Meet the Team Behind: Brady: United Against Gun Violence

Brady is on a mission to free America from the growing threat of gun violence. Through legal advocacy, education, and community work, Brady United is changing the culture, industry, and laws around guns in the country. Learn more about their work here! 

Can you tell me about the need for your work? 

As the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention group, Brady’s history of bipartisan leadership and progress goes back decades, with our charge being led by survivors of gun violence who know the devastation caused by this preventable epidemic. Americans are 26x more likely to be shot and killed than people in other high-income countries, with an average 327 people getting shot every day. We have more guns than we have citizens. If guns made us safer, we’d be the safest country in the world. We’re countering disinformation and educating the public so that we can create a safer America for us all, gun owners and non-gun owners alike.

What is your approach? 

Our approach— policy reform, industry oversight, and culture change— is founded on the need for ensuring responsible gun ownership. We fight to pass sensible laws and policies that keep Americans safe from gun violence. We are committed to upholding common-sense gun laws, making it hard for irresponsible people to get a firearm, and keeping firearms away from those who are less willing to use a firearm responsibly— without infringing on Second Amendment rights. We shut down or reform negligent gun dealers who flood our streets with illegal and trafficked guns, and our legal team takes the gun industry to court, winning cases that protect us from gun violence. As the gun violence crisis worsens in our country, we know that changing laws and policies isn’t the only solution — we must change our social norms and culture, too. 

What kinds of programs do you offer?

Our Combating Crime Guns Initiative works to shift the burden of gun violence from the shooters to the suppliers of crime guns, including irresponsible gun industry actors who prioritize profit over public safety. The program is focused on stopping the flow of crime guns into the most impacted communities and tackling racial injustice that increases violence. End Family Fire starts dialogue around the role of safe firearm storage to prevent "family fire" — a shooting caused by someone having access to a gun from the home when they shouldn’t have it. Family fire is preventable by storing your guns safely, and we educate the public on how to achieve that. 

Can you explain your impact on gun violence?

We’ve helped pass laws that regulate or ban untraceable ghost guns in 10 states, and we won a $1.2M settlement against Polymer80, the country’s largest manufacturer of ghost guns, forcing it to shut down. An additional 20,000 gun sellers are now required to conduct background checks on gun sales thanks to federal action advocated for by Brady. In the last three years, we’ve trained over 1,000 writers, producers, and studio executives on how they can responsibly portray guns on screen to shift culture to save lives. Last year, our policy team helped pass 73 priority gun violence prevention bills through state legislatures, helping save countless lives. Our educational resources have reached millions of people around the country, teaching people about safety, prevention, and how to advocate for meaningful change.