Violence Policy Center

Violence Policy Center

Founded	1988 (1988)
Founder	Josh Sugarmann[1]
Area served	United States
Mission	The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration.[2]
Website	www.vpc.org

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and against gun violence. According to Josh Sugarmann, its founder, the VPC approaches violence, and firearms violence in particular, as a public health issue affecting the whole population, rather than solely a criminal matter.^[3]

Organizational background

The VPC has drawn the attention of Congress to gun-related policy issues by distributing its published research and analysis, and numerous US gun control organizations have used VPC reports and terminology to advance local and national gun control initiatives.^[4] The VPC is known mainly for its in-depth research on the firearms industry, the causes and impacts of gun violence, and regulatory policies to reduce gun violence.^[3] The VPC advocates for pro-gun control legislation and policy that is usually opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other national or state gun rights advocates.

Since the VPC has no official membership fee, it relies on donations from the public and foundation support. The primary foundation donor to the VPC is the Joyce Foundation.^[5] The VPC publicizes its research through the news media and through coalitions with other advocacy organizations.^[3]

Annual reports on impact of gun violence

Using data from federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the VPC publishes annual state-by-state reports on the effects of gun violence. These include: a report on the number of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents,^[6] which is published to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October;^[7] a report on black homicide victimization;^[8] and a report on lethal Hispanic firearms victimization.^[9]

Concealed carry

The VPC maintains a "Concealed Carry Killers" database of fatal non-self defense killings involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns in public.^[10][11] The VPC also highlights mass shootings involving persons legally allowed to carry concealed handguns in public.^[12]

The database was criticized by Clayton Cramer, who claimed that the statistics were inaccurate.^[13] An article posted on the website of gun researcher John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center questioned the numbers presented on the Concealed Carry Killers database. According to the article, suicides, which may or may not have even involved a firearm, and motor vehicle homicides caused by intoxication are included in the statistics.^[14]

Gun industry donations

The VPC has issued reports that document the gun industry's financial contributions to the NRA. In 2013, the VPC said that the firearms industry has donated between $19.3 million and $60.2 million to the NRA since 2005.^[15]

50-caliber rifles

The VPC has long advocated for a ban on 50 caliber rifles. In 2001, the VPC issued a study that detailed "the 50 caliber's threat as an ideal tool for assassination and terrorism, including its ability to attack and cripple key elements of the nation's critical infrastructure—including aircraft and other transportation, electrical power grids, pipeline networks, chemical plants, and other hazardous industrial facilities".^[16]

In January 2005, the VPC was featured on the CBS news and current affairs program 60 Minutes, which ran a segment on 50 caliber rifles and the threat to public safety that they were alleged to pose.^[17] It drew heavily on VPC reports on the .50 BMG cartridge and conducted interviews with both Ronnie Barrett of Barrett Firearms and Tom Diaz of the VPC. The NRA and others alleged the story was biased in the VPC's favor and claimed that no 50 caliber rifle has ever been used in the commission of a crime. In response, the VPC issued a backgrounder detailing criminal use and possession of 50 caliber rifles, including examples of murders by criminals using .50 caliber rifles.^[18] The list does not clarify whether the weapons seized were possessed legally or not, and makes no distinction between use of a .50 caliber rifle in a crime and possession of a .50 caliber rifle by a person committing an unrelated crime. In September 2004, California became the only state to ban 50 caliber rifles.^[19]

Firearms imports

Thousands of firearms sold in the United States are illegally trafficked into Mexico each year. Many are foreign-made weapons that are imported into the United States legally and then sold to "straw purchasers" and other illegal traffickers.^[20] In testimony to Congress and in reports, the VPC has stated that the U.S. government is not enforcing the "sporting purposes" test^[21] that bans the import of firearms that lack a sporting purpose.^[22] In 1989, ATF officials and the administration of George H. W. Bush used their administrative powers to prohibit the import of firearms that are not "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." Despite this prohibition, gun manufacturers were able to skirt the ban by making slight cosmetic changes to their weapons to comply with the law. This led to a review by the Clinton administration and resulted in a new round of weapons being banned from import.^[23] The VPC argues that today the import ban has for the most part been abandoned with foreign-made assault rifles—whole and in parts—being freely imported into the United States.^[24] In response, the VPC has asked the ATF to enforce a ban on the import of foreign-made assault rifles.

See also

• Joyce Foundation

References

External links

• VPC - The Violence Policy Center