3 ways to control gun violence, says Brady Campaign CEO

Gun violence can be better controlled with three steps, according to a national leader on the issue.

There need to be tougher gun laws, local law enforcement needs to be strengthened and there should be restrictions on civilian access to high-powered weapons with extended magazines, Paul Helmke, CEO of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said today at an event held at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

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The Brady Campaign is a national effort named after James Brady, the assistant to the president and White House press secretary under Ronald Reagan. Brady was permanently disabled as a result of an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981.

Helmke said 32 people are murdered with guns every day in the United States, the same number that was killed in 2007 when a gunman opened fire on the campus of Virginia Tech.

"Virginia Tech happens every day in this country," Helmke said.

Helmke said he's not adverse to legal gun ownership and gun violence is not a second amendment issue.

Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd was at the UTC event and listed figures on gun violence in the city so far this year: 10 homicides, 27 shootings with 32 victims and the average age of the person involved is 20 years old.

For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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