Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Almost all guns in America are initially sold legally, from a manufacturer to a distributor to a gun store. Once at a gun store, a gun can go in one of two directions. The dealer can follow federal law and conduct a Brady background checks before transferring a firearm, or it can be sold to people who are barred by federal/state law from purchasing guns. A handful of dealers knowingly ignore the law and engage in irresponsible business practices to make a profit – we call them “bad apple” gun dealers; nationally, 90% of crime guns are sold by only 5% of these dealers. Our goal is to stem the flow of crime guns into urban communities. This will save lives. To shut down or reform these BAGDs we must bring public, economic, and legal pressure to force change. To bring public pressure, we will engage, educate, equip, and build a coalition of local stakeholders. We must educate the general public on who the BAGDs are and the role they play in perpetuating gun violence. We will leverage the coalition to pressure BAGDs to reform their business practices though tactics including traditional and social media.We will bring legal pressure by bringing civil lawsuits against BAGDs by representing the victims of gun violence. Additionally, we will work with local prosecutors to optimize and create best practices for the prosecution of gun crime offenders (e.g. straw purchasers). To bring such economic pressure, we encourage people, including hunters and police officers, not to shop at stores that regularly sell to criminals.