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27-586: The organization has been active in promoting gun control ordinances in California and elsewhere, as well as has conducted litigation to defend gun control laws against challenges. The Legal Community Against Violence was established in the wake of the July 1, 1993 101 California Street shooting , during which a gunman entered the offices of law firm Petit & Martin and shot fourteen people, killing eight. Former Petit & Martin partners John Heisse and Chuck Erlich formed

54-550: A government buyer. As a result, the weapon was taken by lead designer George Kellgren to the United States domestic market as an open-bolt semi-automatic pistol, redesigned to eliminate its collapsible stock and vertical foregrip features per the National Firearms Act of 1934 and marketed under the subsidiary Interdynamic USA brand. Still, the design was deemed too easy to convert to an automatic weapon . Due to this,

81-462: A mix of Black Talon hollow point and standard ammunition and used Hell-Fire trigger systems for the TEC-9 pistols. After roaming the 34th floor, he moved down one floor through an internal staircase and continued shooting. The attack continued on several floors before Ferri committed suicide as San Francisco Police closed in. Eight people were killed in the attack, and six others injured. The reason for

108-503: A newer model. The following year Intratec introduced the AB-10 ("AB" standing for " A fter B an"), a TEC-9 Mini without a threaded muzzle/barrel shroud and sold with a smaller 10-round magazine instead of 20- or 32-round magazines. However, the AB-10 still accepted the larger capacity magazines of the pre-ban TEC-9 models which were often acquired by users in place of the standard magazine. In 1999,

135-837: A number of legal and legislative actions that were precursors to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act , H.R. 3355, 103rd Congress. The Act took effect in 1994 and expired in September 2004 after the expiration of a sunset provision . At the time, the incident was the deadliest mass shooting in the Bay Area 's history, being surpassed 28 years later by the 2021 San Jose shooting . At 2:57 p.m. 55-year-old failed entrepreneur Gian Luigi Ferri (born December 29, 1937, as Gianluigi Ettore Ferri) entered an office building at 101 California Street in San Francisco and made his way to

162-457: A report that ranks and measures individual states’ gun death rates in correlation to their gun laws. According to the organization, its research shows there are fewer gun deaths in states with strict gun laws. 101 California Street shooting The 101 California Street shooting was a mass shooting on July 1, 1993, in San Francisco , California, United States. The killings sparked

189-482: A resource for information on federal, state, and local firearms policies. The American Jewish Congress founded the Jack Berman Advocacy Center to lobby and organize with regard to gun control and violence reduction. At the time of the attack, the law firm of Pettit & Martin were already on the decline, and the attack was a brutal blow to the struggling firm. After the defections of several partners,

216-489: A screw-on end cap to contain the bolt, recoil spring, and buffer plate even if removed from the lower receiver, solving the problem of lower receiver failure when using hot ammo. Following the 1989 Cleveland School massacre , the TEC-9 was placed on California 's list of banned weapons. To circumvent this, Intratec rebranded a variant of the TEC-9 as TEC-DC9 from 1990 to 1994 (with DC standing for " D esigned for C alifornia"). The most noticeable external difference between

243-563: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) forced Interdynamic USA to redesign the firearm into a closed-bolt system, which was harder to convert to an automatic weapon. This variant was called the KG-99, and was popularized when it made frequent appearances on the popular television show Miami Vice , where it was legally converted to full auto by Title II manufacturers . The KG-9 and KG-99 have an open-end upper receiver tube where

270-735: The Columbine High School massacre . Interdynamic AB, a Swedish firearms manufacturer based in Stockholm , designed the Interdynamic MP-9 , intended as an inexpensive 9mm submachine gun based on the Carl Gustav M/45 for military applications. The firearm was initially intended for adoption by the South African apartheid government, though it was rejected and shipped to various other nations. Ultimately, Interdynamic did not find

297-754: The Federal Election Commission , alleging the regulatory agency failed to take action against the National Rifle Association for alleged campaign finance violations. The lawsuit, filed by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center , states the FEC did not respond to multiple complaints accusing the NRA of using shell organizations to donate more than the legal amount to the campaigns of President Trump and six Republican Senate candidates. In response,

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324-473: The Food and Drug Administration , the legal profession, and a list of over 30 "criminals, rapists, racketeeres [ sic ], lobbyists", none of whom were among his actual victims. Pettit & Martin occupied floors 33 (partial floor) and 34 through 36. The main reception floor was 35 and Ferri intended that floor as a target. His elevator stopped at the 34th floor because a secretary from that floor had pushed

351-718: The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) in January 1996 for banning Saturday night special handguns. The lawsuit was dismissed in November 1996. In 2016, Legal Community Against Violence merged with Americans for Responsible Solutions , led by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly . The organization changed its name to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in 2017. In 2019, Giffords Law Center sued

378-404: The bolt , recoil springs, and buffer plate are held in place by the plastic/polymer lower receiver frame. This design only allows for 115 grains (7.5 g) 9mm ammunition, and if a heavier grain ammunition or hot loads are used, the plastic lower receiver will fail or crack, rendering the firearm unusable. Later versions of the TEC-9 and AB-10 had a threaded upper receiver tube at the rear and

405-518: The 1990s the TEC-9 also developed a reputation for its use by American street gangs and organized crime syndicates, who were attracted to the large capacity 32-round magazines and low cost of the firearm. The TEC-9 was produced from 1985 until 1994, when the model and TEC-DC9 variants were banned nationally in the United States, among the 19 firearms banned by name in the now-expired 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB). This ban forced Intratec to cease their manufacture, and forced them to introduce

432-588: The NRA stated “[t]his latest effort by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center is a frivolous lawsuit based on a frivolous complaint.” Following the FEC's lack of response, the Giffords Law Center filed a federal lawsuit directly against the National Rifle Association in November 2021. Giffords Law Center provides comparisons of state gun laws online, and annually releases the Gun Law Scorecard,

459-486: The TEC-9 and the later TEC-DC9 is that rings to hold the sling were moved from the side of the gun with the cocking handle to a removable stamped metal clip in the back of the gun. In 1993, the weapon was the subject of further controversy following its use in the 101 California Street shootings That same year, California amended the 1989 Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA) , effective January 2000, to ban handguns having features such as barrel shrouds . During

486-596: The TEC-DC9 Mini was notoriously used by Dylan Klebold , one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, ending with him using it to take his own life. In 1994, the TEC-9 was used by murder suspect Bennie Lee Lawson in a shooting at Henry Daly Building in Washington D.C. , killing two FBI agents, one police officer and wounding another FBI agent and a civilian before taking his own life. The TEC-9

513-464: The federal level since 2004, the TEC-9 and similar variants are banned, often by name, in several US states including California, New York , New Jersey , and Maryland . Quantities of an illegally-made 9mm machine pistol were seized in Europe in 2017. Despite being improvised weapons (and not developed by Intratec) they were nonetheless marked as "Intratec TEC-9", believed to possibly have been done as

540-475: The firm dissolved in 1995. Intratec TEC-DC9 The Intratec TEC-9 , TEC-DC9 , KG-99 , and AB-10 are a line of blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols . They were developed by Intratec , an American subsidiary of the Swedish firearms manufacturer Interdynamic AB . Introduced in 1984, the TEC-9 is made of inexpensive molded polymers and a mixture of stamped and milled steel parts. The simple design of

567-479: The gag before, replied, "The lawyer—twice." P&M had redirected him to alternative legal counsel about some real estate deals in the Midwest in 1981, and had no contact with him in the 12 years since they could not advise him on matters out of state. After exiting an elevator, Ferri donned a pair of ear protectors and opened fire with a pair of TEC-9 handguns and a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. He reportedly used

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594-513: The gun made it easy to repair and modify. It was a commercial success, with over 250,000 being sold. Similar to the AK-47 's symbolism with Third World and leftist revolutionaries, the TEC-9 is notorious in American pop culture for its association with criminal gangs , drive-by shootings and mass shootings in the 1990s, with it most notably being used during the 101 California Street shooting and

621-453: The nonprofit organization shortly after the shooting to help local communities pass their own gun control ordinances. Initially focusing on the local regulation of firearms in California, LCAV supported the passage of the Brady Bill and the federal assault weapons ban in 1993. The organization's volunteer lawyers provided legal consultation to the city of West Hollywood when it was sued by

648-493: The offices of the law firm Pettit & Martin on the 34th floor. Ferri's reason for targeting that particular firm is unknown, though Ferri had just weeks earlier expressed his strong grudge against lawyers in general when asked by Los Angeles barber Keith Blum, "If you were locked in a room with Saddam , the Ayatollah Khomeini and a lawyer, and you had a gun with two bullets in it, who would you shoot?" Ferri, who had heard

675-489: The shootings was never fully determined. A typed letter left behind by Ferri contained a list of complaints, but the letter was largely unintelligible. Four single spaced pages in length, the letter contained many grammatical errors, misspellings and was typed in all caps . Ferri claimed he had been poisoned by monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer in food, and that he had been "raped" by Pettit & Martin and other firms. The letter also contained complaints against

702-448: The up button for an elevator. As a result, Ferri began shooting on the 34th floor and worked his way down to lower floors. The shootings spurred calls for tighter gun control and were followed by a number of legal and legislative actions. California implemented some of the toughest gun laws in the United States. A number of organizations were formed in the wake of the shootings, including Legal Community Against Violence , which acts as

729-566: Was also used in the 1990 drive-by shooting at Nashville, Tennessee West End Synagogue by Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan Leonard William Armstrong . In 2001, the Supreme Court of California ruled that Intratec was not liable for the 1993 101 California Street attacks, and that same year Intratec was dissolved and production of the AB-10 model ceased. Although still found on the used firearms market and legal on

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