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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000711/pl/gun_campaign_2.html
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.
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.