Hello Friend,

On the fifth anniversary of 1 October, the Route 91 Harvest Festival Mass Shooting that happened in Las Vegas, we are cautiously optimistic that we are making progress on gun violence prevention. Today is about honoring survivors and reflecting on how far we have come. Las Vegas is stronger today than it was five years ago. That strength has seen us through a pandemic, economic turmoil, and the worst mass shooting in modern history.

Share Your Support for Survivors

One way survivors are being honored is through an exhibit at the Clark County Museum. The exhibit will run through January 30th and features memorial items left at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and other sites near the festival venue to help tell the story of how the community responded. There will be other events to honor victims and promote healing happening on Saturday, October 1, 2022. 

Share Your Support for Survivors

As we honor survivors today for 1 October, we are also reminded of the progress we have seen. After the Uvalde Massacre and the Buffalo Massacre, there was progress on gun violence legislation federally. These mass shootings seemed to be a tipping point. Finally, after nearly 28 years there was a federal gun violence prevention policy passed and signed by President Biden in June 2022. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act expands background checks for purchases age 21 or younger, closes the dating partner loophole, provides incentives for states to implement extreme risk protection orders, and much more. This is a step forward and it was through the work of advocates, survivors, and storytellers that this bill made its way through Congress. In addition to this legislation, we also saw the confirmation of Steven Dettelbach as Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms Director. This is the first ATF Director in over 7 years. He will guide the agency and work to ensure the gun industry is held accountable.  

In Nevada, we worked on an updated extremism report that detailed the role of extremist groups in the gun violence space. Our findings indicated a disturbing trend that shows extremist groups on the rise and that they are stockpiling firearms. Policy recommendations are included in this report to help leaders make decisions on addressing groups like QANON and the Proud Boys. Please take a look at this updated report and share it with your contacts. 

Best,