For Immediate Release
March 25 2002
Contact: Andrew Said
703-321-8585

SPRINGFIELD, VA -- Gun Owners of America today awarded Sarah Brady's son, Scott, an honorary one-year GOA membership.

"Now that Scott Brady is the proud owner of a high-powered 'sniper' rifle, he will most certainly need a fuller understanding of the Second Amendment than he ever received at home," said Erich Pratt, Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America.

In her recent book, Sarah Brady admits to having engaged in a straw purchase when she bought a .30-06 on her son's behalf, allowing him to avoid the required criminal background check.

"We congratulate Scott for keeping his name 'off paper.' Because the gun was bought under his mother's name, he completely avoided the NICS registration system. This means authorities will never know he has the sniper rifle, a benefit which reduces the possibility that his gun could ever be confiscated by authorities.

"Registration and confiscation have been problems even in this country. New York City registered long guns in the mid-1960s, after promising those registration lists would never be used to confiscate the guns," Pratt said. "But in 1991, Handgun Control, Inc., supported the city when it banned many of the very guns which were previously registered. Some homes even received visits from police, who confiscated the banned firearms from the clutches of non- compliant gun owners."

According to published press reports, Sarah Brady's straw purchase may have been illegal under Delaware law.

Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America, a national gun lobby with over 300,000 members located at 8001 Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22151.

Erich Pratt is available for press interviews.