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Our History
Legal Community Against Violence grew out of a terrible tragedy – the July 1, 1993 assault weapon rampage that began at a law firm at 101 California Street in San Francisco and ended with nine people dead, including the shooter, and six wounded, one of whom subsequently died. Within days of the shooting, Bay Area lawyers formed LCAV.
One of our first projects was to mobilize the Bay Area legal community to support enactment of the 1994 federal assault weapon ban. We then concentrated our efforts on California, providing legal assistance to California communities seeking to adopt and defend local gun regulations. Our services contributed to the adoption of hundreds of California firearms ordinances, many of which inspired state legislation that now places California at the forefront of gun policy reform. We learned that we could make the greatest difference and meet the greatest need by working at the state and local level.
In 1999, in response to requests from communities outside California, we extended our services and now offer free nationwide assistance to advocates and community leaders working to prevent gun violence. We have documented a tremendous need for legal information and assistance to support the efforts of public officials, law enforcement and activists in all 50 states who are seeking either local or statewide policy reform.
Today, LCAV is a leading resource on firearms regulation in the U.S. Our website, www.lcav.org, provides in-depth summaries of federal, state and local firearms laws and policies. The most comprehensive resource for information on U.S. firearms regulation in either print or electronic form, our site includes summaries of over 200 federal and state appellate cases that have rejected Second Amendment challenges to firearms laws.
Dedication
Our work is dedicated to the victims of the shooting at 101 California Street, San Francisco, on July 1, 1993, and to their families.
In Memory of
Brian Berger - Allen J. Berk - Jack Berman - Deborah Fogel - Donald "Mike" Merrill
Shirley R. Mooser - John C. Scully - Jody Jones Sposato - David Sutcliffe
LCAV Milestones
| 1993 | On July 1, a gunman armed with two assault weapons and a 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol shoots 14 people at 101 California Street in San Francisco before turning a gun on himself. In response, Bay Area lawyers establish LCAV. After mobilizing the Bay Area legal community to support adoption of the federal assault weapon ban in 1994, LCAV makes California its priority. |
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| 1995 | Collaborating with community organizations and governmental entities, LCAV initiates a project to support local regulation of firearms in California and contributes to the substantial growth of local firearms laws. A number of these measures become state law. LCAV also provides legal assistance for statewide violence prevention policies. |
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| 1999 | LCAV begins to serve activists and public officials in other states, ultimately focusing on Illinois and Ohio, where state law permits local regulation of firearms. Similar to its continuing work in California, LCAV offers workshops, drafts model regulations, surveys local gun laws, assists activists and officials working for stronger state and local measures, and enlists volunteer attorneys. |
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| 2001 |
LCAV further expands its services, creating a website to document and summarize federal, state and local firearms laws and other essential information on firearms policies. (Initially named www.firearmslawcenter.org, the site is now www.lcav.org.) With the launch of the site, LCAV offers legal support to activists and officials in all 50 states. |
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| 2004 | Based on its successful efforts to mobilize attorneys in California, Illinois and Ohio, LCAV reaches out to lawyers and other supporters across the country and institutes a membership program to strengthen the legal community’s role in ending the gun violence epidemic. |
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| 2006 | LCAV publishes "Regulating Guns in America -- An Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of Federal, State and Selected Local Gun Laws," the organization's first comprehensive, national review of federal and state laws on over twenty topics covering all major areas of gun policy. Designed for use by state and local officials, law enforcement, and gun violence prevention advocates, this report also includes a discussion of local laws in ten major U.S. cities, compares and contrasts different policy approaches, and offers a list of features that characterize the most comprehensive regulatory strategies in each area.
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| 2007 | Expanding its work in Illinois, LCAV launches the Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (ICPGV), a research-based public education campaign to promote meaningful gun policy reform in Illinois. Working with a group of statewide advisors representing law enforcement, the medical and public health communities, faith-based organizations, local and state policymakers and advocacy groups, ICPGV informs the public, policymakers and media on the facts about gun violence and prevention policies.
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