Feel Good Friday - Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (#4)

Normally, I try to stay away from Feel Good Friday repeats but as long as men keep shooting groups of people, I'm going to keep talking about the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

I don't revisit this blog this for every mass shooting and yet, this is still the fourth instance in 2 years. The original post is below, but first some updated info.

"Since 1994, the Brady law has blocked over 3 million prohibited purchases" of guns. That's good news but the Brady Campaign is striving to cut the number of gun deaths in half by 2025.

Their main areas of focus are educating people about the risks of guns in the home (because 80% of unintentional firearm deaths of children under 15 happen in a home), changing gun laws (because 40% of gun sales still require no background check) and holding gun manufacturers and sellers accountable in court (because 90% of guns used in crimes were supplied by 5% of dealers).

Read the original post to find out ways you can get involved and if you haven't already done so, contact your elected officials: 202-224-3121

Friday, October 9, 2015

Feel Good Friday - Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

In the almost 3 years I've been writing these Feel Good Friday posts, there have been a number of mass shootings in the United States, including the most recent at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. So today we're going to focus on an organization with the goal of "cutting gun deaths in half by 2025", Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

You may remember Jim Brady, Assistant to the President. He was shot and paralyzed during an assassination attempt on Ronald Regan in 1981. It wasn't until 1993, the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period and background checks on handgun purchases, was signed into law by President Clinton.

Today the Brady Campaign is "the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence." Their mission, as stated on the website, "is to create a safer America for all of us that will lead to a dramatic reduction in gun deaths and injuries." You can go there to read shocking statistics on gun violence. A few highlights are below:

Every day, 89 people die from gun violence: (now 93)

• 31 are murdered
• 55 kill themselves
• 2 are killed unintentionally
• 1 is killed by police intervention
• 1 intent unknown.

Every day, an additional 208 people are shot and survive. (now 222)

In order to reduce these numbers, the Brady Campaign focuses on policy and legal changes, as well as a public awareness campaign. They ensure that all of their programs and efforts have an opportunity for impact, that no one else is doing similar work and that the actions fit into their core values. You can read their full list of solutions here or watch a 16 minute video Pathology of Gun Violence, which explains their strategy in great detail.

Support the work of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence by visiting their take action page, liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @Bradybuzz. Enough is enough.