, May 23, 1995 Says President Clinton Wants Legislation to Create Police State The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) has sent a mailing renewing its attacks on federal law enforcement officers of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In a cover memo to the new fund-raising letter, ILA’s Executive Director Tanya Metaksa writes: In wake of the horrible tragedy in Oklahoma City,…