Tuesday July 11 6:32 PM ET
Group Offers New Gun Control Effort
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Cabinet members lent support Tuesday to a
private effort intended to recruit college students for a gun-control
campaign.
``We are still one of the most violent nations in the world,''
Attorney General Janet Reno told Tuesday's audience of about 400,
most of them students interning for the summer at Washington's many
advocacy groups, law firms, and government offices. ``But that does
not have to be. ... We can do something about it, but we have got to
wake up America.''
Reno called gun violence an epidemic, saying that 29,829 people died
from gun-related injuries in 1998 - or 82 deaths a day - despite
dramatic reductions in violent crime in recent years.
The ``First Monday 2000'' campaign hopes to build on enthusiasm
created by the Million Mom March in May and inspire students from
law, nursing, social work and medical schools to organize events for
Oct. 2, the day the Supreme Court begins its next term. The Alliance
for Justice, which is organizing the effort, envisions hundreds of
simultaneous rallies, town hall meetings and door-to-door campaigns
across the country that day.
``We intend to launch a mobilization so massive that politicians
cannot ignore us,'' said Alliance President Nan Aron.
A coalition of advocacy groups perhaps best known for monitoring
federal judicial nominations, the alliance has held ``First Monday''
events since 1994, focusing on a different social justice issue each
year. They are joined this year by Physicians for Social
Responsibility, the National Education Association, Handgun Control,
the American Bar Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics,
among others.
Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo urged the students to counter the
strength of anti-gun control forces with their own political
involvement.
``We are not going to get beat because they were better at getting
their voices heard,'' Cuomo said. ``It's up to you. Make it happen.''
Also addressing the crowd were several of Congress' leading
gun-control advocates, including Democratic Reps. Bobby Rush of
Illinois and Carolyn McCarthy of New York, who both have lost family
members to gun violence.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court's dismissal
of an attempt by the National Rifle Association to force Attorney
General Janet Reno to immediately destroy personal information
relating to legal firearm transactions.
The NRA argued that the Brady Act requires the immediate elimination
of the data, though the court agreed with Reno that nothing in the
act bars the Department of Justice from holding the information for
up to six months for background check system audits.
Group Offers New Gun Control Effort
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Cabinet members lent support Tuesday to a
private effort intended to recruit college students for a gun-control
campaign.
``We are still one of the most violent nations in the world,''
Attorney General Janet Reno told Tuesday's audience of about 400,
most of them students interning for the summer at Washington's many
advocacy groups, law firms, and government offices. ``But that does
not have to be. ... We can do something about it, but we have got to
wake up America.''
Reno called gun violence an epidemic, saying that 29,829 people died
from gun-related injuries in 1998 - or 82 deaths a day - despite
dramatic reductions in violent crime in recent years.
The ``First Monday 2000'' campaign hopes to build on enthusiasm
created by the Million Mom March in May and inspire students from
law, nursing, social work and medical schools to organize events for
Oct. 2, the day the Supreme Court begins its next term. The Alliance
for Justice, which is organizing the effort, envisions hundreds of
simultaneous rallies, town hall meetings and door-to-door campaigns
across the country that day.
``We intend to launch a mobilization so massive that politicians
cannot ignore us,'' said Alliance President Nan Aron.
A coalition of advocacy groups perhaps best known for monitoring
federal judicial nominations, the alliance has held ``First Monday''
events since 1994, focusing on a different social justice issue each
year. They are joined this year by Physicians for Social
Responsibility, the National Education Association, Handgun Control,
the American Bar Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics,
among others.
Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo urged the students to counter the
strength of anti-gun control forces with their own political
involvement.
``We are not going to get beat because they were better at getting
their voices heard,'' Cuomo said. ``It's up to you. Make it happen.''
Also addressing the crowd were several of Congress' leading
gun-control advocates, including Democratic Reps. Bobby Rush of
Illinois and Carolyn McCarthy of New York, who both have lost family
members to gun violence.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court's dismissal
of an attempt by the National Rifle Association to force Attorney
General Janet Reno to immediately destroy personal information
relating to legal firearm transactions.
The NRA argued that the Brady Act requires the immediate elimination
of the data, though the court agreed with Reno that nothing in the
act bars the Department of Justice from holding the information for
up to six months for background check system audits.