AP Photo/John Minchillo
This week BOOST Collaborative will be joined by The Alliance for Gun Responsibility for the FREE online training, Beyond Parkland: An Equitable Lens to Youth and Gun Violence. We will dive deep into the types of gun violence related to America’s youth, emphasizing communities most vulnerable, what solutions exist to combat this public health crisis, and how young people can emerge as gun violence prevention leaders.
Gun violence has become an epidemic in the United States. According to the American Public Health Association, gun violence kills over 38,000 individuals a year. For more research and information about gun violence prevention check out the American Psychological Association. This public health crisis is going to take all of us to enact real change.
We wanted to highlight 8 organizations making a difference in the gun violence prevention space. These resources can all be found in the BOOST Cafe Resource Center and you can read a little about each of them below.
Alliance for Gun Responsibility
The Alliance for Gun Responsibility works to end the gun violence crisis in our community and to promote a culture of gun ownership that balances rights with responsibilities. Through collaboration with experts, civic leaders, and citizens, we work to find evidence-based solutions to the crisis of gun violence in our community. We create innovative policy, advocate for changes in laws, and promote community education to reduce gun violence.
Giffords is fighting to end the gun lobby’s stranglehold on our political system. We’re daring to dream what a future free from gun violence looks like. We’re going to end this crisis, and we’re going to do it together.
Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Based in Newtown, Connecticut, our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation. By empowering youth to “know the signs” and uniting all people who value the protection of children, we can take meaningful actions in schools, homes, and communities to prevent gun violence and stop the tragic loss of life.
Gun violence touches every town in America. For too long, life-saving laws have been thwarted by the gun lobby and by leaders who refuse to take common-sense steps that will save lives. But something is changing. More than six million mayors, moms, teachers, survivors, gun owners, students, and everyday Americans have come together to make their own communities safer. Everytown starts with you, and it starts in your neighborhood. By introducing evidence-based solutions in every town, we can end gun violence.
After the shooting on February 14, we organized the largest single day of protest against gun violence in history. Millions came together to protest our political leaders’ inaction. March for Our Lives works to harness the power of young people across the country to fight for sensible gun violence prevention policies that save lives.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence develops and advocates for evidence-based solutions to reduce gun injury and death in all its forms. CSGV’s guiding principle is simple: We believe gun violence should be rare and abnormal. We pursue this goal through policy development, advocacy, community engagement, and effective training.
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (Ed Fund) is a 501(c)(3) affiliate organization of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. We use a public health and equity lens to identify and implement evidence-based policy solutions and programs to reduce gun violence in all its forms. We seek to make gun violence rare and abnormal. The Ed Fund makes communities safer by translating research into policy. We achieve this by engaging in policy development, advocacy, community and stakeholder engagement, and technical assistance.
In getting the bipartisan Brady Law passed in 1993, Jim and Sarah Brady accomplished the inconceivable. But there’s more work to be done — and only when we work together will we solve this problem. In order to do that work, we must accept these three truths about America’s gun violence epidemic: 1) Gun ownership demands responsibility; 2) Those empowered to do so must uphold existing gun laws; and 3) Gun violence is a uniquely American problem that impacts all races and ethnicities in the country, but nonetheless exacts a particular toll on Black and Brown communities.
There are so many others working to end gun violence in our communities. We want to hear from you, what other organizations and leaders are fighting for real change and working on gun violence prevention?
Do you want to learn more about the gun violence epidemic? Join BOOST Collaborative and The Alliance for Gun Responsibility on Friday, October 15, 2021 at 10am PDT/1pm EDT for Beyond Parkland: An Equitable Lens to Youth and Gun Violence.