He also served as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, as a Washington lobbyist, and as a staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. After political office In 2001, after stepping aside as mayor, Helmke co-wrote a book Son of a Son of a Politician, discussing not only his experiences with politics but also that of his father and grandfather. In May 2006 Helmke was named President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Before accepting a position with the Brady Campaign, Helmke worked at his father's law firm, Helmke Beams, LLP. In the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre in April 2007, Helmke made many network appearances on such programs as the CBS Evening News and ABC World News, discussing and arguing for more restrictive gun control. Helmke took the position that the second amendment to the constitution is a collective right of government and not an individual right of citizens. In 2008, Helmke appeared on The Colbert Report as a part of that show's "Better Know a Lobby" series. In January 2013, he started at the Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs, and is currently the director of the Civic Leaders Living-Learning Center which began in August 2013. See also List of mayors of Fort Wayne, Indiana References External links Helmke's Testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on behalf of the United States Conference of Mayors on Perspectives of Local Governments on Livability Helmke's Law Firm Mayors of Fort Wayne, Indiana Living people American gun control activists 1948 births Yale Law School alumni Indiana University alumni Indiana Republicans Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors Politicians from Bloomington, Indiana