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

Gilbert Arenas And Gun Responsibility

Posted January 7, 2010 | 07:59 PM (EST)


New developments in the Christmas Eve gunplay between Gilbert Arenas and Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton seem to come out every hour.

Suffice to say, if Arenas violated the law by bringing guns into the District of Columbia to keep them at the Verizon Center, he should go...

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NRA Bosses -- But Not Members -- Defend Policies That Help Arm Suspected Terrorists

333 Comments | Posted December 28, 2009 | 01:42 PM (EST)


If the National Rifle Association's leaders want to help suspected terrorists get easy access to guns, bucking the wishes of their own membership, they should come out and say so.

Instead - even in the wake of the Fort Hood shooting massacre - NRA bosses cloak their opposition...

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Gun Lobbyists Against 'Wellness And Health'

267 Comments | Posted December 22, 2009 | 06:43 PM (EST)


One would think that the massive health care reform package hammered out in the back offices of the Capitol over recent weeks would have kept Senators busy with issues focused on better health, but they still found time to bend over backwards for a non-healthy conspiracy theory from the Gun...

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NRA Members For Reasonable Gun Restrictions

322 Comments | Posted December 11, 2009 | 05:44 PM (EST)


Republican pollster Frank Luntz conducted a poll released yesterday by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns which helps confirm surveys of National Rifle Association members conducted as far back as 1989.

The Luntz survey shows -- again -- that gun owners strongly support many specific gun violence prevention laws.

...
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Gaps in Protection for Us and the President

37 Comments | Posted December 9, 2009 | 03:00 PM (EST)


The Washington Post reported Monday about a 2003 Secret Service report which indicates that its security checkpoints had been breached at least 91 times since 1980, including at least eight instances where the intruder reached the president or another subject of protection.

On Sunday, the New...

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Virginia Tech Survivor With Hidden Camera Films Dangerous Gun Sales at Gun Shows

1329 Comments | Posted November 18, 2009 | 11:50 AM (EST)


Should someone who wants to buy a military-style assault weapon be required to undergo a criminal background check?

In America they don't have to.

In fact, felons, gangsters, wife-beaters, and the dangerously mentally ill can buy as many military-style assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols and other firearms as they can carry,...

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Fort Hood Shooting: 1 Disturbed Man, 1 Gun, 13 Dead, 30 Wounded

393 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 03:52 PM (EST)


The Brady Campaign's deepest sympathies go to the families who lost loved ones at Fort Hood, or are today visiting the wounded in the hospital. Along with the rest of the country, we wish the Fort Hood community a return to a secure and safe environment.

When I heard of...

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Schwarzenegger Delivers Gun Violence Prevention Advocates Victory In California

156 Comments | Posted October 22, 2009 | 11:45 AM (EST)


Last week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that requires handgun ammunition to be treated by retailers in much the same way that cigarettes, some cold medicines and even spray paint are treated.

As already shown in some California cities, this common sense measure will go a...

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GOP Senator Identifies Gun Violence As Major Factor In Health Care Crisis

135 Comments | Posted October 2, 2009 | 01:29 PM (EST)


I want to thank Senator John Ensign of Nevada for speaking out about the importance of reducing gun violence as a means of addressing America's skyrocketing health care costs:

If you take out accidental deaths due to car accidents, and you take out gun deaths...

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Gun Lobby Group Argues That More Access Is Needed To Gun Data

46 Comments | Posted September 23, 2009 | 12:46 PM (EST)


Gun violence prevention advocates, public health researchers and members of the media are the "usual suspects" pushing officials at different levels of government for information about firearms used in crime.

Unfortunately, these groups are frequently stymied by the Tiahrt restrictions, which place unnecessary limits on what...

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Discussing Gun Violence Prevention in Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee

242 Comments | Posted September 18, 2009 | 06:27 PM (EST)


Over the last five weeks I've had the opportunity to speak about gun violence in this country to audiences in Indianapolis (IN), Columbus (OH), and Martin (TN).

I've been pleased at how many people on all sides of the gun violence prevention issue appear willing to find some common...

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Edward Kennedy: A Lion In The Fight Against Gun Violence

142 Comments | Posted August 26, 2009 | 01:05 PM (EST)


As President Obama said this morning, America has lost a great leader.

In addition to his many other causes, Senator Edward Kennedy also understood the pain of gun violence, a tragedy that, sadly, he could share with hundreds of thousands of his fellow Americans.

He lost one...

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The President Belongs To All Of Us

390 Comments | Posted August 19, 2009 | 08:26 PM (EST)


White House press secretary Robert Gibbs answered questions yesterday about people bringing loaded firearms to protest events attended by President Obama, and Gibbs apparently gave the green light to this crazy practice.

Gibbs said, "There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally. Those laws...

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Does The NRA Approve Taking Guns To Town Halls?

837 Comments | Posted August 13, 2009 | 06:41 PM (EST)


What does the National Rifle Association think about carrying loaded guns to "town hall" meetings, including presidential events? Do they think this would make us all safer?

Does their silence signal their consent?

At "town hall" meetings featuring members of Congress, and even the President of the United States, Americans...

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In Pennsylvania Gym Murders, Suicide Shooter Targets Female Victims

209 Comments | Posted August 5, 2009 | 05:54 PM (EST)


UPDATE (8/6): For the record, according to reporting by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the shooter who murdered three women and wounded nine others at a Pittsburgh-area fitness club held a permit from the State of Pennsylvania to carry concealed weapons.

Two weeks...

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NRA Defeated In Key Gun Violence Prevention Vote: Elections Have Consequences

633 Comments | Posted July 22, 2009 | 07:44 PM (EST)


The National Rifle Association leadership suffered a major defeat in the U.S. Senate today, losing a key vote on a bill that would have radically weakened rules governing the concealed carrying of firearms around the country.

Gun violence prevention advocates across America worked day and night contacting their...

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Senate To Vote On Gutting State Requirements For Carrying Guns

129 Comments | Posted July 17, 2009 | 04:58 PM (EST)


Senator John Thune of North Dakota has introduced an amendment (No. 1618) to the Department of Defense appropriations authorization bill (S. 1390) , which could come up for a vote as early as Monday, July 20.

This proposal would override state law by forcing every state (except Illinois...

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The Brady Campaign Endorses Judge Sotomayor For The U.S. Supreme Court

56 Comments | Posted July 14, 2009 | 01:41 PM (EST)


During the second day of her Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Sotomayor has now been asked for her views on the Second Amendment. She has given clear and responsible answers, while not pre-judging any issues that may come before her on the Court. We have been impressed with her presentation.

...
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20,000 American Guns Trafficked to Mexican Criminals

68 Comments | Posted July 7, 2009 | 02:54 PM (EST)


Rep. Eliot Engel of New York recently held a hearing in his House Foreign Affairs subcommittee about the Government Accountability Office report on American guns being trafficked to criminals across our southern border into Mexico.

That hearing included an exchange between Ranking Member Connie Mack, Jr....

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The Gun Lobby's Two Faces on Judge Sotomayor

484 Comments | Posted June 24, 2009 | 03:04 PM (EST)


With confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor scheduled for next month, it is worth noting the gun lobby's disingenuous -- and surprisingly muted -- reaction to her nomination so far.

On the eve of those hearings, the National Rifle Association still has not decided whether to score Senate...

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