Media Brady in the News
Washington Post Sep 23, 2008
NRA Misfires against Obama
The National Rifle Association has opened fire on Barack Obama for allegedly supporting a "huge new tax" on gun owners. The charge is contained in a series of new TV ads attacking the Democratic presidential candidate for his "anti-gun" stance. While it is clear that Obama is no friend of the NRA, the tax hike charge rests on very flimsy evidence. There are other problems with the ads as well. The Facts The NRA video shows a Virginia hunter and Iraq war veteran, Karl Rusch, complaining about the high cost of gas and accusing Obama of planning a "huge new tax" on ...read the full article
Hartford Courant Sep 22, 2008
Editorial: Guns And Deaths
News of shootings grabs so much attention in Connecticut that people might understandably wonder if it's even safe to walk to the mailbox. Federal data, however, show Connecticut has one of the lowest rates of gun-related violence of any state in the nation. Not coincidentally, it also has one of the lowest rates of gun ownership and one of the best track records for gun control. Using the latest available data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the group Connecticut Against Gun Violence reports the Nutmeg State had the fifth-lowest rate of gun-related homicides of any state in 2004 ...read the full article
Annenberg Political Fact Check Sep 22, 2008
NRA Targets Obama: It falsely claims in mailers and TV ads that Obama plans to ban handguns, hunting ammo and use of a gun for home defense.
Summary A National Rifle Association advertising campaign distorts Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition. The NRA is circulating printed material and running TV ads making unsubstantiated claims that Obama plans to ban use of firearms for home defense, ban possession and manufacture of handguns, close 90 percent of gun shops and ban hunting ammunition. Much of what the NRA passes off as Obama's "10 Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment" is actually contrary to what he has said throughout his campaign: that he "respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms" and "will protect the rights of hunters and other ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 21, 2008
A Workable Gun Law for the City
In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals have a Second Amendment right to possess handguns and struck down the District's total ban. The court said that the right to have handguns is not absolute, but it gave scant guidance as to what limitations would be permissible. The District now faces a formidable balancing act in that it must honor the right and protect public safety. Our task is especially daunting since we must work in the shadow of lawsuits and NRA-inspired congressional interference. The question is how we should proceed. In terms of honoring the right, ...read the full article
New York Times Sep 19, 2008
Editorial: Gun Lobby First
The House stampeded past serious public safety concerns and the democratic rights of residents of the District of Columbia on Wednesday to approve a bill that would gut sensible gun controls in the nation's capital. In all, 85 Democrats joined with a nearly unanimous block of Republican lawmakers to pass the dangerous measure 266 to 152, a reminder that catering to the gun lobby during election season is a bipartisan affliction. The bill was pushed by the National Rifle Association and opposed by the District Police Department. Supporters of the bill argued, disingenuously, that the bill was necessary to bring the district ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 18, 2008
House Votes to Ease D.C. Gun Restrictions
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to legalize semiautomatic rifles in the District and repeal its gun registration laws, but the bill's future appeared in doubt as a prominent senator announced she would try to block it. "If this bill comes to the floor of the United States Senate, I will do everything in my power to stop it," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. The House bill passed 266 to 152, with the support of 85 Democrats. It was the second time in four years that the chamber had voted to overturn most D.C. gun laws. The 2004 ...read the full article
Philadelphia Inquirer Sep 18, 2008
Editorial: Gun Control: Murphy ducked
If U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D., Pa.) had not served as an Army captain in Iraq, the Bucks County congressman might be suspected of running scared as he faces a spirited challenge for reelection. It sure looked that way yesterday, when Murphy voted with the National Rifle Association - and against the best interests of cities in his own backyard trying to stem gun violence, including Philadelphia. Murphy was among 85 House Democrats who joined 181 Republicans in approving a bill that would roll back gun-safety measures enacted by the District of Columbia, after the Supreme Court struck down the city's ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 18, 2008
Editorial: Open Season on the District: Only the Senate stands in the way of gutting gun regulations.
THE U.S. SENATE represents the last, best hope to stop the mindless push to enact a dangerous gun law in the District. And stop it the senators must. The House voted yesterday to adopt a measure that would gut the District's gun laws and that goes far beyond the Supreme Court's finding this summer of an individual right to bear arms. The bill would prohibit the District from requiring that weapons be registered -- the most reasonable and benign of measures. It would allow ownership of semiautomatic handguns and rifles and would place no age restriction on gun possession. And it ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 17, 2008
U.S. House, D.C. Council Wrestle Over Gun Control
The struggle to regulate guns in the District in light of a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling sparked competing legislative efforts yesterday as members of Congress debated taking control of the issue and the D.C. Council implored them to leave it in local hands. On the most significant day of legislative activity on gun control since the high court ended the District's 32-year-old handgun ban in June, the council voted unanimously to ease some contentious firearms restrictions while the U.S. House of Representatives considered a more dramatic measure that would limit the city's power to regulate guns. The issue of gun control ...read the full article
Cox Newspapers Sep 17, 2008
NRA shoots a round
It begins to appear that the National Rifle Association and the rest of the guns-first crowd won't be satisfied until something approaching the whole American nation is armed against itself. Washington is the latest example. Washington's ordinance outlawing handguns was the vehicle that led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year that the Second Amendment is an individual right and thus forbids any such blanket ban. The district's City Council has scrambled into compliance with a temporary ordinance and is working toward a permanent one. The council is inclined toward enacting some safety controls that the NRA would abominate -- ...read the full article
NRA Misfires against Obama
The National Rifle Association has opened fire on Barack Obama for allegedly supporting a "huge new tax" on gun owners. The charge is contained in a series of new TV ads attacking the Democratic presidential candidate for his "anti-gun" stance. While it is clear that Obama is no friend of the NRA, the tax hike charge rests on very flimsy evidence. There are other problems with the ads as well. The Facts The NRA video shows a Virginia hunter and Iraq war veteran, Karl Rusch, complaining about the high cost of gas and accusing Obama of planning a "huge new tax" on ...read the full article
Hartford Courant Sep 22, 2008
Editorial: Guns And Deaths
News of shootings grabs so much attention in Connecticut that people might understandably wonder if it's even safe to walk to the mailbox. Federal data, however, show Connecticut has one of the lowest rates of gun-related violence of any state in the nation. Not coincidentally, it also has one of the lowest rates of gun ownership and one of the best track records for gun control. Using the latest available data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the group Connecticut Against Gun Violence reports the Nutmeg State had the fifth-lowest rate of gun-related homicides of any state in 2004 ...read the full article
Annenberg Political Fact Check Sep 22, 2008
NRA Targets Obama: It falsely claims in mailers and TV ads that Obama plans to ban handguns, hunting ammo and use of a gun for home defense.
Summary A National Rifle Association advertising campaign distorts Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition. The NRA is circulating printed material and running TV ads making unsubstantiated claims that Obama plans to ban use of firearms for home defense, ban possession and manufacture of handguns, close 90 percent of gun shops and ban hunting ammunition. Much of what the NRA passes off as Obama's "10 Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment" is actually contrary to what he has said throughout his campaign: that he "respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms" and "will protect the rights of hunters and other ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 21, 2008
A Workable Gun Law for the City
In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals have a Second Amendment right to possess handguns and struck down the District's total ban. The court said that the right to have handguns is not absolute, but it gave scant guidance as to what limitations would be permissible. The District now faces a formidable balancing act in that it must honor the right and protect public safety. Our task is especially daunting since we must work in the shadow of lawsuits and NRA-inspired congressional interference. The question is how we should proceed. In terms of honoring the right, ...read the full article
New York Times Sep 19, 2008
Editorial: Gun Lobby First
The House stampeded past serious public safety concerns and the democratic rights of residents of the District of Columbia on Wednesday to approve a bill that would gut sensible gun controls in the nation's capital. In all, 85 Democrats joined with a nearly unanimous block of Republican lawmakers to pass the dangerous measure 266 to 152, a reminder that catering to the gun lobby during election season is a bipartisan affliction. The bill was pushed by the National Rifle Association and opposed by the District Police Department. Supporters of the bill argued, disingenuously, that the bill was necessary to bring the district ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 18, 2008
House Votes to Ease D.C. Gun Restrictions
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to legalize semiautomatic rifles in the District and repeal its gun registration laws, but the bill's future appeared in doubt as a prominent senator announced she would try to block it. "If this bill comes to the floor of the United States Senate, I will do everything in my power to stop it," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. The House bill passed 266 to 152, with the support of 85 Democrats. It was the second time in four years that the chamber had voted to overturn most D.C. gun laws. The 2004 ...read the full article
Philadelphia Inquirer Sep 18, 2008
Editorial: Gun Control: Murphy ducked
If U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D., Pa.) had not served as an Army captain in Iraq, the Bucks County congressman might be suspected of running scared as he faces a spirited challenge for reelection. It sure looked that way yesterday, when Murphy voted with the National Rifle Association - and against the best interests of cities in his own backyard trying to stem gun violence, including Philadelphia. Murphy was among 85 House Democrats who joined 181 Republicans in approving a bill that would roll back gun-safety measures enacted by the District of Columbia, after the Supreme Court struck down the city's ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 18, 2008
Editorial: Open Season on the District: Only the Senate stands in the way of gutting gun regulations.
THE U.S. SENATE represents the last, best hope to stop the mindless push to enact a dangerous gun law in the District. And stop it the senators must. The House voted yesterday to adopt a measure that would gut the District's gun laws and that goes far beyond the Supreme Court's finding this summer of an individual right to bear arms. The bill would prohibit the District from requiring that weapons be registered -- the most reasonable and benign of measures. It would allow ownership of semiautomatic handguns and rifles and would place no age restriction on gun possession. And it ...read the full article
Washington Post Sep 17, 2008
U.S. House, D.C. Council Wrestle Over Gun Control
The struggle to regulate guns in the District in light of a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling sparked competing legislative efforts yesterday as members of Congress debated taking control of the issue and the D.C. Council implored them to leave it in local hands. On the most significant day of legislative activity on gun control since the high court ended the District's 32-year-old handgun ban in June, the council voted unanimously to ease some contentious firearms restrictions while the U.S. House of Representatives considered a more dramatic measure that would limit the city's power to regulate guns. The issue of gun control ...read the full article
Cox Newspapers Sep 17, 2008
NRA shoots a round
It begins to appear that the National Rifle Association and the rest of the guns-first crowd won't be satisfied until something approaching the whole American nation is armed against itself. Washington is the latest example. Washington's ordinance outlawing handguns was the vehicle that led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year that the Second Amendment is an individual right and thus forbids any such blanket ban. The district's City Council has scrambled into compliance with a temporary ordinance and is working toward a permanent one. The council is inclined toward enacting some safety controls that the NRA would abominate -- ...read the full article