Press Clips

• Amsterdam News, October 10, 2024

  One year on: A look at the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s actions so far

  “Establishing the office and funding it to begin with is a good first step, but it definitely needs more funding, it needs more capacity, and it needs more reach to really disrupt the cycle of gun violence that we all live in,” said Hudson Munoz, executive director of Guns Down America.

• Payments Dive, October 10, 2024

  New York Governor signs gun code law

  Hudson Munoz, the executive director of the Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Guns Down America, also attended the event. “This has grand implications for the detection and deterrence of gun crimes,” he said in a phone interview.

• New York State, October 9, 2024

  Governor Hochul Announces Major Reduction in Gun Violence and Signs Legislation Strengthening New York's Nation-Leading Gun Laws

  Executive Director of Guns Down America Hudson Munoz said, "Practically every industry has a unique merchant category code: Bookstores, bakeries, wig & toupee shops, record stores, florists, dry cleaners, dating services—but not gun stores. With Gov. Hochul's signature, this new state law allows banks and credit card companies to formally bring the firearms industry into the banking system and creates a mechanism to detect and deter gun crime. Considering how widely these codes apply across industries, the only thing controversial about the gun store merchant code is that it wasn't in place already."

• Yahoo! News, August 13, 2024

  Labor Group Slams Walmart, Calls for Stronger Employee Safety Measures

  Data from Guns Down America shows that, between January 1, 2020 and March 20, 2024, Walmart saw 473 gun-related incidents, yielding 279 injuries and 104 deaths. Over that same period, Kroger dealt with 54 gun-related incidents, which caused 43 injuries and 18 deaths.

• Denver7, August 7, 2024

  200 new laws go into effect Wednesday across Colorado

  "In September of 2022, a unique code was created for gun and ammunition stores, and Colorado is leading the nation on implementation," said Hudson Muñoz, executive director for Guns Down America. "What this code does is closes a loophole in the system of classifying any retailer you might see in your community out in Colorado. And the effect of it is to deter and detect gun crime that's being used or facilitated through the banking or financial system."

• AP News, June 30, 2024

  Should gun store sales get special credit card tracking? States split on mandating or prohibiting it

  “The merchant category code is the first step in the banking system saying, `Enough! We’re putting our foot down,’” said Hudson Munoz, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Guns Down America. "`You cannot use our system to facilitate gun crimes.’”

• The Trace, June 28, 2024

  GOP Lawmakers Say They’re Banning Credit Cards From Tracking Gun Purchases. Is It All a Show?

  "The codes are not even the most granular information that the credit card companies have about merchants,” said Hudson Muñoz, former director of public relations at Amalgamated Bank, who is now the executive director of the violence prevention group Guns Down America. “But they help create efficiency in the system when trying to identify abrupt changes in broader purchasing patterns.”

• Spectrum News 1, June 17, 2024

  N.Y. bill passed that would require credit card companies to create category codes for gun retailers

  Hudson Munoz, executive director of Guns Down America, told Spectrum News 1 that there is a practical purpose to creating a code for credit card companies to track firearm purchases. Merchant Category Codes classify businesses by the types of products they sell, and Munoz said firearm purchases from gun and ammunition dealers are not being tracked in a cohesive way.

• The Hill, May 25, 2024

  We are choosing guns over our children — it doesn’t have to be this way

  Dr. Joanna Cohen is a pediatric emergency medicine attending at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, MD. Her research and advocacy focus on firearm injury prevention. She is also a board member for Guns Down America.

• Yahoo! Finance, May 10, 2024

  New Colorado law requires credit card companies to monitor firearm purchases

  A report by Guns Down America found that credit cards were used to purchase weapons and military gear for multiple mass shootings and that a merchant code flagging the purchase could have potentially prevented mass shootings like the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting and the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting.

• Fox Business, April 20, 2024

  Conservative group takes aim at Wall Street in report claiming big banks have undercut firearms industry

  Gun control advocacy groups have put pressure on American banks to cut business ties with the firearms industry. In 2019, Guns Down America launched a campaign called "Is Your Bank Loaded," which assigned a letter grade to big banks based on their relationships with gun owners groups like the National Rifle Association and financial ties to firearms manufacturers or retailers.

• Common Dreams, March 5, 2024

  Good Riddance to Wayne LaPierre—and Hopefully Soon the Entire NRA

  We wish we could give LaPierre all the credit for the downfall of the NRA—but, proudly, the gun violence prevention movement played a role as well. Guns Down America has fought back against the NRA and LaPierre’s agenda since our inception, from leading the “murder insurance” effort that fined the NRA $7 million to influencing Wells Fargo to break ties with the NRA contributing to the steady decline in relevance and influence.

• Payments Dive, February 26, 2024

  Congress members lob dueling gun code bills

  The bill introduced by Democrats, called the Identify Gun Stores Act, would also preempt legislation passed in states that have sought to prohibit the code’s implementation, Hudson Munoz, executive director of Guns Down America, said in a Friday interview.

• Reuters, February 23, 2024

  Bill from GOP's Stefanik sets up duel on gun sales codes

  Proponents say the codes would help banks flag suspicious purchases. The new code will not show specific items purchased, but will identify where a person shopped by adding firearms stores to a list of hundreds of retail categories from snowmobile dealers to wig shops.

• CBS News, February 12, 2024

  California gun shops to require separate merchant codes to track suspicious purchases

  "These codes are not item level specific," said Hudson Munoz executive director for Guns Down America. Munoz said the new merchant codes could help spot gun violence before it happens. "What they do is classify the retailer so at that level, we can say somebody paid $4 to take a toll road or $75 at Barnes & Noble or $1,000 at a gun store," he said.

• CBS News, February 12, 2024

  American Express, Visa, Mastercard move ahead with code to track gun store purchases in California

  A new report from Guns Down America calls for federal legislation to resolve the conflict between states and argues the code could prevent violence stemming from cases of straw purchases, gun trafficking, and mass casualty events.

• Politico, September 22, 2023

  How gun safety advocates won over Biden

  Powered by survivors of gun violence, parents of victims and community members struck by tragedy, the group sent letters to the White House calling for the federal office. They delivered their own State of the Union address at the National Mall. They had tense conversations with White House officials. “We were told time and time again by administration officials that this was a fool’s errand. That it would somehow undermine the goal that we’re all working towards… Some of the larger organizations in our movement told us time and time again to stand down — that we were somehow creating a political headache for the president,” said Igor Volsky, founder and former executive director of Guns Down America.

• CNN, March 28, 2023

  Why Corporate America has grown silent on gun violence

  Under this new philosophy, businesses should take leadership positions in trying to reduce gun violence, said Igor Volsky, the executive director of advocacy group Guns Down America. “Whether you’re a business that works directly with gun manufacturers, sells guns or are a grocery store, gun violence comes to your front door,” he said. “As a business, you have a responsibility to keep your customers, employees and communities safe.”

• HuffPost, March 14, 2023

  President Joe Biden Orders Expansion Of Background Checks For Gun Sales

  “While it’s great to see the president take executive action and using his authority in this space, ultimately his actions today don’t match the scope of this crisis,” said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America. “I don’t know the general American voter will look at the fact sheet they’ve sent around and say ‘Wow, the problem’s been solved.’”

• Reuters, March 10, 2023

  Amex, Mastercard, Visa pause work on new firearms merchant code

  Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, a group calling for fewer guns and making them harder to get, said it would hold payment companies accountable "for any delays in implementing this common-sense tool" such as by communicating with their shareholders.

• Politico, January 31, 2023

  Biden finds himself being called out, once more, by gun safety groups

  “For a president who ran on one of the most comprehensive gun violence prevention strategies in probably American history, who has repeatedly said that he will do everything in his power to help solve this crisis, he’s simply left too many solutions on the table,” said Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, one of the main co-signers. “He has a real obligation to live up to his promises and live up to his word and do everything and anything he can to make progress.”

• NowThis News, October 26, 2022

  WATCH: Is Biden Doing Enough to Address Gun Violence?

  “He needs to have a different kind of conversation with Americans about the toll that gun violence is taking” — Activist Igor Volsky says Pres. Biden needs to put his ‘experience into practice’ and take the necessary steps to pass gun violence prevention laws.

• NPR, September 15, 2022

  A new credit card code is a first step toward preventing gun violence, advocates say

  "Different actors in our society have to step up and do what they can to save lives. That extends to the president, to members of Congress and to private companies," said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America.

• The New York Times, September 6, 2022

  A New Bid to Crack the Code on Gun Violence

  Amalgamated Bank and the nonprofit Guns Down America are trying a different way to use the financial system to clamp down on mass shootings.

• Office of Letitia James, New York Attorney General, September 2, 2022

  Attorney General James and California Attorney General Bonta Call on Credit Card Companies to Categorize Gun Sales to Help Combat Gun Violence

  New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta today called on three of the largest credit card companies in the nation to do their part to help end illegal gun trafficking and tackle gun violence. In a letter, the attorneys general urged American Express, Mastercard, and Visa to create a merchant category code (MCC) for all gun sales and to flag suspicious activity, such as large purchases of guns or ammunition, for law enforcement agencies.

• The Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren, September 2, 2022

  Senator Warren and Representative Dean Urge Bank CEOs to Adopt New Code for Gun and Ammunition Retailers

  U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) sent letters to the CEOs of MasterCard, American Express, and Visa urging them to support the creation of a new merchant category code for gun and ammunition retailers and to request information about their reported opposition to Amalgamated Bank’s application for such a code.

• The Official Website of the City of New York, August 30, 2022

  Mayor Adams, Comptroller Lander, Pension Trustees and Other Elected Leaders Call for Credit Card Companies to Improve Tracking of Gun Sales

  “Credit card companies have an obligation stop bad actors, including mass shooters and firearm traffickers, from exploiting their systems to buy the firearms and ammunition they need to cause unimaginable harm. I am grateful for the leadership of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Mayor Eric Adams and the Pension Trustees in pushing Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to play their part in building safer communities with fewer guns,” said Igor Volsky, founder and executive director, Guns Down America.

• Gothamist, August 29, 2022

  Dozens of NY lawmakers want Mastercard, American Express to flag suspicious gun store purchases

  Igor Volsky with the gun control advocacy group Guns Down America thinks it’s at least worth a try. “There’s no single solution to end all of gun violence,” he said. “Different actors in our society have to step up and do what they can to save lives. That extends to the president, to members of congress and to private companies.”

• CNBC, July 13, 2022

  Amalgamated Bank CEO on why we can and should track gun purchases on cards

  A merchant category code, typically referred to as MCC, is a four-digit number used by credit card companies to classify different types of businesses and identify the types of goods or services that a company sells. They were first mandated by the Internal Revenue Service in 2004, and currently, the MCC guidelines are maintained by the International Organization for Standardization.

• Associated Press, July 11, 2022

  Biden celebration of new gun law clouded by latest shooting

  “It’s historic, but it’s also the very bare minimum of what Congress should do,” Volsky said. “And as we were reminded by the shooting on July 4, and there’s so many other gun deaths that have occurred since then, the crisis of of gun violence is just far more urgent.” Volsky’s group, along with other advocacy groups, was holding a news conference on Monday outside the White House calling on Biden to create an office at the White House to address gun violence with a greater sense of urgency.

• Politico, July 8, 2022

  Biden isn’t running out of ideas, Dems fear. He’s running out of time.

  “We’re asking him to look ahead and to have a blueprint for what more he’s doing to address this crisis,” said Igor Volsky, whose Guns Down America organization signed the letter, along with March For Our Lives, Newtown Action Alliance and others. “If Biden is going to continue saying — as he did on July Fourth — that more needs to be done, he needs to do more … And if he does, he will save lives.”

• MSNBC, July 6, 2022

  The GOP's Indifference to Gun Violence in America

  A July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, is only the latest of more than 300 mass shootings in America in 2022. And the problem isn’t going away — the Republican filibuster and conservative Supreme Court are blocking any real national reforms, leaving Democratic governors and their GOP counterparts taking opposite approaches on gun laws. Igor Volsky and Adam Serwer join Mehdi to discuss Monday’s shooting and the right’s indifference to these tragedies.

• NowThis News, June 28, 2022

  WATCH: Why SCOTUS’ Concealed Carry Decision is a Harmful Precedent

  “It’s way past time we balance out the power of this Supreme Court” — Founder of Guns Down America Igor Volsky shares just how dangerous SCOTUS’ ruling on concealed carry laws is and what we can do now.

• Daily Kos, June 8, 2022

  This week on The Brief: It's Biden's responsibility to 'change the script' on gun violence

  On this week’s episode of The Brief, host Markos Moulitsas welcomed guest Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, who has been working on gun safety and gun reform policy for over a decade.

• Business Insider, June 1, 2022

  Since 2020, there have been about 500 shootings at major supermarket chains in America, study finds

  When a white supremacist gunman murdered 10 people at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York last month, the store became just the latest retailer to experience a deadly mass shooting. In recent years, mass shootings have also occurred at King Soopers in Boulder, Colorado, a Weis Markets in Eaton Township, Pennsylvania, and a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. But even beyond these high-profile mass shootings, supermarkets have long been the target of gun violence, according to exclusive data from gun-control advocacy group Guns Down America. By analyzing media reports, the group found that nearly 500 incidents involving firearms have happened in large grocery chains in the past two years.

• Fox News, May 30, 2022

  Gun control activist on MSNBC claims gun ownership is wrapped up in identity of 'masculinity' and 'racism'

  Gun control activist Igor Volsky criticized gun culture as racist and built on misleading ideas about masculinity while appearing on MSNBC’s "The Mehdi Hasan Show." On Sunday, guest host Ayman Mohyeldin spoke with Volsky on the National Rifle Association (NRA) proceeding with its annual convention following the Texas mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers. Because it featured prominent speakers such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump, Mohyeldin questioned whether the NRA had a hold over the Republican Party.

• The New York Times, May 28, 2022

  Massacres Test Whether Washington Can Move Beyond Paralysis

  “None of this meets the moment,” said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, a gun control advocacy group. “None of this meets the enormity of the crisis that we’re in, both in terms of mass shootings and the everyday gun violence that’s been spiking. None of it. None of it is resetting the conversation.”

• The Ringer, May 27, 2022

  Mass Shootings and the Challenge of Finding Hope

  Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay react to the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, before being joined by Guns Down America director Igor Volsky to discuss pushing the Biden administration to live up to promises made, and attempting to find hope amidst the circumstances.

• Politico, May 17, 2022

  Behind Biden’s decision to not name names over the Buffalo shooting

  And some of the leading gun control groups in the nation also expressed their frustrations with the lack of urgency around pushing new gun laws in the wake of the shooting. A letter signed by nearly 40 groups, addressed to Biden and Democratic congressional leadership, called on them to appropriate more money for Community Violence Initiatives, hold a Senate debate and vote on legislation expanding background checks, and establish a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

• The New York Times, May 17, 2022

  Background checks are popular. Why are Democrats failing to expand them?

  Igor Volsky, founder of Guns Down America, a gun control group that has been sharply critical of the White House, said Mr. Schumer was not doing enough. The senator, he said, did not offer a clear enough strategy on gun reform while denouncing racism and replacement-theory politics in a far-ranging speech in the Senate on Monday. “I find it unconscionable that in the aftermath of a mass shooting in his home state, Majority Leader Schumer has yet to lay out any plan or timetable for debating or advancing legislation that would make it harder for extremists to obtain the kind of weapons that killed 10 people in Buffalo,” he said.

• Time, May 16, 2022

  Buffalo Shooting Adds Pressure on Joe Biden to Push for Gun Control Measures

  “President Biden was right to say after Buffalo that we must tackle domestic terrorism that is driven by hate, but we won’t get there by ignoring the obvious. We have too many guns and they are too easy to get in this country,” Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, an organization calling for fewer guns in the country, said in a statement. “There have been more than 800 mass shootings since President Biden took office and we still do not have an office of gun violence prevention, nor a plan to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines from this administration.”

• Politico, May 16, 2022

  Team Biden ups push for new gun regulator after Buffalo shooting

  The president has been stymied in his efforts to get Congress to expand background checks, renew a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and approve billions in new funding he proposed to address violent crime. And some of the more aggressive gun-control advocates expressed dismay on Monday that the White House — and Democratic Senate leaders — did not push hard for a reconsideration of new laws in the wake of the Buffalo shooting. “On issues they think are important — like abortion — they hold a vote to show voters they are fulfilling the promises they made. On this one [background checks and stronger gun laws], they didn’t,” said Igor Volsky, executive director of the advocacy group Guns Down America. “You have a key thing that underscores the need for reform and Biden and [Senate Majority leader Chuck] Schumer failed to lay out a vision to prevent this from happening again.”

• The New York Times, April 11, 2022

  Biden Expected to Name Former Federal Prosecutor as A.T.F. Director

  Gun control activists, who have pressed Mr. Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to make the issue a top priority, expressed tempered support for the measures, while calling on the White House to establish an independent office on gun violence. [...] “I’m happy to see President Biden respond to pressure from survivors of gun violence, but over 54,000 Americans have died from guns since President Biden was inaugurated,” said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, whose organization began staging protests in front of the White House. “He’s still ignoring calls to establish a White House office of gun violence prevention,” Mr. Volsky added. “That is entirely unacceptable.”

• Politico, April 8, 2022

  Democrats exasperated with Biden on gun control

  On Friday, advocacy groups March for Our Lives, Guns Down America and Change the Ref will issue a report card on Biden’s work to combat gun violence, giving him a D+ overall.

• NBC News, February 17, 2022

  Biden faces renewed pressure to act on gun violence amid congressional impasse

  Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, a group advocating for fewer firearms, said President Joe Biden’s actions “pale in comparison to what he promised” in his 2020 campaign, when he ran as a candidate uniquely situated to defeat the NRA. “We understand the structural difficulty and systemic obstacles to making progress on guns,” Volsky said. “The question we should be asking in light of catastrophic increases in gun deaths is: Has the president done everything in his power to address gun violence? Absolutely not. He’s left too many pieces on the table.”

• Time, February 16, 2022

  Why Biden Can't Afford to Ignore Gun Safety Advocates

  “Our movement over the last 20 or 30 years has really failed to create public pressure and to hold our friends accountable when they’re in power. It’s created a dynamic where Democrats running for office make all kinds of promises when they need your vote, and then once they’re elected, they turn around and they tell you that things are just too complicated politically,” says Igor Volsky, co-founder and executive director of Guns Down America, a group seeking to reduce gun ownership in the U.S. and co-launched the Shock Market campaign. “There are survivors in our movement who have been waiting for 20 or 30 years after their children and loved ones died.”

• The Hill, February 15, 2022

  Democrats show little appetite for Biden's call for gun control

  Igor Volsky, the co-founder of Guns Down America, said that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised anti-gun violence groups the Senate would vote on background checks legislation in the summer of 2021, but the bills didn’t make it to the floor. “We've been promised by Senate Majority Leader Schumer as far back as March, April that there would be a vote during the summer, then it got pushed back even further. They're using this familiar playbook of making all kinds of promises during the campaign and then fail to deliver anything when they’re in power,” Volsky said.

• Teen Vogue, February 14, 2022

  March for Our Lives Launches Gun-Violence Tracker on Parkland Anniversary

  On the four-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, those directly affected by the tragedy are in the nation’s capital to lobby for gun-violence prevention. March for Our Lives, alongside Change the Ref and Guns Down America, launched the Shock Market, a gun-violence tracker keeping pressure on the Biden administration.

• Axios, February 14, 2022

  Parkland survivors take Biden to task over gun violence

  March For Our Lives, the gun violence prevention group founded by Parkland students, along with advocacy organizations Guns Down America and Change the Ref launched "Shock Market," a site tracking gun violence in the U.S. since Biden took office.

• BBC, February 14, 2022

  Gun control advocates 'disappointed' with President Biden

  Monday marks four years since a teen gunman killed 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Mr Biden marked the date by highlighting action to reduce gun crime taken during his first year in office. But frustrated activists say it is too little. "They ran on one of the most comprehensive plans to reduce gun violence," Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, told CNN. "The fact that they haven't done everything in their power is absolutely unacceptable."

• Washington Post, February 14, 2022

  Four years after Parkland school massacre, parents of victims protest and mourn

  [Manuel] and his wife, Patricia Oliver, were hoping to bring attention to the initiative they launched with March for Our Lives and Guns Down America, called Shock Market, a website tracking gun violence since Biden’s inauguration.

• The New York Times, November 30, 2021

  California’s Ban on High-Capacity Magazines Is Restored by Appeals Court

  Igor Volsky, the founder of Guns Down America, which supports stricter regulation of high-capacity magazines and semiautomatic weapons, said the appeals court’s decision was “reassuring” in the short term, but ultimately a mixed blessing. “Should this ruling be appealed and make its way to the Supreme Court,” he said, “the high court’s conservative majority — and the outspoken support for expanding access to incredibly deadly weapons by some of the justices — poses a significant threat to us all.”

• The New York Times, June 9, 2021

  Democrats Failed to Extend Assault Weapons Ban in 2004. They Regret It.

  “Democrats’ unwillingness to invest real political capital years ago into translating popular support for the assault weapons ban into targeted political pressure has contributed to the crisis we currently face,” said Igor Volsky, a founder of Guns Down America, who supports renewing the ban.

• Politico, April 7, 2021

  Biden to unveil long-awaited executive action on guns

  Igor Volsky, executive director of the advocacy group Guns Down America, said he hoped Biden would unveil a comprehensive plan that includes regulations, executive actions, funding and a strategy to get legislation through Congress. “The president didn’t just run on executive actions when it comes to gun violence,” Volsky said. “He promised to put forward a robust comprehensive plan for reducing gun violence. Given the violence he inherited, we expect him to live up at the promise.”

• Chicago Sun-Times, May 5, 2020

  Op-Ed: Coronavirus pandemic meets America’s gun crisis

  In fact, while public mass shootings may have fallen in the months of COVID-19, everyday gun violence, violence that results from domestic abuse, suicides, and unintentional shootings may be increasing. Data analyzed by Guns Down America from the Gun Violence Archive shows that nationally, fatalities from gun violence increased 14 percent in the first two weeks of April this year compared to the same period last year. Firearm fatalities rose by over 10 percent when compared to the first half of April 2018.

• The Hollywood Reporter, September 24, 2019

  Aurora Shooting Victims Voice Fears Over ‘Joker’ in Letter to Warner Bros.

  Sandy Phillips (no relation to the film’s director), who with her husband, Lonnie, created the nonprofit group Survivors Empowered, worked with Igor Volsky of the gun control advocacy group Guns Down America to craft the letter to Warner Bros., which was signed by five family members of victims and sent Tuesday morning.

• The Hill, August 7, 2019

  Progressive activist: How Walmart can fight gun violence

  Guns Down America Executive Director Igor Volsky shares the hopes for gun control legislation in the wake of the latest mass shootings. (Video)

• Reuters, August 5, 2019

  Walmart faces pressure to stop gun sales after latest U.S. mass shootings

  Guns Down America, an advocacy group that runs campaigns for gun control, began a petition to urge more change at Walmart late on Monday. The petition calls on Walmart to stop selling firearms, pledge it will no longer make contributions to lawmakers who take money from gun rights lobby the National Rifle Association, and fund gun buybacks. It also pushes Walmart to use its political influence to advocate for legislative changes to raise the standards for gun ownership in America. “Federal legislative change will take time, but more and more Americans are dying every day,” Igor Volsky, founder and executive director of Guns Down America, told Reuters. “The El Paso shooting happened in their store, they have a responsibility to go further.”

• The Washington Post, August 5, 2019

  Walmart says it will keep selling guns, even as advocacy groups and workers voice concerns

  “Walmart has a history of moving in the right direction, but what happened in El Paso shows they need to go further,” executive director Igor Volsky said. “Walmart has such a big footprint that it could make a big difference if it wants to.”

• New York Times, August 4, 2019

  How Gun Control Groups Are Catching Up to the N.R.A.

  “They must do everything in their power, everything in their capacity as a senator, from holding a filibuster, to placing a hold on nominees and key bills, to getting back to D.C. right now to show the nation that they are willing to act,” said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America. “It’s not enough to simply ask Mitch McConnell to bring something to a vote. They have to use their leverage as a United States senator to shame him into taking action.”

• Reuters, May 6, 2019

  Gun control takes center stage in 2020 Democratic presidential race

  “Today is more proof that the center has shifted on gun control,” Igor Volsky, founder of Guns Down America Action Fund, said in a statement. “Senator Booker has clearly listened to and heard from the majority of Americans that are crying out for a future with fewer guns. Fewer guns means safer communities.”

• New York Times, May 3, 2019

  Gun Issues, Long at the Fringe, Now Loom Large for Democratic Candidates

  “Folks are ready for bolder solutions and frankly are fed up with this incremental strategy that the movement has adopted over the last 20 years,” said Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, which aims to reduce the number of guns in the country. “After 2016 there was a recognition that, hey listen, you’ve got to ask for what you want otherwise you’re not going to make any sort of progress at all.”

• Time, April 19, 2019

  What Gun Control Advocates Should Learn from the NRA

  Igor Volsky may not agree with what the NRA stands for, but he does believe that gun control advocates can learn a lot from the organization’s tactics. Volsky, author of Guns Down: How to Defeat the NRA and Build a Safer Future with Fewer Guns, argues that the NRA, beyond its funding and lobbying efforts, largely owes its success to its ability to turn gun ownership into a form of patriotism. He suggests that those who disagree with the NRA should not just rebel against this strategy, but use it. “All too often, we use wonky language or stats to explain why we support this law or that,” he says.

• SFGate, April 5, 2019

  Gun control group's report card on banks' firearms ties has several F's

  Now, one advocacy group is focusing on a different pressure point: the consumer banks that provide loans and other financial support to the gun industry. The group, Guns Down America, which formed in 2016 after a mass shooting in Orlando, has created a ranking system that gives 15 banks letter grades based primarily on their ties to firearms makers and trade groups like the National Rifle Association.

• The New York Times, April 4, 2019

  Gun Control Group’s Report Card on U.S. Banks’ Firearms Ties Has Several Fs

  Guns Down America, which formed in 2016 after a mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., has created a ranking system that gives 15 banks letter grades based primarily on their ties to firearms makers and trade groups like the National Rifle Association.

• Bloomberg, April 4, 2019

  BB&T, Wells Fargo Get Failing Grades From Gun-Control Group

  BB&T Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among the biggest financiers to the firearms industry and should sever ties with gunmakers and trade groups, according to advocacy organization Guns Down America. The banks, which provided a combined $471 million to the gun industry, received the lowest scores and failing grades, according to a report card released Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. also received an F, for providing $273 million in financing and failing to ban gun-company investments, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. received C grades. Citigroup Inc. got a B, the highest grade among the banks scored.

• Memphis Business Journal, October 30, 2018

  FedEx ends discount pricing for NRA and 100-plus other organizations

  [G]roups such as Guns Down for America celebrated this news as a victory after the Memphis-based shipping and logistics provider was one of several companies called out earlier in the year for offering incentives and/or discounts to the NRA. The criticism came in the days following the Feb. 14 mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida.

• USA Today, October 19, 2018

  Campaign to 'protect voters' asks for help in keeping guns out of polling places

  Gun-control groups are launching a “voter protection campaign” to keep guns out of the polling booths this Election Day. The social media campaign is encouraging voters who see people with firearms to text “Guns down” to 91990. Reports will be sent to nonpartisan election protection experts, who may contact authorities or send a lawyer to the polling place. The groups are concerned about gun owners bringing their firearms to rallies and political events since the election of President Donald Trump, said Igor Volsky, Guns Down America director.

• AP News, October 19, 2017

  ‘Murder insurance’ or protection in self-defense cases?

  Guns Down, a gun-control group formed last year, is running an ad campaign to criticize the NRA’s new insurance. It’s just the latest group to take aim at the NRA’s offering. “The reason I call it murder insurance is because if you look at the way this is marketed, it’s really sold in the context of ‘There’s a threat around every corner, dear mostly-white NRA member,’ and that threat is either a black man or a brown man or some other kind of person of color,” said Guns Down director Igor Volsky.

• The Guardian, October 5, 2017

  Guns are the problem': activists get tough on gun control after Vegas

  “I think the public is far ahead on this issue, when it comes to bolder policy initiatives, than the politicians are,” said Igor Volsky, a founder of Guns Down, a nascent group that is trying to stake out a bolder position. “What I want to hear from them is that we need fewer guns.”