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| Founded | 1988 |
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| Founder | Josh Sugarmann [1] |
Area served | United States |
| Website | vpc |
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control.
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| Founded | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Josh Sugarmann [1] |
Area served | United States |
| Website | vpc |
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control.
According to Josh Sugarmann, its founder, the VPC approaches violence, and firearms violence in particular, as a public health issue affecting the whole population, rather than solely a criminal matter. [2] The VPC is known mainly for its in-depth research on the firearms industry, the causes and effects of gun violence, and the advocacy of regulatory policies to reduce gun violence. [2] The VPC advocates for gun control legislation and policy.
The VPC relies on donations from the public and foundation support. The primary foundation donor to the VPC is the Joyce Foundation. [3] The VPC publicizes its research through the news media and through coalitions with other advocacy organizations. [2]
Using data from federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the VPC publishes annual state-by-state reports on the effects of gun violence. It has examined the effects of gun violence on specific populations:
The VPC maintains a "Concealed Carry Killers" database of fatal non-self defense killings involving private citizens who are legally allowed to carry concealed handguns in public. [8] [9] The VPC also highlights mass shootings involving persons legally allowed to carry concealed handguns in public. [10]
The database was criticized by Clayton Cramer, who claimed that the statistics were inaccurate. [11] John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center website posted an article questioning the numbers presented on the Concealed Carry Killers database. According to the article, suicides, which may or may not have involved a firearm, and motor vehicle homicides caused by intoxication, are included in the statistics. [12]
The VPC has issued reports that document the gun industry's financial contributions to the National Rifle Association (NRA). In 2013, the VPC said that the firearms industry has donated between $19.3 million and $60.2 million to the NRA since 2005. [13]
The VPC has long advocated for a ban on .50-caliber rifles. In 2001, the VPC issued a study that detailed "the 50 caliber's threat as an ideal tool for assassination and terrorism, including its ability to attack and cripple key elements of the nation's critical infrastructure—including aircraft and other transportation, electrical power grids, pipeline networks, chemical plants, and other hazardous industrial facilities". [14]
In January 2005, the VPC was featured on the CBS news and current affairs program 60 Minutes , which ran a segment on .50-caliber rifles and their alleged threat to public safety. [15] It drew from VPC reports on the .50 BMG cartridge. Interviews were featured with both Ronnie Barrett of Barrett Firearms and Tom Diaz of the VPC.
The NRA objected, alleging that the story was biased in the VPC's favor; it claimed that no .50-caliber rifle has ever been used in the commission of a crime. In response, the VPC issued a backgrounder detailing criminal use and possession of .50-caliber rifles, including examples of murders by criminals using this weapon. [16] The list does not clarify whether the weapons seized were possessed legally or not, and makes no distinction between use of a .50 caliber rifle in a crime and possession of a .50 caliber rifle by a person committing an unrelated crime.
In September 2004, California passed a law to ban .50 caliber rifles, the only state to do so. [17]
CBS reported that numerous firearms are sold in the United States that were illegally trafficked into Mexico and legally imported into the United States, where they are sold to "straw purchasers" and other illegal traffickers. [18] In testimony to Congress and in reports, the VPC has stated that the U.S. government is not enforcing the "sporting purposes" test, [19] which bans the import of firearms that lack a sporting purpose. [20]
In 1989, ATF officials in the administration of President George H. W. Bush used their powers to prohibit the import of firearms that are not "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." Despite this prohibition, gun manufacturers skirted the ban by making cosmetic changes to their weapons to comply with the law. The Clinton administration reviewed the case, and as a result banned certain weapons from import. [21]
The VPC argues that today the import ban has for the most part been abandoned, and foreign-made assault weapons—whole and in parts—are being freely imported into the United States. [22] In response, the VPC has asked the ATF to enforce a ban on the import of foreign-made assault weapons.
In November, 1997 the Violence Policy Center published a study of the NRA's Eddie Eagle program, entitled Joe Camel With Feathers. [23] Key findings included:
The primary goal of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle program is not to safeguard children, but to protect the interests of the NRA and the firearms industry by making guns more acceptable to children and youth. The Eddie Eagle program employs strategies similar to those utilized by America's tobacco industry—from youth "educational" programs that are in fact marketing tools to the use of appealing cartoon characters that aim to put a friendly face on a hazardous product. [23]
Other key findings included that "the NRA uses the Eddie Eagle as a lobbying tool" in its opposition to child access prevention laws and mandatory trigger lock laws; that "Rather than recognizing the inherent danger firearms in the home pose to children, and the often irresponsible firearms storage behavior of adults, the Eddie Eagle program places the onus of safety and responsibility on the children themselves"; and that "Public health researchers have found that 'gun safety' programs like Eddie Eagle are ineffective in preventing unintentional death and injury from firearms." [23] [24] [25]
The study's key findings were summarized in major newspapers including The New York Times , [26] The Washington Post , [27] and the Chicago Tribune [28] as well as regional newspapers including The Philadelphia Inquirer , [29] Newsday , [24] The Times-Picayune , [30] and others, and in the book Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law edited by Gregg Lee Carter, professor of history at Bryant University in an article on Eddie Eagle by Robert J. Spitzer. [25] The NRA called the study "ludicrous" and threaten to sue the VPC. [26]
The VPC has spoken out against the "criminal abuse" of the Federal Firearms License system, which has resulted in a proliferation of licenses. The VPC states that the high number of FFLs inflated by "kitchen counter" dealers and those not "engaged in the business" make it impossible for the ATF to regulate them all, and has called for the ATF to cease issuing such licenses in order to reduce licensees to a more manageable number. [31] Josh Sugarmann holds a federal firearms license with the principle place of business at the address of the VPC. He has stated he does not sell firearms, although the license exempts him from many of the restrictions of Washington D.C. gun laws. [32]
The VPC distributes its published research and analysis to members of Congress and their staffs. Numerous US gun control organizations have used VPC reports and terminology to advance local and national gun control initiatives. [33] VPC research results and policy positions have been cited by major news organizations including The New York Times , [17] [26] The Washington Post , [27] the Chicago Tribune , [28] CNN, [34] [35] the Associated Press, [5] [36] and Reuters. [37]
Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting, self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.
In the United States, assault weapon is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine, a pistol grip, and sometimes other features, such as a vertical forward grip, flash suppressor, or barrel shroud. Certain firearms are specified by name in some laws that restrict assault weapons. When the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use." The commonly used definitions of assault weapons are under frequent debate, and have changed over time.
The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, 48 Stat. 1236 was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as I.R.C. ch. 53. The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms and mandates the registration of those firearms. The NFA is also referred to as Title II of the federal firearms laws, with the Gun Control Act of 1968 ("GCA") as Title I.
Gun laws in the United States regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition. State laws vary considerably, and are independent of existing federal firearms laws, although they are sometimes broader or more limited in scope than the federal laws.
Josh Sugarmann is an American activist for gun control in the United States. He is the executive director and founder of the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a non-profit advocacy and educational organization, and the author of two books on gun control. He has written a blog on these issues for the Huffington Post and publishes opinion pieces in the media.
The Eddie Eagle GunSafe program and its namesake character were developed by the National Rifle Association for children who are generally considered too young to be allowed to handle firearms. While maturity levels vary, the Eddie Eagle program is intended for children of any age from pre-school through third grade.
Gun show loophole is a political term in the United States referring to the sale of firearms by private sellers, including those done at gun shows, that do not require the seller to conduct a federal background check of the buyer. This is also called the private sale exemption. Under federal law, any person may sell a firearm to a federally unlicensed resident of the state where they reside, as long as they do not know or have reasonable cause to believe that the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms.
The .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004 is a law in the state of California that effectively banned all .50 BMG-caliber rifles from being sold in the state. The law took effect on January 1, 2005.
Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon, either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's presence from surrounding observers. In the United States, the opposite of concealed carry is called open carry.
Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States. In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to American gun violence. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were suicides. The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.
In the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is modulated by a variety of state and federal statutes. These laws generally regulate the manufacture, trade, possession, transfer, record keeping, transport, and destruction of firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories. They are enforced by state, local and the federal agencies which include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Gun laws in California regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of California in the United States.
This is a list of laws concerning air guns by country.
Gun laws in New York regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of New York, outside of New York City which has separate licensing regulations. These regulations are very strict in comparison to the rest of the United States.
Gun laws in Illinois regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of Illinois in the United States.
Gun laws in New Mexico regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of New Mexico in the United States.
Gun laws in Pennsylvania regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons as well as certain ammunition magazines that were defined as large capacity.
Assault weapons legislation in the United States refers to bills and laws that define and restrict or make illegal the manufacture, transfer, and possession of assault weapons. How these firearms are defined and regulated varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; generally, this constitutes a list of specific firearms and combinations of features on semiautomatic firearms.
A high-capacity magazine ban is a law which bans or otherwise restricts high-capacity magazines, detachable firearm magazines that can hold more than a certain number of rounds of ammunition. For example, in the United States, the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 included limits regarding magazines that could hold more than ten rounds. As of 2022, twelve U.S. states, and a number of local governments, ban or regulate magazines that they have legally defined as high-capacity. The majority of states do not ban or regulate any magazines on the basis of capacity. States that do have large capacity magazine bans or restrictions typically do not apply to firearms with fixed magazines whose capacity would otherwise exceed the large capacity threshold.
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