South Carolina, October 16, 2018
In October, more than three years after a white supremacist shot and murdered nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Brady filed an amicus brief in federal appeals court supporting a lawsuit brought by the victims’ families. The suit, which was brought against the federal government, had sought to hold the government accountable for the numerous failures during the background check process that allowed the shooter to obtain his guns. The case was dismissed earlier this year and is currently on appeal.In the brief, Brady argued that the lower court wrongly gave the government a blanket immunity that no statute provides — especially not the Brady Act, the law the government violated when it failed to block the sale of the gun to shooter Dylann Roof. While limited immunity is granted to certain state and local government actors, Brady argued that the federal government remains liable in rare circumstances like the one that led to the Charleston shooting, and that the victims’ families should be able to hold the government accountable through their lawsuit.
For more than 30 years, Brady’s legal team has been the nation’s only law group fighting on behalf of victims and communities to prevent gun deaths and injuries.
We've argued and won before state supreme courts, trial courts, and federal appeals courts, arguing or filing legal briefs in 44 states, and helping win important victories in the United States Supreme Court. Brady's Legal Alliance works with hundreds of lawyers and firms that contribute their passion and time — pro bono — to reform the corporate gun lobby and secure justice for the victims and survivors of gun violence.
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