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Paul Helmke
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Paul Helmke has served as President of the Brady Campaign/Center to Prevent Gun Violence since mid-July 2006. Prior to this, Helmke was a lawyer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he served as mayor from 1988-2000.

Helmke was President of the United States Conference of Mayors in 1997-1998 and served on the Board of the National League of Cities. He is a past-President of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and the national Republican Mayors and Local Officials organization. Helmke was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Indiana in 1998.

A native of Indiana, Helmke received his B.A. from Indiana University in 1970 and his J.D. from Yale University in 1973. Helmke and his wife, a public school kindergarten teacher, have two grown daughters.

Blog Entries by Paul Helmke

Leaving Brady, But Not the Fight to Prevent Gun Violence

Posted July 8, 2011 | 10:55:26 (EST)

On July 10, I will complete my five-year commitment to serve as president of the Brady Campaign and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. My tenure with Brady will be ending, but I will remain engaged in the movement to reduce gun violence in America. For me, working...

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In the ATF "Fast and Furious" Controversy, Congress Needs to Question Its Own Behavior

Posted June 29, 2011 | 12:01:04 (EST)

If California Rep. Darrell Issa and other congressional members who are in lock-step with the NRA bosses want to get to the bottom of the ATF gun trafficking operation, they need to start looking at their own actions and lack of action. By blocking and loosening laws to prevent...

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Plaxico Burress Can Be a Giant Off the Field

Posted June 14, 2011 | 14:29:41 (EST)

Months before he entered prison in September 2009 for carrying an illegal gun, Plaxico Burress said he realized he had made the worst decision of his life when he armed himself before going to a popular New York City nightclub. Burress believed, mistakenly, that he was protecting himself from...

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NRA's Deadly Agenda Is Out

Posted May 6, 2011 | 14:44:56 (EST)

In yet another sign of how out of touch it is with how people interact in a civilized society, the National Rifle Association is apparently so wrapped up in its paranoid view of the world that it planted an undercover cameraman at our news conference at the National Press Club...

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NRA Fairy Tale Exposed: Many Fewer U.S. Gun Owners

Posted April 28, 2011 | 14:09:23 (EST)

Washington, D.C. -- At the NRA's national convention in Pittsburgh this week, look for the speakers, presidential hopefuls and ardent supporters to rally around the fairy tale that America is a gun-loving country. But don't believe it.

Gun ownership in the nation is at the lowest level ever recorded by...

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So Many Guns, 6-Year-Olds Now Threaten Life

Posted April 21, 2011 | 13:13:54 (EST)

On Tuesday, when a 6-year-old Houston boy took a gun to school, everyone in the building became a target. The gun fell out of the child's pocket in the cafeteria at Ross Elementary and accidentally discharged. The boy and two other children were wounded.

We are terribly fortunate that...

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Jim and Sarah Brady: We'll Never Know How Many Lives They Saved

Posted March 30, 2011 | 10:03:14 (EST)

President Bill Clinton once How%20many%20people%20are%20alive%20today%20because%20of%20Jim%20and%20Sarah%20Brady%3F%20How%20many%3F%20Countless.&ei=KiuTTbmmMIu70QHu6_jMBw&usg=AFQjCNFedeuyoPdtGc0cudHixXmHmtPY5Q&sig2=_I8NB9G0TQJhYFz2Z7Wy3w&cad=rja" target="_hplink">summed up the public service of Jim and Sarah Brady this way: "If it hadn't been for them, we would not have passed the Brady Law, and then the ban on assault weapons, and on cop-killer bullets...How many people are alive today because of...

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Obama: "Let's Work Together to Prevent Gun Violence"

Posted March 18, 2011 | 15:59:01 (EST)

What America has been doing to prevent gun violence isn't working. It's not enough. And if we're going to change what we've been doing, we have to talk about what's good, what's bad, and what's ugly about America's approach and policies.

After the shocking mass shooting in Tucson on January...

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NRA Should Have No Say Over CDC Firearms Studies

Posted March 11, 2011 | 16:06:23 (EST)

Atlanta, we have a problem. And it's bigger problem than Charlie Sheen's meltdowns, although it's not likely to get nearly as much attention. If the National Rifle Association is being granted the opportunity to influence firearms reports conducted by researchers for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this practice must...

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LaPierre vs. Reagan: Different Lessons on Guns

Posted February 12, 2011 | 16:15:28 (EST)

After a month of silence following the horrifying Tucson shootings, the NRA's "top gun", Wayne LaPierre, returned to his same old talking points before the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. this week. His speech consisted of a string of opportunistic arguments for even weaker gun...

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Virginia Tech Student Colin Goddard Returns to Campus, With Powerful Film

Posted February 7, 2011 | 20:47:55 (EST)

Wednesday represents an important homecoming for a key member of our staff. Colin Goddard, Assistant Director of Federal Legislation for the Brady Campaign, will be in Blacksburg, Virginia for the first screening of the powerful documentary, Living for 32.

The film has earned critical acclaim and was selected...

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ATF, Strong Gun Laws Needed to Fight Illegal Guns

Posted January 31, 2011 | 18:12:43 (EST)

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) could suffer budget cuts of almost 13 percent, which would effectively eliminate Project Gunrunner, a program designed to combat gun-trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico.

Any cuts to the already...

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Gun Violence Destroyed Christina's Dreams

Posted January 25, 2011 | 23:18:44 (EST)

In our country's history, our most successful presidents demonstrated that the best way to honor and secure our principles was to back them with the force of law.

When L.B.J. wanted to pay homage to John F. Kennedy and to secure the right of African-Americans to "flourish", he did...

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Giffords Shooting Is an American Tragedy We Need to Urgently Address

Posted January 8, 2011 | 17:21:09 (EST)

Being the target of violence has always been a risk for those in public office in this country. The organization I head, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is named after an individual, Jim Brady, who was shot and seriously injured nearly 30 years ago while serving as President...

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The Defenders Takes on the Second Amendment

Posted December 10, 2010 | 13:13:05 (EST)

After seeing all the ads on CBS referencing the Second Amendment and this week's episode of The Defenders, I watched the new series for the first time - and was pleasantly surprised.

No, it didn't match the acting quality of the early 1960s lawyer show of...

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NRA Sides With Mass Killers Over ATF

Posted November 19, 2010 | 10:35:42 (EST)

There the NRA goes again -- siding with the common gang member and drug dealer who wants to use a semi-automatic weapon to wreak havoc in our communities.

assault weapon

Too bad about the bloody, injured, paralyzed, and door-knob-dead bodies. Too...

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Gun Violence Victims Deserve "Do Something" Congress

Posted November 4, 2010 | 11:23:33 (EST)

An angry electorate... More divided than during the Bush years... Marked by nasty ads and commentary, over-the-top rhetoric, and even violence.

These are just some of the ways that political observers have described American voters and the 2010 mid-term elections.

Without a doubt, many election contests were bitterly fought and...

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Got a Gender Gap Problem? Push for Gun Restrictions

Posted October 24, 2010 | 15:05:44 (EST)

If Democrats want to know what women want this election season, I encourage their campaign gurus to start talking about an issue that has strong consistent support from women of all ages, races, and locations: gun control.

Recent stories and surveys have highlighted the apparent narrowing of the...

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Note to Politicians: Diss the Deadly Myth

Posted October 14, 2010 | 15:34:34 (EST)

Weak gun laws lead to tragedies, but common sense gun laws save lives. The latest example: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law a bill that will help keep guns away from the dangerously mentally ill. The bill requires mental health facilities to notify the state Department of Justice...

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Make Concerns of Gun Violence Victims a Priority

Posted October 8, 2010 | 19:37:13 (EST)

Pat Craig is the aunt of Ryan Clark, a wonderful 22-year-old who was killed in the Virginia Tech Massacre on April 16, 2007. She recently sent a message to elected officials in a video. "Being in a leadership position is an awesome responsibility," she said. "But when you stand...

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