Josh Sugarmann

Josh Sugarmann is an American activist for gun control in the United States. He is the executive director and founder in 1988 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.

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, DC, 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).

In 1988 Sugarmann founded the Violence Policy Center, a 501(c3) gun control advocacy and educational group based in Washington, DC. 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 weapons, 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 Violence Policy Center 1988 study documents advertising by the gun industry that specifically refers to these weapons as assault rifles.

Together with other gun control advocates, Sugarmann argues that gun control should be approached as a broad-based public health issue, as opposed to solely a crime issue. He suggests that firearms should be held to the same health and safety standards as other consumer products. This approach is developed in the 1994 paper published by the VPC, Cease Fire: A Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Firearms Violence, which he co-authored. In the 21st century, VPC studies have assessed the effects of gun violence on black and Hispanic communities, exploring the health effects for children of communities where the frequency of violence is high.

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