The Brady Center has released a report on President Obama’s performance called President Obama’s First Year: Failed Leadership, Lost Lives.

The President’s concessions to the “guns anywhere” mentality of the gun lobby and lack of leadership for common-sense gun laws has earned him a grade of “F”.

President Obama signed legislation letting people carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked luggage on Amtrak trains, adopted the gun lobby’s empty rhetoric about just “enforcing the laws on the books,” and muzzled Cabinet members who expressed support for stronger gun laws.

In addition, the White House voiced no objection to people carrying guns near Presidential events and his White House staff removed statements from the White House website that declared support for gun violence prevention laws.

» Click here to read the full report
» Click here to read the news release
» Click here to view Paul Helmke on MSNBC discuss report findings  

Click on the image above to read the Brady Report on President Obama's first year in office.

On January 11, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed with an amicus brief filed by the Brady Center, rejecting a Second Amendment challenge to a criminal conviction under the Lautenberg Amendment, which prohibits misdemeanor domestic violence offenders from possessing firearms. Ludivic White, Jr., had appealed his conviction for unlawful firearm possession, arguing that the law was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in DC v. Heller.

On April 1, 2009, the Brady Center joined with other groups to file an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the Second Amendment does not prohibit Congress from criminalizing the possession of firearms by convicted domestic violence offenders. The brief explained that Heller made clear that the Second Amendment does not entitle convicted criminals to possess guns.

» Click here to read the Brady Center's brief
» Click here to read the opinion

The 11th Circuit ruling upheld the Lautenberg Amendment's prohibition on firearm possession by misdemeanor domestic violence offenders.

The Brady Center's Legal Action Project (LAP) filed a friend of the court brief in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court urging the Court to uphold life-saving gun safety laws requiring that a person obtain a firearm identification card before possessing a firearm and obtain a license before carrying a handgun outside the home. 

The Brady Center was joined by law enforcement and other gun violence prevention groups, including the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police.

The Court will hear the case, Commonwealth v. DePina, on November 5, 2009, the same day as another Second Amendment case, Commonwealth v. Runyan. The Brady Center had previously filed a friend of the court brief in Runyan, which involves a challenge to a Massachusetts law requiring that guns be safely stored while not in use.

These common sense gun laws protect the public from gun violence and ensure that guns stay out of the wrong hands. These laws are wholly permissible under the Second Amendment and have helped Massachusetts achieve the lowest gun death rate in the continental U.S.

» Click here to read the news release
» Click here to read brief