Brady Campaign

Maryland has some of the toughest gun laws in the country — and Baltimore's are even stricter — yet the city continues to struggle with rampant gun violence as thousands of criminals gain access to firearms. And for supporters and opponents of tighter gun laws alike, that dichotomy illustrates both the promise and the challenge of the state and national debates. Gun control advocates say persistent urban violence in a city with firm authority over legal gun transactions shows that the government needs to crack down harder on the illegal transmission of weapons.

Jonylah Watkins died on a Tuesday. She was with her father, who was sitting in a minivan in Chicago on the night of March 11 when someone opened fire. Doctors worked 17 hours trying to repair what a bullet had done to her body, but to no avail. She died the next morning. Her funeral was about two weeks ago. She was 6 months old. Antonio Santiago was 7 months older when his mother put him in a stroller and took him for a walk in their Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood. Sherry West says they were accosted by two teenagers demanding money.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two years ago, Florida enacted a law that allows anyone who feels threatened anywhere to use deadly force. Today the National Rifle Association is shepherding similar laws through legislatures across the country. The so-called Castle Doctrine extended the notion of a man's home being his castle to public streets being his castle. When the law first went into effect, in October 2005, the nation's most prominent gun-control group, the Brady Campaign, decided to fight back.

Maryland has some of the toughest gun laws in the country — and Baltimore's are even stricter — yet the city continues to struggle with rampant gun violence as thousands of criminals gain access to firearms. And for supporters and opponents of tighter gun laws alike, that dichotomy illustrates both the promise and the challenge of the state and national debates. Gun control advocates say persistent urban violence in a city with firm authority over legal gun transactions shows that the government needs to crack down harder on the illegal transmission of weapons.

MIAMI -- A national gun-control group is riling Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida's mighty tourism industry by warning visitors that arguing with locals here could get them shot. The group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, based in Washington, began handing out fliers at the Miami International Airport yesterday, cautioning visitors to take "sensible precautions" and to be aware that altercations on highways, in nightclubs or on the beach could provoke a shooting. The fliers offer tips such as "Do not argue unnecessarily with local people" and "If someone appears to be angry with you, maintain to the best of your ability a positive attitude and do not shout or make threatening gestures."

A national gun control group began airing an advertisement on two Washington radio stations yesterday criticizing Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. for his record on handguns. The ad -- scheduled to run eight times between yesterday and Tuesday -- is the first on radio or television in Maryland's 2002 gubernatorial campaign. The congressman from Baltimore County is the leading Republican candidate for governor. "We targeted Ehrlich first because we have concerns about his record," said Amy Stilwell, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

From the very first paragraph ("America: armed and dangerous," March 28), the tone and bias of the author's mindset was clearly anti-gun, and that is OK. However, like so many other anti-gun types in the U.S. he is much on rhetoric and little on facts, which is highly irregular since the author is an academic himself and therefore should know the value of facts and data over emotion. Unfortunately, the author has fallen for the same word games that for many began with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The Second Amendment is under attack. This amendment is so important, so crucial to the liberties of the people, that the Founding Fathers placed it second only to the first; that which guaranteed the five most basic of freedoms. We've moved away from treating this right as a right. We wink when we speak of guarding against tyranny, we collude when we mention hunters and sportsmen, and we ignore the individuals that exercise this right countless times a month to preserve their personal right to liberty and perhaps life.

KENSINGTON - Local members of a national handgun-control organization are protesting the group's decision to stick with its endorsement of a Republican, Rep. Constance A. Morella, in the 8th District congressional race. Montgomery County members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence question the group's support for Morella in a year in which Democrats, more aligned with gun control than the GOP, have a chance to gain a majority in the House of Representatives. In a letter sent yesterday to the Brady group in Washington, three leaders of the organization's local rank and file said Morella's Democratic opponent, Christopher Van Hollen Jr., "has not only voted right on the issues, but has led the fight in the Maryland Assembly for sensible gun laws."

WASHINGTON - Gun control activists plan to file a lawsuit today alleging that the Bush administration has failed to enforce a ban on the production and sale of semiautomatic weapons, one of several efforts by advocates to raise awareness that the assault weapons ban is set to expire this fall. Advocates are trying to convince lawmakers to extend the ban, but experts say it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress will bring it to a vote in an election year. The 1994 law banned 19 specific semi-automatic assault weapons and copies of those guns.

The Second Amendment is under attack. This amendment is so important, so crucial to the liberties of the people, that the Founding Fathers placed it second only to the first; that which guaranteed the five most basic of freedoms. We've moved away from treating this right as a right. We wink when we speak of guarding against tyranny, we collude when we mention hunters and sportsmen, and we ignore the individuals that exercise this right countless times a month to preserve their personal right to liberty and perhaps life.

In the aftermath of the horror of the Connecticut school slayings, the looming darkness as we approach the shortest day of the year seems apt. We have snuffed out 20 of the brightest candles our nation cherishes - our children, the light of our future ("Saying farewell," Dec. 18). In his recent column ("The massacre this time," Dec. 15), Dan Rodricks bemoaned the continuing senseless mass murders committed by unstable people with all too easy access to weapons of mass destruction.

When 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner brought a loaded Glock 19 with a 33-round ammunition magazine to a Tucson grocery store parking lot in January, he broke the law only when he opened fire on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others at her constituent event. Under Arizona law, no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun outside the home. As the incident demonstrated, such a lax approach would seem to invite mayhem in the streets. But Arizona has the right to set such a problematic standard, despite such evidence as the recent study by a Stanford economist demonstrating that right-to-carry laws do not decrease the overall level of crime and perhaps even increase it. What Arizonans should not have the right to do is force such laissez-faire gun control standards on Maryland; nor should those who live in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida or any of the other states where concealed-handgun permits are much more easily acquired.

From the very first paragraph ("America: armed and dangerous," March 28), the tone and bias of the author's mindset was clearly anti-gun, and that is OK. However, like so many other anti-gun types in the U.S. he is much on rhetoric and little on facts, which is highly irregular since the author is an academic himself and therefore should know the value of facts and data over emotion. Unfortunately, the author has fallen for the same word games that for many began with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two years ago, Florida enacted a law that allows anyone who feels threatened anywhere to use deadly force. Today the National Rifle Association is shepherding similar laws through legislatures across the country. The so-called Castle Doctrine extended the notion of a man's home being his castle to public streets being his castle. When the law first went into effect, in October 2005, the nation's most prominent gun-control group, the Brady Campaign, decided to fight back.

CHICAGO -- When Florida passed a law in 1987 making it easier for citizens to get licenses to carry concealed firearms, opponents predicted that blood would run in the streets. "When you have 10 times as many people carrying guns as you do now, and they get into an argument and tempers flash, you're going to have people taking out guns and killing people," one gun-control activist said. Since the law was passed, it turns out, Florida's murder rate has been cut in half. Instead of becoming more dangerous, the state has become considerably safer.

ROCKVILLE -- A few days after endorsing U.S. Rep. Constance A. Morella in a Montgomery County congressional race, officers of a national handgun control group were confronted by a small but passionate collection of its local members. How, the members asked in a meeting and e-mails, could the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence back a Republican -- even a liberal one -- in a year in which Democrats, more aligned with gun control than the GOP, have a chance to gain a majority in the House of Representatives?

In the aftermath of the horror of the Connecticut school slayings, the looming darkness as we approach the shortest day of the year seems apt. We have snuffed out 20 of the brightest candles our nation cherishes - our children, the light of our future ("Saying farewell," Dec. 18). In his recent column ("The massacre this time," Dec. 15), Dan Rodricks bemoaned the continuing senseless mass murders committed by unstable people with all too easy access to weapons of mass destruction.

MIAMI -- A national gun-control group is riling Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida's mighty tourism industry by warning visitors that arguing with locals here could get them shot. The group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, based in Washington, began handing out fliers at the Miami International Airport yesterday, cautioning visitors to take "sensible precautions" and to be aware that altercations on highways, in nightclubs or on the beach could provoke a shooting. The fliers offer tips such as "Do not argue unnecessarily with local people" and "If someone appears to be angry with you, maintain to the best of your ability a positive attitude and do not shout or make threatening gestures."

WASHINGTON - Gun control activists plan to file a lawsuit today alleging that the Bush administration has failed to enforce a ban on the production and sale of semiautomatic weapons, one of several efforts by advocates to raise awareness that the assault weapons ban is set to expire this fall. Advocates are trying to convince lawmakers to extend the ban, but experts say it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress will bring it to a vote in an election year. The 1994 law banned 19 specific semi-automatic assault weapons and copies of those guns.