Special Committee on Gun Violence

Since 1965, the American Bar Association has sought to address the problem of gun violence and to articulate policy regarding the regulation of firearms in our society. The Association’s elected body that determines policy, the ABA House of Delegates, has on twelve separate occasions since then approved policy recommendations aimed at more closely regulating the sale, transfer, possession and manufacture of guns. These policy recommendations have been primarily directed to the provisions contained in the Gun Control Act of 1968 and desired amendments. Over the decades, the ABA addressed the issue in the context of an overall strategy to combat violent crime in our system of justice. The ABA has recognized that the issue of gun violence and its proposed solutions are a critical part, but only a part, of Association policy and strategy to reduce violent crime in our society.

It is equally true that the causes of violence in our society are not limited to the problem of the proliferation of firearms and our failure to regulate them. The culture of violence in our nation, of which easy, pervasive availability of firearms plays a part, is the result of many societal factors: racial intolerance; the lack of job opportunities; poverty affecting 20 percent of the nation's children; the increasing number of out-of-wedlock births and divorce; widespread alcohol and drug abuse; the prevalence of child abuse and neglect, particularly among our poorest children; the failure of educational institutions; and the glorification of violence in the movies and other media. All contribute to creating a culture of violence affecting our children and youth.

Many of these problems are being addressed by the Association's Sections, Divisions, and Committees with expertise and responsibility in those given areas of law. The Committee was created in 1994 in recognition of the breadth of the problem of violence with the mission to coordinate the Association's efforts to implement ABA policy on gun violence. The formation of the Committee followed adoption of a comprehensive resolution and report at the August 1994 Annual Meeting, committing the Association to join in a coordinated public education, bar activation, and legislative effort aimed at reducing gun violence with colleagues in the public health, law enforcement and religious communities. The Special Committee includes representatives from the Criminal Justice Section, the Section of Litigation, the Tort and Insurance Practice Section, the Young Lawyers Division, the Dispute Resolution Section, the Public Education Division, the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children, and the Metropolitan Bar Caucus. The Committee has taken on a coordinating role for lawyers active in the ABA, for Association Sections and Divisions, state and local bars, and private bar groups working to reduce gun violence. It serves as a source of information on legislative issues and program activities, particularly for state and local bars.

Committee Chair:
John C. Cruden

ABA Staff Contact:
E. Bruce Nicholson
(202) 662-1769
nicholsonb@staff.abanet.org