Ending Gun Violence
“If more guns made us safer, we’d be the safest country on Earth — but it doesn’t work that way.” - Pete Buttigieg
This week, on the second anniversary of the Las Vegas shooting, we’ll be talking about the gun violence epidemic in the US and what we can do to stop it. - Amber & Katie
In the US, more than 36,000 people die annually due to gun violence. That’s over 100 people each day, 21 of which are children. To provide some much-needed context, our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than that of other high-income countries. While mass shootings get much media attention, the largest portion of gun deaths in the US are suicides, driven both by easy access to guns and lack of access to mental healthcare. And the gun violence epidemic is particularly harmful to American women, who are 21 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than women in peer countries.
There is clear evidence that the rate of gun homicides goes up as gun ownership goes up, and the US has a higher rate of gun ownership than any other country. We have more guns than we have people.
We know tightening gun laws works. What’s more, gun control is one of the few issues in the US where you can find broad, bipartisan consensus. Roughly 90% of Americans support closing background check loopholes. (No, that’s not a typo!) More than two-thirds of Americans support red flag laws and requiring licenses to purchase guns, and more than half support banning the sale of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines (the darlings of mass shooters.)
But even minimal gun control legislation can’t seem to gain traction with Republican lawmakers, despite its overwhelming popularity. So 100 people will continue to die every single day, thanks to our legislators’ refusal to act.
Everytown for Gun Safety is a collection of organizations mobilizing to end gun violence in the US. Amongst the numerous actions taken by Everytown orgs, Moms Demand Action has spent years campaigning to get companies to stop allowing open carry in their stores. As Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, so succinctly put it, “We teach children to run from men with guns in schools, and yet we’re supposed to teach them to respect strangers with semiautomatic rifles in a grocery store? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Their #SkipStarbucksSaturday campaign resulted in Starbucks ending open carry in their stores in 2013 and over the years, 24 more companies have followed suit thanks to pressure from Moms Demand Action. Moms Demand Action proves that you don’t have to wait for legislative action to make our communities safer.
Watch the gun control forum with 10 presidential candidates airing today Wednesday, October 2 starting at 12 PM CDT, hosted by MSNBC with Giffords Courage to Fight Gun Violence and March for Our Lives.
Support Everytown for Gun Safety by making a donations, joining one of hundreds of local-level chapters of Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action, or attending a Moms Demand Action event. (Note: Motherhood not required.)
Join another local organization fighting for gun control in your state.
Donate to the Giffords Law Center, which fights gun violence through research, policy development, and the court system.
Show your support for the March for Our Lives Peace Plan. For young folks, start or join a chapter of March for Our Lives.
Use 5 Calls to contact your Senators to let them know you demand the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides critical gun control protections for the victims of domestic violence.
Host an evening of action fundraising event to support the Violence Policy Center, an organization committed to ending gun violence through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration.
Sign the petition to end the Dickey Amendment, a gag rule preventing the CDC from researching gun violence. Allowing research into gun violence would help us better understand this public health crisis and develop smarter policy to eliminate gun deaths.
Take a deep dive on guns in America by checking out this series by NPR affiliate WAMU.
Follow @giffordscourage, @everytown, and @AMarch4OurLives on social media and amplify their work and messages.
Chances are you’re already on the mailing list for one of the groups listed above. Make sure their emails are going to your primary inbox (not spam, mailing lists or promotions).
Connect with us on Instagram and Twitter. Let us know how you’ve taken action using #LinkedandLoud.
Linked & Loud illuminates complex problems and connects readers with the individuals and organizations working to solve them. Each week, we go beyond horrifying headlines to empower readers to take progressive action.
Works Cited
Gun Violence Statistics | Giffords Law Center
The Facts that Make Us Act | Brady
Firearms Research: Homicide | Harvard School of Public Health
Fewer Guns Mean Fewer Homicides | The National Bureau of Economic Research
Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms | Small Arms Survey
The Relationship Between Mental Health Care Access and Suicide | RAND Corporation
Annual Gun Laws Scorecard | Giffords Law Center
Do 90% of Americans support background checks for all gun sales? | Politifact
Extreme Risk Laws [“Red Flag”] Save Lives | Everytown Research
How Grocery Stores Became A Cultural Flashpoint In The Gun Debate | Huffington Post
Open Carry | Giffords Law Center