Various

You don't really need to be overly clever to figure out that handgun violence is a serious problem. You don't need a Columbine, a Polytechnique, a post office or a software company to figure that out. Every year there are thousands of reasons (in 1999 there were 32,040 of them in the United States alone) for governments to wake up and do something responsible about it. In Massachusetts, where sensible gun access and training laws have drastically reduced homicides and accidents by using simple common sense, Stop Handgun Violence has been begging the U.S. Congress to act with courage and foresight. The grass-roots organisation compiled and released this album, with the aim to get the support it so desperately needs. The list of featured artists who have donated their songs to the cause are impressive: Cake, Ben Folds Five, Sugar Ray, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Bonnie Raitt and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones all appear on this eclectic collection. Exclusive tracks by Fastball, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Hootie and the Blowfish, and the Infractions also make this album well worth picking up.