GOOD AFTERNOON John,

In order to share the good work the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) and Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (Ed Fund) have been doing, we are sending out a monthly update with articles and press featuring our staff. We want to remind you that the best way to stay up-to-date is to visit www.csgv.org and www.efsgv.org as well as follow us on social media including Facebook and Twitter.

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twitter.com/CSGV

As usual, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or ideas. Thank you for your continued support.


Best,

Josh Horwitz
Executive Director

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ARTICLES & PRESS

Americans Living with Mental Illness Are Not Monsters, Mr. President ([link removed])
(August 5, 2019) Trump distracts from the issue of gun violence and his own racist rhetoric by stigmatizing an entire population.


Another Tragedy ([link removed])
(August 4, 2019) Already reeling from the horrific violence in El Paso, the nation wakes up to another mass shooting.


We Must Disarm Hate ([link removed])
(August 3, 2019) The tragic shooting at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas exemplifies the dangers of the president's xenophobic rhetoric combined with our nation's easy access to weapons of war.


Congress can prevent gun violence with protection laws and federal funding, an op-ed authored by Consortium member Shannon Frattaroli and Executive Director Josh Horwitz in The Hill ([link removed])
ERPOs counter the notion that we are powerless to intervene until a crime has been committed. With the public and policymakers calling for real solutions to gun violence, federal support for state and local ERPO laws and their implementation offers a clear path forward that will save lives.


The Story of ERPO. The real history of the extreme risk law -- as told by its creators. an op-ed authored by Executive Director Josh Horwitz in Medium ([link removed])


We must stop Trump's hateful, unregulated citizen militia, an op-ed authored by Executive Director Josh Horwitz in Medium ([link removed])
In 2009, I wrote: "When the use of violence becomes routine in partisan politics, the democratic process falls apart, and with it the belief that citizens are equal, because force becomes a substitute for representative mechanisms of political expression." I had no idea how close to home this would hit just 10 years later...The biggest threat to our democracy is the rise of totalitarianism supported by private arms -- and we are watching it develop now. These shooters are acting to quell the opposition, to carry out Trump's vision for America, to stop the "others." This is political violence. This is terrorism. And it is time to call it out -- and act -- before it is too late.


Congress must close the 'boyfriend loophole', Billings Gazette ([link removed])
Policy Analyst Lisa Geller wrote a letter to the editor in response to an op-ed arguing against closing the "boyfriend loophole.": "There is, in fact, a multitude of research showing that prohibiting abusive dating partners from having firearms is associated with reductions in intimate partner homicide; states that extended domestic violence restraining order firearm prohibitions to dating partners experienced a 16% reduction in firearm intimate partner homicide."


'Red flag' laws may play role in preventing mass shootings, study finds, Washington Post ([link removed])
Adelyn Allchin, Senior Director of Public Health and Policy at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said the study lends credibility to arguments for widespread adoption of red-flag laws, even without an ironclad finding that California's legislation averted shootings. "It's really promising to see these results come out," Allchin said. "I think there's some good evidence here that these laws are preventing acts of mass violence."


Virginia Republican in close race now backs 'red flag' gun bill, Washington Post ([link removed])
Lori Haas, Senior Director of Advocacy for the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said the legislation too closely resembles state mental health laws that are already on the books. "This is not an extreme risk law," Haas said, using her organization's preferred term for red flag legislation. "It replicates, very badly, some of the emergency and temporary orders that law enforcement officials are already using and doesn't thoroughly address the removal of a firearm."


Stop blaming mental illness for mass shootings: It's about the guns, Vox ([link removed])
The share of America's violence problem (excluding suicide) that is explainable by diseases like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is tiny. If you were to suddenly cure schizophrenia, bipolar, and depression overnight, violent crime in the US would fall by only 4 percent, according to an estimate from Duke University professor Jeffrey Swanson, a sociologist and psychiatric epidemiologist who studies the relationship between violence and mental illness. "People with mental illness are people, and the vast majority aren't any more of a risk than anyone else," Swanson says. (Professor Swanson is a member of the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy)


'Red Flag' Gun Control Bills Pick Up Momentum With G.O.P. in Congress, The New York Times ([link removed])
"You can call a law enforcement officer and say 'Uncle Johnny's in the backyard with a 12-pack of beer and six firearms,' and they're going to say, 'Yes, ma'am, he's not breaking any law. He doesn't have a diagnosis of mental illness,'" said Lori Haas, the Senior Director for Advocacy of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, which developed a template for extreme risk protection orders legislation after the Newtown massacre. "A lot of dangerous behaviors are not, and would not be, based in a mental illness diagnosis."


Kamala Harris' New Gun Control Proposal Takes on Domestic Terrorists and White Nationalists, MotherJones ([link removed])
Gun control advocates argue that authorities should be able to take online extremism into consideration. "Hate speech, threats--those things can be considered overall to determine if you're posing violence to yourself or others," says Horwitz, of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "You can't criminalize speech, but here, you're able to do something and intervene through the civil protection order."


'Is it going fast enough? Hell no.' The slow march toward gun control in the U.S., CBC ([link removed])
According to Andrew Patrick, with the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Trump is following a standard pattern of shifting the attention away from guns. "The inaction is not working and the American people recognize that," he said.


Could Red Flag Laws Prevent the Next Massacre?, Mother Jones ([link removed])
"Between the state and federal governments, we should figure out a 50 state ERPO law or have the federal government incentivize states to do so," says Josh Horwitz, the Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.


How to Disarm America, Splinter News ([link removed])
Adelyn Allchin, the Senior Director of Public Health and Policy at the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence/ CSGV :"When there's a champion in the community, we're seeing these laws be effectively implemented," Allchin said. Her currency, in these interactions, is data: bringing national studies and past results of similar programs to the wide range of smaller communities and jurisdictions around the country, often by bringing in outside experts and researchers to talk about their work.
Dakota Jablon, the Federal Policy Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, noted that there are two policy goals that seem both practical and well-supported by existing research: permit to purchase laws and extreme risk protection order laws.


Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws Work, Committee on the Judiciary ([link removed])
Senator Dianne Feinstein Says Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws Work, Sierra Sun Times ([link removed])
Adelyn Allchin with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said: "It's really promising to see these results come out. I think there's some good evidence here that these laws are preventing acts of mass violence."


5 Senate Races To Watch In 2020 If You Care About Gun Safety, Bustle ([link removed])
Arizona's 2020 Senate race will also be one to watch, according to Andrew Patrick, Media Director for The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.


Public, advocates present arguments on gun laws to state crime commission, NBC12 ([link removed])
Lori Haas, mother of a student injured in the Virginia Tech shooting 12 years ago and Senior Director of Advocacy for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, is reeling from seeing so many more mass shootings since then. "11,000 Virginians have died since the shooting at Virginia Tech that injured my daughter," Haas said. "We could be doing more, we should have done more."


Response to Firearms Violence: Crime commission wraps two days of gun hearings as advocates make their case, Richmond Times-Dispatch ([link removed])
Lori Haas, an advocate with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence whose daughter was injured during the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, also urged action, telling lawmakers she has spent a decade calling for legislation such as universal background checks.


Police chief sees no issue offering AR-15 as top raffle prize, The Stanley News & Press ([link removed])
Andrew Patrick, Media Director for CSGV, said the gun raffle is an insult to people who have lost their lives in mass shootings recently.


Virginia Crime Commission delves into data, what works to reduce gun violence, The Roanoke Times ([link removed])
For more than a decade Lori Haas, whose daughter survived after being shot during the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, has been advocating for universal background checks. "I'm committed to doing this work, because I've met too many survivors to turn my back," Haas said Monday. "There are policies that we know can reduce violence."


Gun control groups spend over $2 million on ads since recent mass shootings, while NRA talks to Trump, CNBC ([link removed])
Advocates say the NRA may not spend as much for lobbying going forward because they have Trump's ear. "There is not a response from them to counter the overwhelming push from the American people, politicians and activists on this issue," said Andrew Patrick, Media Director at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.


After 3 Massacres in 8 Days, 3 Gun Measures to Fight For, Between the Lines ([link removed])
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Dakota Jablon, Director of Federal Affairs with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Here, she discusses the impact that the three recent mass shootings could have in moving the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to strengthen federal gun laws.


Pa. gun bills find support in aftermath of shootings, Bucks County Courier Times ([link removed])
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, a nonprofit think-tank and part of the National Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy, estimated that in 2017 nearly 90% of suicides in Pennsylvania involved guns. That research also showed most people who fail at a suicide attempt do not try again, but guns are often the most lethal method used among attempted suicides.


Americans renew call to ban assault-style rifles, high-capacity magazines, but what change happen?, khon2 ([link removed])
"Most Americans recognize that this is a weapon that simply does not belong in civilian hands," said Andrew Patrick with Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.


Michigan gun debate heats up after Ohio, Texas mass shootings, Detroit News ([link removed])
Andrew Patrick, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, founded in 1974, said the mass shootings are part of a "public health crisis" in America concerning gun violence.


Mass Shootings in the US, Burka Ban in the Netherlands, Sputnik News / The Mother of all Talk Shows ([link removed])
In this week's show George speaks about the atrocious mass shootings in the US with Andrew Patrick from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Burka ban in the Netherlands with Liesl Gernholtz from Human Rights Watch and Adam Garrie takes your questions on #AskAdam.


McFeely Mess podcast: 'We're going to get to a place where we have the courage to do something about it: Coalition to Stop Gun Violence says some states are taking action, but Congress must act to stop shootings, Inforum ([link removed])
Andrew Patrick, Media Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, joins podcast host Mike McFeely to talk about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.


Mental illness isn't a major risk factor for gun violence, but here's what is, NBC News ([link removed])
Substance abuse and a history of violence, especially domestic violence, are strongly associated with gun violence. Problematic substance use, especially of alcohol, is a major risk factor that could influence whether a person will use a gun to commit a violent crime, according to a report from the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy ([link removed]), an organization of researchers, practitioners and advocates who develop gun violence prevention policy recommendations based on existing research.


Walmart's political group has given millions to GOP lawmakers who oppose gun control measures, Yahoo Finance ([link removed])
It's no surprise Walmart has backed candidates who've opposed commons sense gun reform," said Andrew Patrick, Media Director with the advocacy group Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "They've tended toward the Republican side and that side has historically been opposed to passing gun legislation."


How the hell is this not inciting violence?, Washington Post ([link removed])
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence on Monday called the billboard "violent rhetoric." "Threats against members of Congress, particularly minority members are [trending upward] and it is driven by the president's racial rhetoric," the group wrote. "This is dangerous!!!"


This billboard is being criticized for inciting violence against "the Squad", Vox ([link removed])
The billboard immediately received backlash after it was shared online Sunday for inciting violence against the lawmakers, who say they have already been receiving numerous death threats. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence called the sign dangerous, "violent rhetoric."


A North Carolina Gun Shop Put Up a Billboard Targeting the Freshman Democratic Congresswomen, Elle ([link removed])
"Threats against members of Congress, particularly minority members are [rising] and it is driven by the president's racial rhetoric," nonprofit group Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) wrote on Facebook in response to the billboard. "This is dangerous!"


SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

On August 20, Senior Director of Advocacy Lori Haas, Senior Director of Public Health and Policy Adelyn Allchin, Public Health Fellow Ari Davis, Policy Analyst Lisa Geller, and Media Director Andrew Patrick testified at the Virginia Crime Commission Meeting.

On August 20, Director of African-American & Community Outreach Kayla Hicks and Director of Law & Policy Yasmín Fletcher, spoke on WPFW's Community Watch & Comment podcast ([link removed]).