April, a month of tragic gun violence anniversaries for Columbine and Virginia Tech was, at the same time, a month of forward movement for California's Brady Campaign.

On April 20, the Columbine anniversary, California Brady leaders met in Sacramento to support new legislation being heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.  At a press conference with Assembly Members Kevin De Leon and Paul Krekorian, Brady leaders expressed support for AB 962 (De Leon) regulating ammunition sales and AB 814 (Krekorian) establishing procedures to retrieve guns from owners who have become prohibited persons under the law.  The press conference also observed a moment of silence for Columbine and all other gun victims.

On April 21, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, along with Senators Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Jack Reed (RI) introduced S. 843, the Gun Show Background Check Act of 2009 to close the gun show loophole.  Currently, gun purchasers in many states can buy guns at gun shows, flea markets and swap meets with Brady criminal background checks.  This practice must be ended.  The legislation will go a long way to stemming the flow of illegal guns into California from states with weaker gun laws.

Also on April 20, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel held that counties can ban gun shows on public property without violating the Second Amendment.  This decision hopefully concluded a case brought by two gun  show promoters to overturn Alameda County's ordinance prohibiting the carrying of guns and ammunition on county property.  The gun promoters had hoped that the Supreme Court's Heller decision would assist in their lawsuit but the Appeals Court ruled that the Second Amendment does not preclude reasonable gun restrictions set down by a government agency.  California Brady members sat in on the hearings for this lawsuit and were gratified by the decision.  The California Brady Campaign is also supporting SB 585 introduced by Senator Mark Leno that would ban the sale of firearms and ammunition at the San Francisco Cow Palace.

On May 19, Los Angeles will hold its runoff election for City Attorney.  The race has been hotly contested between Jack Weiss and Carmen Trutanich.  The Brady Campaign has endorsed Jack Weiss in recognition of his longstanding leadership on sensible gun laws.  The Brady Campaign has also endorsed gun violence prevention champion and former Assembly Member, Paul Koretz, for LA City Council in the 5th District.