Mike Miller

Bryan Miller became involved in gun-violence prevention the same way so many people do: a tragic loss of a loved one. In Bryan's case, the incident that changed his life was the loss of his brother Mike, an FBI Special Agent, in a senseless act of violence that left an entire family and an entire community shaken.

Mike Miller was working with the special "cold case" homicide unit of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. The cold case unit investigates homicides that have gone unsolved. On November 22, 1994, Mike became a victim himself.

A suspect in a triple-homicide, Bennie Lawson, sought revenge on the Chief of the D.C. Police Homicide Unit. Unfortunately, Lawson was given wrong directions, and ended up in Mike's Cold Case Unit armed with a MAC-10 semi-automatic machine pistol. The MAC-10 is a favorite of criminals, as it can hold a 50-round magazine and "looks the part." Bennie Lawson walked into the Cold Case Unit and opened fire. When the shooting stopped, Mike, another agent and a D.C. police detective were dead. A third agent and a civilian bystander were also wounded.

Bryan heard of his brother's death as he was fixing dinner that night. Bryan, at the time a successful businessman, had planned to visit Mike and the rest of the Miller family for Thanksgiving. This time, however, he would not be celebrating the holidays. Instead, he would join his grieving family at the funeral of his brother.

Bryan was incensed at the senseless nature of Mike's death. "What happened to Mike and his colleagues is ironic in that Lawson was able to walk into the least likely place in the world, D.C. Police Headquarters, and kill so many people. He was in a police headquarters full of highly trained and armed individuals who were nevertheless helpless in the face of the firepower of his MAC-10."

Bryan turned his anger into action. "In my opinion, Bennie Lawson did something crazy. I don't get angry with someone who is not responsible for his actions. But I am angry at the gun lobby and the cowardly politicians who allow the lobby to get away with lax gun laws, and who oppose such reasonable measures as the Assault Weapons Ban. These are weapons of mass destruction; they are not for sport or hunting."

"The NRA's argument is that the more people we arm, the more polite society we will be. That's disproved in a lot of ways, but my brother's case is one of the starkest examples. It's an ignorant argument."

After Mike died, Bryan sought ways in which he could productively focus his anger. He soon joined CEASEFIRE NEW JERSEY, and in 1996, abandoned his business career to become the activist organization's Executive Director.

CEASEFIRE NEW JERSEY has been active in promoting progressive legislation to end the seemingly endless cycle of firearms violence in New Jersey. Bryan and CEASEFIRE NEW JERSEY have introduced several important measures, including the Child-Proof Handgun Bill that would greatly reduce the amount of teenage suicides while virtually eliminating unintentional shootings by children. This first-of-a-kind measure, according to Bryan, is "isn't gun control as much as gun safety."