Giving Up The Helmke -- Brady President to Step Down (Effective 7/10/11) [View All]

[shadowrider]

Back in 2006, we reported that "transition" seemed like a good word to describe the Brady Campaign's trials and tribulations over the years. Based upon focus group polls, the group changed its moniker from Handgun Control, Inc., to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, but that change in semantics didn't achieve the desired results. The group then hired former Maryland Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Barnes as its President, which again turned out to be a big flop, as during Barnes' tenure, the group suffered a series of legislative and political losses. The group then tried to "right the ship" and appear "mainstream" by hiring former Ft. Wayne, Ind. mayor, Paul Helmke -- a Republican -- as its new president (though at the time of Helmke's hiring, it was reported that 93 percent of the Brady campaign's previous donations to political candidates went to Democrats).

Now, Helmke's reign will soon come to an end; he will be stepping down as Brady Campaign president on July 10th.

Obviously, Helmke is anti-gun to his core. During his tenure Helmke assailed the non-existent gun show "loophole," decried the dangers of individuals buying or owning more than 10 firearms (what he considers an "arsenal"), and the private sale of guns. He called for California-style gun controls and believed that "having more guns correlates with more gun violence."

http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=6956