Brady Law Needs Repeal, Not Tougher Enforcement

For Immediate Release
Further Information:
John Velleco 703-321-8585
December 1, 2000

In response to President Clinton’s call yesterday for tougher enforcement of the Brady law, Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America issued the following statement:

“The Brady law has been a failure, not for lack of enforcement, but because gun control laws don’t work.

“Jens Ludwig demolished the notion that Brady has had any impact on violent crime when his study was published in August by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“England has a nearly total gun ban and has found that its violent crime rate is now higher than that of the United States. Their police estimate that some 3,000,000 illegal guns are in the country. The Manchester media have relabeled their city ‘Gunchester.’

“The Brady law is only useful for building a registration list of the law-abiding who buy guns. Such lists have no use in fighting crime, only identifying who owns guns when politicians decide to ban guns. Criminals get their guns no matter what the law.

“The Brady law should be repealed and prohibitions on concealed carry should be next on the list of bad laws to get rid of. Also needing repeal are gun-free zone laws which only make it safer for criminals. All of England is an officially gun-free zone, and we can now see that that approach only leads to misery, not to safety.”

— GOA —