Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly known as Legal Community Against Gun Violence, is a public interest law project associated with the gun control organization Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence originally was formed to advocate for gun control in California before merging with Giffords, and it now works at both the federal and state level. ¹

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence published a document in 1995 arguing that the Second Amendment does not apply to individual rights to own firearms but instead applies to states’ rights to form militias. ² It also submitted a brief in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, arguing that the Second Amendment does not give individuals rights to individuals to own firearms in their homes or for self-defense. ³

Background

Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a project of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Americans for Responsible Solutions). The two groups merged in 2016. It is a public interest law center that supports the Giffords Law Center’s advocacy on gun control by submitting legal briefs, offering legal advice, and by making policy recommendation in favor of restricting or eliminating Second Amendment rights. ⁴

In 1993, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence was founded in San Francisco by lawyers from the Pettit & Martin law firm following a nearby shooting. The Los Angeles Times reported that Pettit & Martin received dozens of phone calls that day from other law firms offering to join them, leading to the formation of Legal Community Against Gun Violence, known today as the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ⁵

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence originally pursued a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” It originally focused on gun control advocacy in California, and shared its first executive director with the gun control group Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ⁶

Activities

In 1995, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence published a document arguing that the “Second Amendment was written to ensure that every state would have the ability to maintain its own militia. It was not, as the gun lobby argues, intended to establish an unlimited, private right of gun ownership or possession. If the drafters of the Bill of Rights had intended to guarantee such an individual right, they could (and would) have done so.” ⁷

In 2008, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, under its then name Legal Community Against Gun Violence, submitted a brief in the Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller, arguing that the Second Amendment does not give individuals rights to keep or own firearms in their homes for self-defense. ⁸

In December 2009, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence published a blog post advocating against concealed carry permitting. It argues that concealed carry weapon laws increase crime and that “too many” people carrying weapons in public is dangerous. The post does not specify who it considers should be restricted from carrying firearms, or whether the restrictions would include civilians or police officers and other government officials as well. ⁹

People

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Executive Director Robyn Thomas also works as the executive director for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and received nearly all of her salary from Giffords in 2019. ^{10 11} Thomas has been executive director since 2006 and previously practiced law at Lord Bissell & Brook and Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman. ¹²

The group shares five out of its six key employees and directors with Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ^{13 14}

Financials

Between 2012 and 2017, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence reported annual revenues ranging from $1.029 million and $1.414 million. ¹⁵ Following its merger with Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence reported annual revenues of $111,000 in 2018 and $65,000 in 2019. ¹⁶

1. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence / Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Web Archive. 2012. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0017033/.
2. “Ila: Anti-Gun Organization Prepared to Launch National Group of Gun Owners Who Apparently Don’t like Guns.” National Rifle Association. January 19, 2020. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201019/anti-gun-organization-prepared-to-launch-national-group-of-gun-owners-who-apparently-don-t-like-guns.
3. “Ila: Anti-Gun Organization Prepared to Launch National Group of Gun Owners Who Apparently Don’t like Guns.” National Rifle Association. January 19, 2020. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201019/anti-gun-organization-prepared-to-launch-national-group-of-gun-owners-who-apparently-don-t-like-guns.
4. “Our History.” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Control. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://giffords.org/about/history/.
5. Paddock, Richard C. “Gun Control Push Begun at Law Firm : Massacre: Employees Return to San Francisco Building Targeted by Gunman. Some Have Formed a Group That Will Call for Stricter Legislation.” Los Angeles Times. July 7, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-07-mn-10800-story.html.
6. Harry Cheadle. “The Time Gun Control Actually Happened after a Horrific Mass Shooting.” VICE. March 7, 2018. https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmw9z5/when-guns-actually-got-banned-after-a-mass-shooting-florida-gun-control-parkland.
7. “Ila: Anti-Gun Organization Prepared to Launch National Group of Gun Owners Who Apparently Don’t like Guns.” National Rifle Association. January 19, 2020. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201019/anti-gun-organization-prepared-to-launch-national-group-of-gun-owners-who-apparently-don-t-like-guns.
8. “Ila: Anti-Gun Organization Prepared to Launch National Group of Gun Owners Who Apparently Don’t like Guns.” National Rifle Association. January 19, 2020. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201019/anti-gun-organization-prepared-to-launch-national-group-of-gun-owners-who-apparently-don-t-like-guns.
9. “Legal Community against Violence – Concealed Handguns – Procon.org.” Concealed Handguns, July 3, 2019. https://concealedguns.procon.org/source-biographies/legal-community-against-violence/.
10. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part VII, Section A, Line 1.
11. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part VII, Section A, Line 2.
12. “Robyn Thomas.” Giffords. July 13, 2022. https://giffords.org/people/robyn-thomas/.
13. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part VII, Section A.
14. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. 2019. Part VII, Section A.
15. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2012-2017. Part I, Line 12.
16. Lawyers Against Gun Violence. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part I, Line 12.