John,
The week of July 4th is filled with summer picnics, barbeques, fireworks, friends, and family. But alarmingly, it’s also the week of the year with the highest number of unintentional shootings. From 2018 to 2022, on average, there were 51 unintentional shootings in this one week. This spike in unintentional shootings around the holiday is due to multiple factors, including an increase in people visiting friends and family, alcohol consumption, our culture of gun ownership in America, and perhaps most significantly, unsecured firearms.
Data shows that easy access to firearms leads to more unintentional shootings. In fact, states with the highest levels of gun ownership experience an unintentional firearm mortality rate seven times that of states with the lowest levels of gun ownership. And states without safe firearm storage laws have even higher rates of unintentional shootings. Texas, which has no safe storage laws, has the highest number of unintentional shootings perpetrated by children on average, while Rhode Island, which has safe firearm storage laws and fewer firearms, had no unintentional shootings perpetrated by children.
That’s why this week — which historically has the greatest uptick in unintentional shootings — we must practice and promote safe firearm storage. If all of your firearms are stored locked, take the next step and store them unloaded and separate from ammunition.
Safe storage is an evidence-based, effective method to limit unintentional shootings, firearm suicide, and even school shootings. So if you’ll be spending time with friends and family this weekend, help be part of the cultural change around gun ownership in America by asking about firearm storage.
To read more about unintentional shootings in the U.S., check out our analysis. You can also learn more about our ASK (Asking Saves Kid) campaign on the Brady website. |
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| Remembering Highland Park: Honoring With Action |
This week two years ago, a gunman used an assault weapon to kill seven people and injure 48 others at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, IL. Since then, Brady has honored the lives lost and those impacted that day with action, fighting for a safer future for Highland Park and all Illinois residents. |
Despite the devastation brought on by this shooting, the gun lobby still tried to challenge Highland Park’s longstanding assault weapon and large-capacity magazine ban, which Brady helped pass in 2013. Brady took up the challenge, representing the City of Highland Park to defend its assault weapons and large-capacity magazine bans, and we were successful. In early 2024, the gun lobby dropped the suit and agreed to not raise the claim again.
This was a victory for the City of Highland Park and reaffirms that localities can — and should — pass strong gun laws to protect their communities. It builds on our other victory in Illinois, when the state became the first in the Midwest to regulate assault weapons state-wide in 2023.
We’re also fighting for justice on behalf of the victims and survivors of the Highland Park shooting. Just months after the July 4 shooting in 2022, we filed suit against Smith & Wesson, the maker of the firearm. We allege that Smith & Wesson was negligent and engaged in deceptive marketing practices.
Brady has taken bold action on assault weapons throughout Illinois, and we won’t give up. Now, it’s time to federally regulate these weapons of war. That’s why we’re calling on lawmakers in Congress to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. Please join us today!
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Taking Action to End Gun Violence in Communities Nationwide |
As we begin the month of July, we’re highlighting Brady staff and grassroots chapters who have taken action to free America from gun violence. Advocacy Training with Bishops United Against Gun Violence
Brady and Team ENOUGH, our youth-led initiative, joined our partners at Bishops United Against Gun Violence for their Youth Advocacy and Organizing Training in Louisville, KY. |
Brady Organizing Associate Inez Asiama presenting at the event |
During the training, young people learned how to advocate for gun violence prevention and how to develop action plans to address gun violence within their communities. We discussed the dire impact that the gun lobby and a small percentage of gun dealers have had on our communities, how to ASK (Asking Saves Kids) someone if they have an unsecured gun in the home before a child goes over to play, and our End Family Fire program. On the second day of training, we had 50 students from twelve different states in attendance as we discussed how to be an advocate and tips for sharing their own stories about gun violence.
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Student advocates attending the second day of training |
Disarm Hate
On June 30, just two weeks after we recognized eight years since the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting, Brady grassroots advocates marched in the San Francisco and Seattle LGBTQ+ pride parades. Hate crimes are on the rise in America, and easy access to firearms makes them more deadly. Our advocates were proud to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and advocate to disarm hate. |
(L-R) Brady San Francisco and Brady Seattle |
National Education Association Conference
On July 2, Brady presented at the National Education Association’s conference in Philadelphia, PA. Our presenters included Organizing Associate Inez Asiama, Director of Racial Justice Kelly Sampson, and End Family Fire Senior Program Manager Kelitah Armstrong. Throughout the day, we explored public health approaches to gun violence prevention and discussed possible solutions to this epidemic that deeply affects educators and communities across the country.
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(L-R) Inez Asiama, Kelly Sampson, and Kelitah Armstrong |
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