Friend, 

Two months ago, the year’s worst mass shooting occurred in Lewiston, ME, when a gunman armed with an assault weapon senselessly killed 18 people and injured 13 others. The truth of our country is that no one is safe from gun violence – but this does not have to be an inevitability, friend.

Our fight to free America from gun violence is not linear and in the face of tragedy, we have seen consequential progress this year that will save lives and hopefully stop the next community from being changed forever by gun violence. So, friend, will you take a moment to recognize the progress that we’ve made in 2023 and reinvigorate ourselves for the fight ahead?

This year, Brady helped pass assault weapons bans in Washington and Illinois – that’s over 20 million more people who are safer because they now live in states where weapons of war are banned. 

For years, Brady led the call for a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and in 2023 we finally accomplished its creation. Once again, President Biden and Vice President Harris proved their commitment to ending our nation’s gun violence epidemic.

We saw the impact of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, with over 1,000 prohibited gun sales stopped thanks to strengthened background checks, $200 million awarded to support state crisis programming, and community violence intervention funding doubled. 

Brady helped submit over 274,000 comments to the Justice Department in support of closing a deadly loophole in our life-saving Brady Background Checks system. This was the most comments filed for a gun-related rule in a decade.

While we continued to push Congress toward national action, our Brady policy team helped states pass 39 life-saving bills and introduce 100 state priority bills. While our legal team filed five new cases and 35 amicus briefs and won $70 million in verdicts and settlements on behalf of victims and survivors of gun violence.

These are only some of the consequential steps forward we were able to make this year thanks to your support and dedication. You can read about even more life-saving wins and accomplishments in our annual report. I know that it is possible to break this deadly cycle of gun violence, which is exactly what Brady has been working toward for decades – and we are seeing the lifesaving results of this dedication. I am so thankful to have you in this fight with us, friend, and I know that together, we will continue saving lives in 2024.

In solidarity,

Kris Brown
President, Brady

P.S. If you want to ensure Brady has the resources to start the year strong, make a donation today and help us free America from gun violence.