Brady: United Against Gun Violence

Our “Pause to Heal” campaign, created in partnership with the Ad Council and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), raises critical awareness of life-saving Firearm Restraining Orders (FROs) in the state of Illinois. FROs are temporary civil orders that grant individuals in crisis space and time away from a firearm to heal and prevent potentially tragic outcomes. For more information on the campaign and FROs in Illinois, visit Illinois.gov/PauseToHeal. 

In collaboration with Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Ad Council we (Brady: United Against Gun Violence) are proud to launch this next phase of our life saving "Pause to Heal" campaign today. This public safety effort is designed to prevent firearm suicides and other shootings through educating the public about firearm restraining orders or extreme risk laws. It doesn't get political - it's a simple message of if you know someone is in crisis and threatening to harm themself or others, making sure they do not have access to a firearm at that time can help save their life - or the lives of others. Thanks to IDPH those in Illinois now have the information on where to turn and what steps they can take in their own community. Looking forward to the press conference later this morning, too. Let me know of any questions.

Tonight at 10:00pm ET Kris Brown will be on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper to talk about the persistent role of guns in American political violence. History demonstrates that political violence, especially when combined with easy access to deadly weapons, endangers everyone and frequently leads to mass shootings. The contemporary national gun violence prevention movement was born out of the 1981 presidential assassination attempt that almost killed Jim Brady, our organizations’s namesake. Four decades later, we must change course. We can only hope this terrible moment brings about a deeper discussion about gun legislation and gun reform in America. Political violence harms us all, and the presence of guns exacerbates this threat. Don't miss this important conversation tonight.

This month, California became the first state to require the use of merchant category codes for stores selling guns and ammunition. These codes are used for every other industry to indicate the goods or services a store provides. These categories include airlines, furniture, and bowling alleys. However, until 2022 no merchant category code existed for gun stores. Instead, they were categorized using another code like sporting goods. But one of the things merchant category codes are used for is detecting suspicious purchasing patterns — whether that be fraud or even human trafficking. In the wake of mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas in 2017 that claimed the lives of 58 people, law enforcement uncovered that the shooter spent tens of thousands of dollars on firearms and ammunition leading up to the tragedy. It’s clear that these codes are broadly accepted and utilized for all other industries, so why should the gun industry get special treatment? These codes have life-saving potential, so we applaud California’s move requiring their use. https://lnkd.in/e3s9uiGC

The new report from The Joyce Foundation discusses the importance of and obstacles to crime gun intelligence tools, such as gun tracing and ballistics, and includes recommendations for law enforcement and policymakers. Crime gun intelligence tools have life-saving potential, however, the ATF must be adequately funded to most effectively leverage these tools in the fight against gun violence. Lawmakers who are backed by the gun lobby are seeking to strip funding from the federal agencies and institutions that are working to address all angles of America’s gun violence epidemic. This report clearly highlights how defunding these federal programs will only exacerbate an already dire public health crisis. It's critical to address gun violence at its source, which is why our Combating Crime Guns Initiative takes a supply-side approach to the fight against gun violence. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e-rw_ib3

The Team ENOUGH Executive Council was established in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting to bring youth leadership to the fight against gun violence. APPLICATIONS JUST OPENED to join our Executive Council. Apply by JULY 29 if you are 13-22 years old, passionate about ending gun violence, and wanting to oversee the goals, values, and life-saving work of Team ENOUGH. Apply NOW and share with folks who would be a good fit for the council! https://bit.ly/teec

We only have a few days to show support for a proposed rule that would strengthen the U.S. firearms export policy. American firearms are exported all over the globe. This rule would prevent these guns from landing in the hands of those who pose a threat to human rights and national security, such as drug cartels and traffickers. But the gun industry is stopping at nothing to sink this rule because it could hurt their bottom line. That's why I'm reaching out. We need to drive as many comments as possible to show that public safety is more important than gun industry profits. It only takes a minute, add your name now to take action to #EndGunViolence. https://lnkd.in/esZf6q7m

Last week, Brenda D. Joiner MHRM and Aalayah Eastmond spoke at the United Nations about their experiences with gun violence in America. There are more guns than people and more firearm dealers than McDonald’s in the United States of America. Aalayah Eastmond is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting and lost her uncle to gun violence years earlier. She has spent years of her life dedicated to ending gun violence through her work founding Brady’s youth-led initiative, TeamENOUGH, and now on Brady’s organizing team. Brenda Haymon lost her father, Robert Godwin Sr., seven years ago when he was shot and killed on Easter Sunday while out for a walk. She now is the director of Human Resources at Brady, working to free America from gun violence. Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, but as both Aalayah and Brenda said to the UN, this doesn’t have to be our reality. A better, more peaceful world is possible.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our newest campaign of our End Family Fire program. “Da El Siguiente Paso” or “Take the Next Step,” is the first-ever national public education campaign on safe firearm storage created for Hispanic gun owners. We started End Family Fire to raise awareness about the life-saving importance of safe firearm storage, and we know that new gun owners often don’t have the necessary information and resources on safe storage practices. For Spanish-speaking gun owners, these resources are even more sparse. That’s why we teamed up with Ad Council and Casanova//McCann to create educational materials on safe gun storage in English and Spanish specifically targeted to a Hispanic audience, reaching one of the fastest-growing populations of gun owners in the U.S. Research shows safe storage is a key way to prevent family fire and shootings in the home, including unintentional shootings, and firearm suicide which has seen a recent spike. Learn more about safe storage: https://lnkd.in/gifC_PwJ