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The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is a non-profit organization that lobbies for pro gun-control regulation in Congress. It's funding comes from organizations who support the pro gun regulation cause. The funding goes towards research to use as evidence to support gun control causes.

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History

According to their website, The Violence Policy Center (VPC) "is a national tax-exempt educational organization working for a safer America through research, investigation, analysis and advocacy. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) provides information for policymakers, journalists, organizations, advocates, and the general public."

It is a non-profit organization that is located in Washington, D.C and has appeared as a strong research based pro gun control lobbyist in Congress. It has infused Congress with gun related cases by distributing their published research and analysis. Numerous US gun control organizations have used VPC reports and terminology to further local gun control initiatives. Kristen Rand, the legislative director and Josh Sugarman, the executive director, along with the rest of the organization have through the years lead to the VPC being joined by the Firearms Policy Project in 1994. Their most common cases have involved pro-gun control legislation, usually backed by the NRA and other national or state gun lobbyist.

Since the VPC has no official membership fee it is an organization that relies on donations from the public. An example of the amount of donations they recieve is the $1,671,595 in public support they received in 2003.The main donator to the VPC is the Joyce Foundation. This foundation is also a supporter of other pro-gun control organizations like the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City and the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

The VPC is a very controversial organization. The research and analytical work that they distribute has caused alot of commotion amongst pro-grun ownership groups. This is reflected in the immensity of replicatory articles to the research that they work on.

Goals

The overall goal of the VPC is to regulate gun control in the United States of America. Their plan to achieve this is through the easily available research and analysis that they have collected throughout the year, as well as presenting this material in Congress when confronted with pro-gun legislation.

According to their website, they believe in their cause becase: "Each year, more than 30,000 Americans die in gun suicides, homicides, and unintentional shootings as a result of the ready availability, and accessibility, of specific classes of firearms. Gun violence is more than a crime issue; it is a broad-based public health crisis of which crime is merely the most recognized aspect."

Accomplishment/ Conflicts

Criticism of the VPC

Gun rights advocates have been critical of the accuracy and scientific validity of VPC's reports, charging that the conclusions have already been decided regardless of the statistics. They charge that the VPC has a track record of making allegations for which there is no proof, such as the case of Ronnie Barrett.

Criticism has also come from other gun control advocates who believe that the Violence Policy Center takes an approach that is not politically feasible.

Other gun control organizations advocate a gradual approach toward their goals while the Violence Policy Center believes guns are a public health issue and that specific categories, such as handguns, assault weapons, and 50 caliber rifles should be banned.

The VPC vs. 50 Caliber Rifles

In 2001, the VPC issued a study that detailed "the 50 caliber's threat as an ideal tool for assassination and terrorism, including its ability to attack and cripple key elements of the nation's critical infrastructure—including aircraft and other transportation, electrical power grids, pipeline networks, chemical plants, and other hazardous industrial facilities." The study reported that at least 25 Barrett Firearms Company 50 caliber rifles were sold to the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Barrett denied these charges and a subsequent visit to the company by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) turned up no evidence to support the accusations.

In January 2005, the VPC was featured on the CBS news and current affairs program 60 Minutes, which ran a segment on the subject of .50 Caliber rifles and the alleged threat to public safety that these weapons posed. The 60 Minutes report drew heavily from the VPC's reports on the .50 BMG cartridge and conducted interviews with both Barrett Firearms' Ronnie Barrett and the VPC's Tom Diaz. Many in the gun rights movement found the story to be biased in the VPC's favor, and made the oft-repeated claim that a .50 caliber rifle has never been used in the commission of a crime. In response to these claims, the VPC has issued a backgrounder detailing criminal possession of .50 caliber rifles. The report still does not specify any actual commissions of crimes with a .50 caliber firearm, rather it is a list primarily of gun seizures that, coincidentally to the crime committed, happened to include such a weapon. The list does not clarify whether the weapons seized were possessed legally or not. In September 2004, California became the only state to ban 50 caliber rifles.

Importation of Guns for Mexcian Drug-cartels

In 2009 Mexican officials told the U.S that the American assault weapons have been the fuel to the dug-cartel war taking place in Mexico. The VPC sided with the Mexican officials and suggested that the government enfore a 20-year old federal ban that would restrict the importation of American assualt rifles to neighboring countries. This ban, created in 1989 and signed by George H. W. Bush, is now being passed down to the Obama administration.

In this case the VPC research has shown that when the ban was created there were no signs of assault weapon imports from Romania, however, in 2006 it jumped to 53,160 and 37,183 in 2007. The VPC is asking that the ban would be reinforced so that importation and exportation of assault rifles would decrease.