Red, Blue, and Brady

Send us Fan Mail Ghost guns — constructed firearms that lack serial numbers or other identifying markings — have been gaining popularity over the last decade . These weapons, which are typically made of plastic and allow users to bypass background checks and registration regulations, are assembled from kits that can be purchased online, providing an easy way of obtaining firearms for people with c...

Send us Fan Mail Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) allow families or law enforcement officers to petition a court to temporarily restrict a person’s access to guns. The petitioner must submit evidence that this person is a danger to themselves or others. ERPOs save lives, allowing the people who are most likely to notice when a loved one or community member becomes a danger to take concrete s...

Send us Fan Mail The insurrectionist idea — that armed citizens have the ultimate right to take matters into their own hands and take up arms against whatever they define as an oppressive government — was once a fringe one. In 2020, however, the idea has been promoted and popularized by the gun lobby and its allies in the far-right movement. Josh Horwitz , executive director of the Coalition to St...

Send us Fan Mail On the evening of May 14, 1970, dozens of police officers, responding to reports of rioting and unrest, descended on the Jackson State campus in Jackson, Mississippi, armed with not just their standard service weapons but shotguns and submachine guns as well. Equipped more like soldiers than police and accompanied by an armored vehicle the city, these men, all of whom were white,...

Send us Fan Mail 20 years ago, on May 14, 2000, downtown Washington D.C. watched as the Million Mom March became the largest non-violent protest in the history of the National Mall , birthplace of many of the nation's greatest political demonstrations. Over 750,000 people, the majority of them women, came together on that Sunday to call for the end of gun violence, and across the country many...

Send us Fan Mail Daphne Frias is a 22-year-old organizer from West Harlem, New York. She is a nationally acclaimed activist within the movement to prevent gun violence, the New York state director of March for Our Lives , a delegate at the United Nations Youth Climate Summit, and she just began med school. Daphne is a great, tough young person, who was kind enough to join host JJ to talk about the...

Send us Fan Mail In early 2020, DC native Tia Bell launched the T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project (True Reasons I Grabbed the Gun Evolved in Risks Project), a gun violence prevention program. The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project aims to change the normalcy of gun violence within communities of color. The initiative incorporates film, empowerment programs, education, and development initiatives. Tia joins host JJ   to...

Send us Fan Mail The coronavirus pandemic has led to a rise in reported xenophobic and racist attacks on members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Today, we continue our discussion on how incidents of hate crimes against the AAPI community are up, as is fear within the community that firearms will be used against them. To talk about the duel threats of xenophobia and gun...

Send us Fan Mail One of the disturbing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic as been xenophobic and racist attacks on members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Incidents of hate crimes have created an atmosphere of discrimination and fear. As a result, many media outlets have reported on members of the AAPI community purchasing firearms. To talk about the threat xenophobia,...

Send us Fan Mail On April 16, 2007, a gunman shot and killed 32 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at Virginia Tech. Colin Goddard and Reema Samaha were in French class that day--Colin was shot four times and survived, but Reema was killed. The horrible events of that day launched Colin into activism, as well as Reema's brother, Omar Samaha . Along the way they made friends...

Send us Fan Mail On April 16, 2007, a gunman shot and killed 32 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at Virginia Tech. Colin Goddard and Reema Samaha were in French class that day--Colin was shot four times and survived, but Reema was killed. The horrible events of that day launched Colin into activism, as well as Reema's brother, Omar Samaha . Along the way they made friends...

Send us Fan Mail Ms. Millie Brown started her organization, Tear's of a Mother's Cry , in 2009 to serve the women of Baltimore who have lost their children to gun violence. She has now served over 1000 mothers, providing much needed support to the bereaved.  In 2019 alone, Baltimore had  348 killings—90 percent by gunfire. The murder rate (58 per 100,000 people) now exceeds that of previ...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski is the founder of the Washington Health System Teen Outreach, through which she has trained over 15,000 peer educators and served over 7,000 young parents. Currently, she serves as the President and Founder of the Academy for Adolescent Health, Inc., and is the author of books like " Sex Ed Is In Session " and the Nonnie series . Today, she joins ho...

Send us Fan Mail Victoria M Rodríguez-Roldán , the Trans/Gender Non-Conforming Justice Project Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force , joins host JJ to talk about the intersections between gun violence, disability, and COVID-19, and how the solution to structural inequality is not "buy more guns." Mentioned in this podcast: 4 Reasons Not to Buy Guns in Response to COVID-19 Gun-toting...

Send us Fan Mail COVID-19 has, and is, disrupting the lives of millions of people in America. Among those are survivors of domestic and sexual violence, who are especially vulnerable in this time. Add in the rise of gun sales, and there is a dangerous storm brewing. More than half of all women murdered in the United States are killed by an intimate partner with a gun , and the chance of being murd...

Send us Fan Mail In response to fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic, American gun dealers and online retailers have reported an increase in sales, especially to first time gun buyers. But, making the decision to buy a gun is a big deal, and not one that should be done impulsively. To help guide people on whether or not they should buy a gun, and to assist those that have already purchased one, h...

Send us Fan Mail Hosts JJ and Kelly Sampson join VP of Legal Jon Lowy to talk about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s advisory guidance designating gun stores, shooting ranges and other portions of the gun industry as “essential critical infrastructure.” In return, Brady has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain documents pertinent to the gun industry’s efforts to in...

Send us Fan Mail Jim “the Bear” Brady saw his career cut short on March 30, 1981, during an assassination attempt against the president. In addition to President Reagan, Jim and two law enforcement officers were shot. Jim suffered a serious head wound that left him partially paralyzed for life. Soon after the shooting, Jim and his wife Sarah Brady, became respected gun violence prevention advocate...

Send us Fan Mail COVID-19 is scary, and part of that is the news that surrounds it--from physical distancing that can lead to social isolation, to worries about what the economic downturn could bring. And, all those things can be made even scarier when we think about it in relation to by increased risks of gun violence, because gun violence is, unfortunately, a constant in the US. . Christian Heyn...

Send us Fan Mail As the time of social or physical distancing stretches on, you may be looking for something to do--and what better than fight gun violence? In today's episode, Brady President Kris Brown talks with host JJ about ways to be involved in gun violence prevention in the time of Covid-19. Mentioned in this podcast: 6 Ways You Can Prevent Gun Violence While Social Distancing Amid CO...

Send us Fan Mail In the time of Covid-19, physical distancing (sometimes called social distancing) is necessary to flatten the coronavirus curve--but there is a danger to it as well, as populations most vulnerable to isolation are left in possible crisis. So, how do we talk to the people we love--and to ourselves--about suicide? How do we protect ourselves and others? What are steps we can take, r...

Send us Fan Mail Staying at home in order to practice social distancing amid COVID-19 means that millions of children and family members will be spending more time in close proximity to firearms. And we all know kids are curious , and they can find everything — including a gun you thought was “hidden." These factors make it more important than ever that we ensure our homes are safe from Famil...

Send us Fan Mail Hosts JJ and Kelly Sampson join Victoria M Rodríguez-Roldán , the Trans/Gender Non-Conforming Justice Project Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force .  Together, we cover the idea that mental health is linked to gun violence, as well as how police brutality, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny are all part of the gun violence problem.  Mentioned in this podcast: Be Yo...

Send us Fan Mail Hosts JJ and Kelly Sampson talk with singer, rapper, and change agent Farooq Ameen Al-Said . Al-Said helps lead 1Hood , a Black-owned and Black-led community organization dedicated to activism and education through the lens of hip hop. We cover the racist history behind America's gun laws, how white supremacy informs media portrayals around rap music and gun violence, and how...

Send us Fan Mail It's the latest full-length episode of Brady's series on racial justice, gun violence, and gun violence prevention. JJ and Kelly Sampson , Counsel at Brady, are joined by Dr. Joseph Richardson , of the Departments of African American Studies and Anthropology at the University of Maryland at College Park, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He also is a Dir...