Great Post but please tell me where you bought those rose colored glasses
NYC has the most restrictive gun laws imaginable. Fort Wayne, home of Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center and Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 
The Brady Campaign works at the Federal, State and local level to enact sensible gun laws. We have divided this area up between federal and state legislation. Click here for state legislation.
Federal Legislation: Key Issues
House Passes Bill That Will Threaten Public Safety and Homeland Security
The House of Representatives voted to second-guess the District of Columbia's elected officials and substitute their own views on the appropriate local gun laws in the Nation's Capital.After a Brady Center report highlighted the gun lobby's false denials that its bill to gut D.C.'s gun laws would allow assault rifles on the streets of our Nation's Capital, the NRA revised the bill with an amendment to prevent the carrying of assault weapons on D.C.'s streets. The NRA-back amendment, proposed by Rep. Childers, still went far beyond authorizing gun possession for self-defense in the home.
The legislation passed by the House will endanger public safety in a city that is already a target for terrorists. It will allow dangerous people to stockpile dangerous weapons and make it harder for the people of D.C. to combat gun violence in their community.
Brady President Paul Helmke said in a statement after the House vote: "At a time when we should be taking common sense steps to protect Americans and their families from gun violence, this is a step in the opposite direction. The United States Senate should not allow this dangerous bill to move forward." To date, the Senate has not voted on the bill.
New Post-Election Poll Shows Strong Voter
Support for Gun Laws
2008 ELECTION POLLING –
BY THE NUMBERS83%A majority of voters surveyed favor Brady criminal background checks.67%A majority of voters indicated that reasonable gun laws should be adopted in the first year of the next Administration.
According to a National Post-Election Omnibus Survey, support for sensible gun laws is strong, not only among those who voted for Obama, but also among McCain voters.
The poll, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland, found that 3 in 4 (76%) voters favor reasonable gun regulations in general, with 4 in 5 (83%) who favor Brady criminal background checks for all gun sales, including 84% of McCain voters and gun owners. The results also highlight that the NRA had little sway over voters.
The findings indicate that sensible gun legislation is a unique opportunity for the Obama Administration to build bridges to moderate voters in both parties.
Election Results: A Major Win for Sensible Gun Laws
The election of Barack Obama as President and Joe Biden as Vice President was a decisive victory for common sense gun laws.
Paul Helmke speaks at an event in Los Angeles about the Results of the 2008 Election
The Brady Campaign issued a strong endorsement of the ticket in October because of the candidates' strong support of reasonable gun laws. Sarah Brady, Chair of the Brady Campaign, hailed the election as "a good day for people who want to reduce gun violence in America."
The election is a critical loss for the National Rifle Association. The gun lobby spent millions to defeat the Obama-Biden ticket and failed. The NRA's scare tactics about gun confiscation no longer works given the decision in the Supreme Court's decision in DC v Heller.
Sarah Brady went on to say that the election was "...a bad day for extremists who are stuck in the rhetoric of the past." There is no indication that any candidate, at any level, lost their election because of their support of reasonable gun measures.
Law Enforcement and Communities Less Safe Since Expiration of Assault Weapons Ban
A recently released Brady Center report entitled, Mass Produced Mayhem, highlights how the availability of assault weapons has changed the balance of power between law enforcement and criminals, endangering police officers and communities. At least 15 police officers have been killed and 23 wounded since the ban expired in September 2004. Brady President Paul Helmke said that "Our communities are less safe today than they were four years ago, when devastating weapons like AK-47s were not readily available to thugs and other dangerous people." Helmke urged policy makers to take action immediately to get military-style assault weapons off our streets.
The Brady report notes that Senator Barack Obama said in his convention acceptance speech that we should keep assault weapons out of the hands of criminals. Senator John McCain has opposed a ban on assault weapons.
U.S. Supreme Court Decision May Lead to Stronger Gun Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision in D.C. v Heller may have the "unintended consequence" of helping to enact stronger gun laws, according to a report issued by the Brady Center. In June, the Justices disagreed by the narrowest of margins, 5 - 4, on whether the Second Amendment provides an individual, non-militia based right to bear arms. All nine Justices agreed, however, that a wide variety of gun laws are presumptively constitutional, including restrictions on carrying concealed weapons, guns in schools and other sensitive places, and bans on "dangerous and unusual" weapons.
While the decision gives criminal defendants a legal tool to use to potentially avoid criminal convictions or mitigate their punishments and will inspire the gun lobby to challenge gun laws, it may also clear some of the wedge politics that have blocked the nation from passing sensible gun laws in the future, the report says.
Gosh, you are so right, I'm sure Good Mayor Ballard is looking out for our safety and well being in a gun free Indianapolis envisioned by our Hoosier Friend Paul Helmke. The Mayor needs to know how we feel before any legislation is passed.
