Jul. 6, 2013

Gun violence prevention group holds 20th anniversary dinner

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence held its 20th anniversary dinner Friday, June 28. The center was founded in reaction to the worst mass shooting in San Francisco history, which began at the Pettit & Martin law firm when a deranged man stalked the hallways with two submachine guns, shooting 14 people in multiple businesses and killing nine. San Francisco Chief of Police Greg Suhr said the law center's work to ban assault weapons was extremely important, citing a recent incident when a single suspect held off more than 100 police officers by using high-powered assault weapons. "It's only efforts like this that are going to get it done. Please don't be discouraged," Suhr said. Mark Chekal-Bain, a district director for the California State Assembly, presented the law center's executive director, Robyn Thomas, with a resolution from the assembly thanking the center for its work. "Your money, every penny is well spent," he told the audience. Incoming American Bar Association President James R. Silkenat said the bar didn't involve itself in politics, but he didn't believe this was a political issue. "Inaction comes at the cost of life," he proclaimed. He evoked the memory of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Conn., declaring, "They are not here to speak for themselves, so we must and we will." During the ceremony, the law center welcomed Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP partner Elizabeth J. Cabraser, survivor Michelle Scully Hobus and San Francisco mediator Carol M. Kingsley to its founders' circle and also recognized Kirkland & Ellis LLP as its pro bono firm of the year. The center also out its Distinguished Leadership Award to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson. Feinstein became mayor of San Francisco in 1978 after then-Mayor George Moscone was gunned down along with City Supervisor Harvey Milk. She paid tribute to the fact that the first gay marriages since the Supreme Court's recent decisions were occuring at the same time as the law center's dinner. On the topic of gun violence, she told the audience they needed to become stronger when events like the Sandy Hook shooting happen, instead of losing hope. "We have to march, we have to change it, we have to defeat people that won't," she said. U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi presented the leadership award to Thompson. Referencing Sandy Hook, she said it was time for politicians to be courageous. "They were afraid of the gun lobby. These little children were afraid of a gunman. What right do they have to be afraid of the gun lobby?" - Joshua Sebold