GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, previously known as the Legal Community Against Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, is a national

public interest law Public interest law refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor, marginalized, or under-represented people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on 'not for profit' terms ( ''pro bono publico''), often in the fields ...

center and

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization that promotes gun violence prevention and gun safety laws in the United States. GIFFORDS Law Center publishes information about gun laws and gun control. It is the legal, research, and policy arm of

GIFFORDS Giffords (stylized "GIFFORDS") is an American advocacy and research organization focused on preventing gun violence. The organization draws its name from one of its co-founders, Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Rep ...

, the national gun safety organization founded and led by former Congresswoman

Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun violence prevention advocate. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when ...

. GIFFORDS Law Center has conducted litigation against the gun industry, filed amicus curiae briefs supporting gun safety laws in Second Amendment cases, and helped secure government funding for community violence intervention programs. GIFFORDS Law Center houses a comprehensive database of state and federal gun laws and Second Amendment jurisprudence. The organization offers legal assistance to public officials and publishes research on the effectiveness of gun laws and statistics pertaining to gun violence. GIFFORDS Law Center's executive director is

Emma Brown ''Emma'' is the title of a manuscript by Charlotte Brontë, left incomplete when she died in 1855 . A pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the ...

, a political advisor and Democratic campaign manager.

History

The Legal Community Against Violence was established in the wake of the July 1, 1993

101 California Street shooting The 101 California Street shooting was a mass shooting on July 1, 1993, in San Francisco, California, United States. The killings sparked a number of legal and legislative actions that were precursors to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce ...

, during which a gunman entered the offices of law firm Petit & Martin and shot fourteen people, killing eight.Richard C. Paddock
"Gun Control Push Begun at Law Firm : Massacre: Employees return to San Francisco building targeted by gunman. Some have formed a group that will call for stricter legislation."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', July 7, 1993. Former Petit & Martin partners John Heisse and Chuck Erlich formed the nonprofit organization along with other San Francisco Bay Area legal professionals shortly after the shooting to help local communities pass their own gun violence prevention ordinances.Laura Linden
"Disarming Tactics: Why is a group of well-heeled lawyers helping empower local communities to pass stricter gun control ordinances? Take a look behind-the-scenes of the unusual grass roots organizing project that's been successfully outwitting the California gun lobby."
'' Mother Jones'', March 3, 1997. Initially focusing on the local regulation of firearms in California, LCAV supported the passage of the

Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public Law (United States), Pub.L. 103–159, 107 United States Statutes at Large, Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act, the Brady Bill or the Brady Handgun Bill, ...

and the

federal assault weapons ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB or FAWB), was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, Violent Crime Control and Law ...

in 1993. The organization's volunteer lawyers provided legal consultation to the city of

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

when it was sued by the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

(NRA) in January 1996 for banning Saturday night special handguns. The lawsuit was dismissed in November 1996.Gregg Lee Carter, ed., ''Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law'', ( ABC-CLIO, 2002) , vol. 1, pp. 354-355
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. Over time, LCAV expanded its activity to assist legislators and advocates in states across the country in drafting and passing gun safety laws. It also provided pro bono support to a range of local communities defending their gun laws from lawsuits by the NRA and other gun lobby organizations. The organization expanded its Second Amendment program, providing amicus curiae briefs in key gun rights cases, including the Supreme Court cases District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and

McDonald v. City of Chicago ''McDonald v. City of Chicago'', 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporate ...

in 2010. GIFFORDS Law Center attorneys provided testimony in Congressional hearings about gun violence and gun laws, and regularly appeared in the media as experts on American gun laws. In 2013, the organization changed its name to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Following the Sandy Hook School shooting in December 2012, the Law Center expanded its activity in state legislation, contributing to the passage of over 600 new gun safety laws in 49 states and the District of Columbia. In 2016, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence merged with

Americans for Responsible Solutions Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) was a United States non-profit organization and super PAC that supported gun control. The group's stated goal was "to encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and pro ...

, a nonprofit gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman

and Navy combat veteran and retired

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut Captain

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, retired astronaut, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he ha ...

. The organization changed its name to GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in 2017. In 2019, GIFFORDS Law Center sued the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

, alleging the regulatory agency failed to take action against the National Rifle Association for alleged

campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...

violations. The lawsuit, filed by GIFFORDS and the

Campaign Legal Center Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) government watchdog group in the United States. CLC supports more restrictive United States campaign finance laws. Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Elect ...

, states the FEC did not respond to multiple complaints accusing the NRA of using

shell organization A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

s to donate more than the legal amount to the campaigns of

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

and six Republican Senate candidates. In response, the NRA stated “ is latest effort by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center is a frivolous lawsuit based on a frivolous complaint.” Following the FEC's lack of response, GIFFORDS Law Center filed a federal lawsuit directly against the NRA in November 2021. As of February 2024, the case is pending. In recent years, GIFFORDS Law Center has increased its litigation activity, either filing or supporting lawsuits against ghost gun companies, social media corporations, and the gun industry for contributions to gun violence. In October 2021, GIFFORDS Law Center launched an affiliated program focused on promoting community-based solutions to gun violence in American cities. Called GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention, this program began hosting the annual Community Violence Intervention Conference, the largest gathering of community violence experts and advocates in the United States. GIFFORDS Law Center and its affiliated organization, GIFFORDS, was a key player in the Biden administration’s efforts against gun violence, providing research and policy suggestions that contributed to 2022’s

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a United States federal law, passed in 2022. It implemented several changes to the mental health system, school safety programs, and gun control laws. Gun control laws in the bill include extended backgrou ...

, the administration’s numerous executive actions on guns, and the formation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention in 2023. In 2024, GIFFORDS Law Center settled a major lawsuit against ghost gun company

Polymer80 Polymer80, Inc. was an American manufacturer of firearms parts kits that included unfinished receivers (also known as "80 percent" receivers) used for making privately made firearms. The company was founded in 2013 by Loran Kelley Jr. and Davi ...

on behalf of Philadelphia, and undertook similar litigation in other parts of the country. In 2024, GIFFORDS Law Center was also active in the Supreme Court case United States vs. Rahimi, which was decided in favor of GIFFORDS Law Center’s position.

Reports and state rankings

GIFFORDS Law Center provides comparisons of state gun laws online, and annually releases th
Annual Gun Law Scorecard
a report that ranks and measures individual states’ gun death rates in correlation to their gun laws, assigning letter grades to each state. According to the organization, its research shows there are fewer gun deaths in states with comprehensive gun safety laws.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://giffords.org Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Legal advocacy organizations in the United States

History

Reports and state rankings

See also

References

External links