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{{Short description|American gun control activist}}
{{Self-published|date=October 2011}}
'''Josh Sugarmann''' is an American activist for gun control in the United States. He is the executive director and founder of the ] (VPC), a non-profit advocacy and educational organization, and the author of two books on gun control. He has written a blog on these issues for the '']'' and publishes opinion pieces in the media.
{{notability|date=October 2011}}
'''Josh Sugarmann''' is the executive director and founder of the ] (VPC). Prior to founding the VPC, Sugarmann was a press officer in the national office of Amnesty International USA and was the communications director for the ].{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}


==Early life==
He is known for taking the position that gun violence should be approached as a broadbased public health issue as opposed to solely a crime issue and that firearms should be held to the same health and safety standards as other consumer products. This is detailed in the 1994 publication ''Cease Fire: A Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Firearms Violence,'' which he co-authored. Noting that only two consumer products sold in America are not regulated for health and safety—guns and tobacco—he argues that firearms should be regulated by the federal ].
Sugarmann grew up in ], graduating in the high school class of 1978. He graduated from ] with a degree in journalism.<ref name="David Olinger Denver Post">{{cite news|last1=Olinger|first1=David|title=War comes home for founder of group fighting for assault weapons ban|url=http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_22240829%7Caccessdate=22%20January%202013|accessdate=23 June 2014|work=Denver Post}}</ref> He moved to Washington, D.C., where he became engaged in public interest activities, serving as a press officer in the national office of Amnesty International USA<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lourdes|first1=Meluza|title=Release Cuban Activists, Group Urges|work=Miami Herald|date=1986-03-24}}</ref> and as the communications director for the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (now known as the ]).<ref name="Progress Gives Us Great New Handguns">{{cite news|last1=Sugarmann|first1=Josh|title=Progress Gives Us Great New Handgun -- Hijacker Special|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-24-me-118-story.html|access-date=23 June 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1986-03-24}}</ref>


==Career==
Sugarmann writes frequently on gun violence issues, including two books. The first, ''National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower & Fear'', an expose of the ], was published in 1992 by National Press Books. The second, ''Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns,'' was published in 2000 by The New Press and details the arguments in support of banning private handgun possession in the United States.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}
In 1988 Sugarmann founded the ], a 501(c3) gun control advocacy and educational group based in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Josh Sugarmann Huffington Post">{{cite web|title=Josh Sugarmann|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-sugarmann|website=Huffington Post|accessdate=23 June 2014}}</ref> The Violence Policy Center is known mainly for its in-depth research on the firearms industry, the causes and effects of ], and recommendations for regulatory policies to reduce gun violence.<ref name="Guns in American Society">{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Gregg Lee|title=Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law, 2nd Edition|date=2012|publisher=ABC CLIO|isbn=978-0313386701}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2017}}


Sugarmann has opposed the widespread availability of semi-automatic rifles. In 1988 he published a study, ''Assault Weapons and Accessories in America''. It examined the growing popularity of semiautomatic firearms, referring to them as "]s".<ref name="Assault Weapons and Accessories in America">{{cite web|title=Assault Weapons and Accessories in America|url=http://www.vpc.org/studies/awacont.htm|publisher=Violence Policy Center|accessdate=23 June 2014}}</ref> Together with the response to a mass shooting in Stockton, California, the following year, his study has been credited for popularizing the use of the term "assault weapons."<ref name="Is it fair to call them assault weapons?">{{cite news|last1=Blake|first1=Aaron|title=Is it fair to call them 'assault weapons'?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/17/is-it-fair-to-call-them-assault-weapons/|accessdate=23 June 2014|newspaper=Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120030855/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/17/is-it-fair-to-call-them-assault-weapons|archive-date=January 20, 2013|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}{{Subscription required|date=September 2023}}</ref> The study documents advertising by the gun industry that specifically refers to these weapons as assault rifles.<ref name="Assault Weapons and Accessories in America"/>{{page needed|date=August 2017}}
Some {{who|date=December 2011}} credit Sugarmann for coining the term "]", which is derived from the designation ] (literally meaning "storm rifle" but most often translated as "]"), a style of rifle conceptualized in ] during ]. Sugarmann uses the term because he argues that a ] is capable of rapid fire that makes it almost as lethal as a fully ] such as assault rifles. The impression that Sugarmann originated the term may stem from a 1988 study he authored, ''Assault Weapons and Accessories in America'', which was the first study to look at semiautomatic weapons the VPC deemed "assault weapons". However, variations on the term were in use in the gun press before Sugarmann's 1988 study.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}


Sugarmann has written two books on gun control. ''National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower & Fear'' (1992) was an exposé of the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=National Rifle Assoc (review)|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-915765-88-1|work=Publishers Weekly|date=May 4, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135610/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-915765-88-1|archive-date=September 24, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Broderick|first=J|title=Book reviews: Social sciences (Reviews the book ''NRA: Money, Firepower & Fear,'' by Josh Sugarmann.)|journal=Library Journal|date=1992-01-01|volume=117|issue=1|page=155}}</ref> The second, ''Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns'' (2000), gives reasons to ban private possession of handguns in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56584-629-6|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=22 January 2013|date=March 1, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Brustman|first=Mary Jane|title=Every Handgun Is Aimed at You (Book Review).|journal=Library Journal|date=April 1, 2001|volume=126|issue=6|page=117}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Stone|first=Peter|title=Lethal Weapons (Reviews three non-fiction books on gun ban. 'Gun Violence: The Real Costs,' by Philip J. Cook; 'Shots in the Dark: The Policy, Politics and Symbolism of Gun Control,' by William J. Vizzard; 'Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns,' by Josh Sugarman.)|journal=American Prospect|date=May 7, 2001|volume=12|issue=8|page=46}}</ref>
== Quotes ==


He maintains a Class One ] in Washington, D.C., which makes it legal for him to transfer and handle firearms.<ref name="ATF">{{cite web|title=Listing of Federal Firearms Licensees|url=https://www.atf.gov/firearms/listing-federal-firearms-licensees-ffls-2017|website=Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|accessdate=17 November 2017}}</ref> Sugarmann believes a full ban on handguns is necessary.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gun-Control Movement Split by Ambition to Ban Handguns|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-18-mn-20774-story.html|access-date=22 January 2013|newspaper=LA Times|date=April 18, 2000|author=ERIC LICHTBLAU|author2=RICHARD SIMON}}</ref> He has also called for bans on semi-automatic rifles and ] with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.<ref name="David Olinger Denver Post" />
''"On television news, anchors refer to the school shootings as “unavoidable,” as if such mass shootings are the bastard children born of hurricanes and snowstorms."''


⚫ ==References==
-Josh Sugarmann, "Schoolgirls Executed In Their Own Classroom: America Shrugs," October, 2006

''"Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons."''

-Josh Sugarmann, ''Assault Weapons and Accessories in America'', 1988<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.vpc.org/studies/awaconc.htm
| title = Assault Weapons & Accessories
| accessdate = 2005-02-26
| publisher = ]
| quote = Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book |title=Assault Weapons and Accessories in America |last=Sugarmann |first=Josh |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1988 |publisher=Firearms Policy Project of the ] |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-927291-00-2 |page= |pages= |url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64016413&referer=brief_results }}</ref>
''"One tenet of the National Rifle Association's faith has always been that handgun controls do little to stop criminals from obtaining handguns. For once, the NRA is right and America's leading handgun control organization is wrong. Criminals don't buy guns in gun stores. That's why they're criminals. But it isn't criminals who are killing most of the 20,000 to 22,000 people who die from handguns each year. We are." ''

-Josh Sugarmann, "The NRA is Right: But We Still Need to Ban Handguns," ''The Washington Monthly'', June 1987.

⚫ == References ==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*] ] * on the ]
*
*, ''First Monday'', 23 May 2005, Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence
* *, ''Mother Jones'', January 1994


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Sugarmann, Josh
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American activist
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugarmann, Josh}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sugarmann, Josh}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]

Latest revision as of 05:25, 15 August 2024

American gun control activist

Josh Sugarmann is an American activist for gun control in the United States. He is the executive director and founder of the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a non-profit advocacy and educational organization, and the author of two books on gun control. He has written a blog on these issues for the Huffington Post and publishes opinion pieces in the media.

Early life

Sugarmann grew up in Newtown, Connecticut, graduating in the high school class of 1978. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism. He moved to Washington, D.C., where he became engaged in public interest activities, serving as a press officer in the national office of Amnesty International USA and as the communications director for the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (now known as the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence).

Career

In 1988 Sugarmann founded the Violence Policy Center, a 501(c3) gun control advocacy and educational group based in Washington, D.C. The Violence Policy Center is known mainly for its in-depth research on the firearms industry, the causes and effects of gun violence, and recommendations for regulatory policies to reduce gun violence.

Sugarmann has opposed the widespread availability of semi-automatic rifles. In 1988 he published a study, Assault Weapons and Accessories in America. It examined the growing popularity of semiautomatic firearms, referring to them as "assault weapons". Together with the response to a mass shooting in Stockton, California, the following year, his study has been credited for popularizing the use of the term "assault weapons." The study documents advertising by the gun industry that specifically refers to these weapons as assault rifles.

Sugarmann has written two books on gun control. National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower & Fear (1992) was an exposé of the National Rifle Association of America. The second, Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (2000), gives reasons to ban private possession of handguns in the United States.

He maintains a Class One Federal Firearms License in Washington, D.C., which makes it legal for him to transfer and handle firearms. Sugarmann believes a full ban on handguns is necessary. He has also called for bans on semi-automatic rifles and firearm magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.

References

  1. ^ Olinger, David. "War comes home for founder of group fighting for assault weapons ban". Denver Post. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  2. Lourdes, Meluza (1986-03-24). "Release Cuban Activists, Group Urges". Miami Herald.
  3. Sugarmann, Josh (1986-03-24). "Progress Gives Us Great New Handgun -- Hijacker Special". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  4. "Josh Sugarmann". Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  5. Carter, Gregg Lee (2012). Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law, 2nd Edition. ABC CLIO. ISBN 978-0313386701.
  6. ^ "Assault Weapons and Accessories in America". Violence Policy Center. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  7. Blake, Aaron. "Is it fair to call them 'assault weapons'?". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.(subscription required)
  8. "National Rifle Assoc (review)". Publishers Weekly. May 4, 1992. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  9. Broderick, J (1992-01-01). "Book reviews: Social sciences (Reviews the book NRA: Money, Firepower & Fear, by Josh Sugarmann.)". Library Journal. 117 (1): 155.
  10. "Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns". Publishers Weekly. March 1, 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  11. Brustman, Mary Jane (April 1, 2001). "Every Handgun Is Aimed at You (Book Review)". Library Journal. 126 (6): 117.
  12. Stone, Peter (May 7, 2001). "Lethal Weapons (Reviews three non-fiction books on gun ban. 'Gun Violence: The Real Costs,' by Philip J. Cook; 'Shots in the Dark: The Policy, Politics and Symbolism of Gun Control,' by William J. Vizzard; 'Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns,' by Josh Sugarman.)". American Prospect. 12 (8): 46.
  13. "Listing of Federal Firearms Licensees". Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  14. ERIC LICHTBLAU; RICHARD SIMON (April 18, 2000). "Gun-Control Movement Split by Ambition to Ban Handguns". LA Times. Retrieved 22 January 2013.

External links

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