Insiders Expose Gun Industry Misconduct
Robert Ricker, a former NRA lawyer, gun lobbyist, and trade association director, has provided a sworn declaration describing how the industry encourages and rewards illegal activity by corrupt dealers, steadfastly refuses to take steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and intimidates and silences any dissenting voices within the industry.
 
Ricker has said the gun industry has long known that massive quantities of guns are diverted to the illegal black market through avenues such as "straw sales, large-volume sales to gun traffickers and various other channels by corrupt dealers or distributors who go to great lengths to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities."

Indiana Supreme Court Rules that Gun Owners May be Sued

In a landmark ruling in April, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that gun owners must safely store firearms and can be held liable for failing to do so.

In this case, Heck vs. Stoffer, Deputy Eryk Heck was killed in a shootout with convicted felon Timothy Stoffer in 1997.  Stoffer, who also died, had taken the handgun from his parents.  The Heck family sued the Stoffers, asserting the couple knew their drug-addicted son was fleeing from police and failed to safeguard the gun.

Chief Justice Randall Shepard argued that the right to bear arms "does not entitle owners to impose on their fellow citizens all the external human and economic costs associated with their ownership."

Daniel Vice, an attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who acted, along with HCGV as a "friend of the court" in this case, commended the decision as a path-breaking one.  "You have a duty to store your gun properly and keep it away from people like criminals who might use it," he said.

More than 250,000 firearms are stolen each year nationwide.  Stolen firearms are used in over a third of crimes involving guns.  In Indiana, gun violence resulted in more than 4,000 deaths and 8,800 injuries from 1993 to 1997, according to the latest figures from the Brady Center.

Assault Weapons Ban in Jeopardy
The 1994 federal assault weapons ban will expire in September 2004 unless renewed by Congress and signed by the President.  There is a bill now in Congress, the Feinstein/Shumer bill, that would extend the 1994 legislation.  President Bush has promised to sign this bill, but the National Rifle Association has vowed to prevent the bill from passing Congress and reaching the President's desk and has lobbied hard for Congress not to pass the bill.

Gun control groups nationwide have been ambivalent about the Feinstein/ Shumer Bill. Some contend that the 1994 bill has been ineffectual in preventing the sale of assault weapons.  Many gun manufacturers circumvent the intent of the law by producing weapons that are almost identical to banned weapons, but which are legal under the 1994  bill.  For example, there are several AK-47 clones that are available on the market.

Some state gun control groups, including those in Maryland and New Jersey, are supporting instead an alternative bill sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) which will not only make the assault weapons ban permanent but significantly strengthen the current law.

HCGV urges its members to contact their representatives in Congress and express support for at least one of these bills, and not to allow the assault weapons ban to lapse.

Gun Violence Prevention and Homeland Security
Since September 11, we, like many in the gun violence prevention movement, have been thinking about how we fit into our new troubled world.  In the face of increased gun purchases across the nation, we feel it is important to highlight this issue.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stronger gun laws mean
better security
Stronger gun laws must be a part of any plan to reduce the threat of terrorism in our nation.  Keeping guns out of the hands of those wishing to harm us at home requires the same policies that can keep guns out of the hands of criminals.  Specifically, we need to require universal criminal background checks for every gun sale--the same checks now instituted for airport baggage handlers.

Weak gun laws allow the illegal gun market to thrive, making it easy for anyone to buy guns at gun shows, over the internet, and through classified ads with no background check and no questions asked.

Current federal law also prohibits law enforcement from maintaining records of guns and their owners, which means that gun owners who sell guns to criminals or other prohibited purchasers cannot be identified and held accountable.

Buying guns won't make us safer
As Americans rush to buy weapons for protection, others with more sinister motives can just as easily do the same.  Real protection will mean ensuring that people who should not have guns cannot get them.  That means strong gun laws.

Research has clearly shown that a gun in the home is far more likely to be involved in an unintended tragedy.  A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in homicide, suicide, or accidental shooting, rather than to be used in self-defense.  Also, high community rates of gun ownership are associated with elevated rates of robbery, murder, firearm suicide, and overall firearm death rates.

Arming airline passengers is dangerous and counterproductive
We stand by law enforcement and applaud an increase in the number of air marshals--trained officers armed to protect airline passengers.  We know that airlines with a history of terrorist threats and a successful record for preventing them, such as Israel's El Al, do not allow passengers to carry weapons.

Celebration of Peace
Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence is co-sponsoring, with the Peace Learning Center, a Celebration of Peace at the Murat Shrine on May 22.  A luncheon and presentation of awards to IPS students who participated in a poster contest will highlight the day. The contest was funded by a Co-Motion grant.  Alisha A. Delemore, HCGV's intern this year, collaborated with Charlie Wiles of the Peace Learning Center to fashion and implement the project.


HCGV Hosts Brady Center Lawyer
Brian Siebel, a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, spoke at a rally on April 10 in opposition to a proposal to give gun manufacturers immunity from prosecution.  The rally was hosted by HCGV at Indianapolis's City Market Plaza and was attended by representatives of a variety of gun safety groups.
 
Brian Siebel said, "No other industry in America has ever been granted such blanket protection."  Kathleen M. George, President of Hoosiers Concerned, later said, "We stand in opposition to [federal legislation] HR 1036 and S659, which would, if passed, deny victims of gun violence their day in court.  This legislation would give the gun industry unprecedented immunity from lawsuits by the victims of gun violence and their families. . . . With damaging testimony now coming to light in several lawsuits across the country, the National Rifle Association is making a desperate effort to silence those who have had the courage to come forward.  To date, there are almost 30 cities and counties, including our own city of Gary, in various stages of the legal process."