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Keeping the Gun Lobby in Check Jonathan Lowy ’88 “HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD BOY?” THE KANSAS GUN DEALER ASKED.
The man who wanted the gun confessed that he was a convicted felon. But when the woman next to him said she had been a “good girl,” the Baxter Springs Gun & Pawn Shop sold her the weapon that she would then transfer. Shortly before the circuitous sale, a court had issued a restraining order against the man, at the request of his wife, who alleged abuse. The man returned home and terrorized his family. In the process, he shot and killed his 7-year-old son, before turning the gun on himself. That’s just one of the many heart-wrenching cases Jonathan Lowy ’88 has handled as vice president and chief counsel at the nonprofit Brady. He told the story in a measured, just-the-facts speaking style that hints at the methodical approach with which he works to dismantle what he views as the irresponsible side of the gun industry. His legal philosophy, which he laid out in a co-authored Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy article, essentially boils down to this: Citizens have a constitutional right “not to be shot.”
BRADY CHIEF COUNSEL ADVOCATES FOR RIGHT ‘NOT TO BE SHOT’ But “whatever one’s view of the Second Amendment, it’s not a tenable position that you have a Second Amendment right to negligently sell or manufacture guns,” Lowy said. The organization he works for has gone by several different names over the years, but the key word is “Brady.” James Brady was the White House press secretary who, in 1981, bore the brunt of an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Brady lived—and though he never walked again, he and his wife, Sarah, became powerful advocates for gun control. While both are now deceased, Brady as an organization continues to advocate for social change, including policy and legislative initiatives, while taking on the gun lobby directly in court. “When I began at Brady over 23 years ago, we were bringing some creative, trailblazing lawsuits, but we weren’t winning many of Spring Spring 2021 2021| UVA | UVA LAW LAW Y ER Y ER
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