Tom Diaz is a lawyer, author, and public speaker who conducts research on gun policy and violence for the Violence Policy Center, a D.C.-based think tank. During his former career in journalism, he covered national security affairs for the Washington Times. He also served as counsel to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice from 1993 to 1997. His previous books include Lightning out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil, with Barbara Newman (New York: Random House, 2005), and Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America (New York: New Press, 1999).