Hi John,

Last night, I attended the Youth Consortium Candidate Forum in Seattle. This event, put on by young people of color from South King County, including our friends at Community Passageways, centered the questions, vision, and leadership of young people and urged candidates for local office to represent their needs.

These passionate young people called on candidates for the Seattle Public Schools School Board and various Seattle City Council and King County Districts to address the issues that affect them most, including gun violence. Each candidate was asked to explain their plans for ensuring that our schools and our communities are safe, inclusive environments where all people can thrive. This event was a reminder of how important it is to have local elected officials who understand what gun violence looks like in our communities and will champion funding and implementing gun violence prevention measures.

Although mass shootings dominate national headlines, they make up less than 1 percent of all gun deaths in the U.S. At the same time, black and brown communities, like many South Seattle communities, live with daily gun violence that rarely makes headlines. In fact, gun violence is the leading cause of death for black children and teens.

Last month, we participated in a Summit, put on by the King County Board of Health, that also shined a light on the need to address gun violence in these disproportionately affected communities. The Summit featured survivors, health experts, advocates, gun violence disruptors, elected officials, and law enforcement, who all came together to call gun violence what it is: a public health issue. You can read all about it here.

The Alliance is regarded as the group that gets commonsense gun violence prevention laws passed (rightly so!), but we know that passing laws is just one part of the fight against gun violence. That’s why we’re also busy fighting to elect gun responsibility champions and doing the education, implementation, research, and community outreach work through the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Foundation.

Thanks for being with us every step of the way,

Kristen Ellingboe,
Communications Manager