Dennis A. Henigan is the Vice President for Law and Policy at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Director of its Legal Action Project. For nineteen years, he has been a leading advocate for stronger gun laws, appearing dozens of times on national television and radio shows, including 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Nightline, Larry King Live and Dateline NBC. He also has written and spoken extensively on liability and constitutional issues relating to gun laws and gun violence, including testifying before several Congressional Committees. Henigan’s writings on the Second Amendment include two influential law review articles that have been cited by federal courts in upholding gun laws against constitutional attack.
Mr. Henigan leads a team of lawyers at the Brady Center that provides pro bono legal representation to victims of gun violence in lawsuits challenging irresponsible practices by gun sellers and manufacturers, as well as appearing in over two dozen cases as “friend of the court” defending gun laws under attack in the courts. Under his direction, Brady Center lawyers have recovered millions of dollars in damages for gun violence victims, as well as winning precedent-setting decisions on the liability of gun sellers in New Mexico, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana and other states. In addition to assisting individual victims, Brady Center lawyers have represented over two dozen urban municipalities, including Washington D.C. and New York City, in lawsuits seeking to recover the public costs of gun violence. Mr. Henigan’s achievements were recognized by Lawyers’ Weekly magazine, which named him one of the ten “Lawyers of the Year” for 2004. His work as a public interest lawyer also has been profiled in The New Yorker.
Mr. Henigan received his B.A. from Oberlin College in 1973 and his law degree in 1977 from the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to joining the Brady Center in 1989, he was a partner in the law firm of Foley & Lardner.