Friends, Three separate shootings on Saturday, August 7 in Wilmington, Delaware — while a gun violence prevention event happened blocks away — underscored the gun violence crisis in Delaware. Experts understand and data indicates that, on average, gun deaths can be broken down into two main categories: suicide, which typically accounts for two-thirds of gun deaths annually, and homicide, which accounts for roughly the remaining third. In Delaware, this number skews closer to 50-50 due to disproportionately high rates of community violence. Like many cities, Wilmington is experiencing a surge in gun violence in 2021, largely attributed to sharply increased gun sales during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as rising inequities in severely impacted communities that were at-risk even before the COVID crisis began. One key difference between Wilmington and other cities? Our nation’s president spends a lot of time here, with a home in the Wilmington suburbs. His famous commute from his Greenville home to the Wilmington Amtrak station that now bears his name would take him, during his years in the Senate, through communities that have historically experienced high rates of violence. Will the President’s home state set a shining example of how to reduce gun violence? It certainly could. The state is - at least on paper - a blue state, with many members of the General Assembly elected on campaign promises focused on violence prevention. Advocates and donors are involved and supportive. And the community is calling for change. But what exactly does that look like? First, a licensing / permitting policy and a ban on high capacity deadly weapons. Delaware *must* make it harder for excessively dangerous firearms to get into the hands of dangerous people. Policies like this in no way jeopardize the second amendment rights of any responsible gun owner, and in fact, 74% of Delawareans - including gun owners - support them. The General Assembly must act, quickly. But beyond policy changes, it’s past time for Delaware to invest in recognizing gun violence as a critical and preventable public health problem, expand implementation of existing safety policies like Safe Storage requirements and Lethal Violence Protection Orders, and ensure that Delawareans are better informed about the risks and best practices of gun ownership. And the state and city need to invest in proven, evidence-based violence interruption and community intervention initiatives — and at the same time, support and expand upstream solutions. This much is known: the safest states and cities have strong policies - policies that reduce access to deadly weapons and make sure gun owners are trained and licensed - as well as a healthy educational prevention effort and well-funded, well-run community intervention programs. President Biden’s commitment to using American Rescue Plan funding to address gun violence is evident in remarks and memoranda — now it’s up to the states and cities themselves to implement the vision and really invest in gun violence prevention. Delaware needs to get serious about implementing our former Senator and current President’s vision. Traci Manza Murphy, Executive Director, Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence | 
