Brady: United Against Gun Violence’s Post

This month, California became the first state to require the use of merchant category codes for stores selling guns and ammunition. These codes are used for every other industry to indicate the goods or services a store provides. These categories include airlines, furniture, and bowling alleys. However, until 2022 no merchant category code existed for gun stores. Instead, they were categorized using another code like sporting goods. But one of the things merchant category codes are used for is detecting suspicious purchasing patterns — whether that be fraud or even human trafficking. In the wake of mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas in 2017 that claimed the lives of 58 people, law enforcement uncovered that the shooter spent tens of thousands of dollars on firearms and ammunition leading up to the tragedy. It’s clear that these codes are broadly accepted and utilized for all other industries, so why should the gun industry get special treatment? These codes have life-saving potential, so we applaud California’s move requiring their use. https://lnkd.in/e3s9uiGC

The Team ENOUGH Executive Council was established in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting to bring youth leadership to the fight against gun violence. APPLICATIONS JUST OPENED to join our Executive Council. Apply by JULY 29 if you are 13-22 years old, passionate about ending gun violence, and wanting to oversee the goals, values, and life-saving work of Team ENOUGH. Apply NOW and share with folks who would be a good fit for the council! https://bit.ly/teec

Last week, Brenda D. Joiner MHRM and Aalayah Eastmond spoke at the United Nations about their experiences with gun violence in America. There are more guns than people and more firearm dealers than McDonald’s in the United States of America. Aalayah Eastmond is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting and lost her uncle to gun violence years earlier. She has spent years of her life dedicated to ending gun violence through her work founding Brady’s youth-led initiative, TeamENOUGH, and now on Brady’s organizing team. Brenda Haymon lost her father, Robert Godwin Sr., seven years ago when he was shot and killed on Easter Sunday while out for a walk. She now is the director of Human Resources at Brady, working to free America from gun violence. Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, but as both Aalayah and Brenda said to the UN, this doesn’t have to be our reality. A better, more peaceful world is possible.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our newest campaign of our End Family Fire program. “Da El Siguiente Paso” or “Take the Next Step,” is the first-ever national public education campaign on safe firearm storage created for Hispanic gun owners. We started End Family Fire to raise awareness about the life-saving importance of safe firearm storage, and we know that new gun owners often don’t have the necessary information and resources on safe storage practices. For Spanish-speaking gun owners, these resources are even more sparse. That’s why we teamed up with Ad Council and Casanova//McCann to create educational materials on safe gun storage in English and Spanish specifically targeted to a Hispanic audience, reaching one of the fastest-growing populations of gun owners in the U.S. Research shows safe storage is a key way to prevent family fire and shootings in the home, including unintentional shootings, and firearm suicide which has seen a recent spike. Learn more about safe storage: https://lnkd.in/gifC_PwJ

Today, the U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence a public health crisis. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S., which underscores the necessity of this life-saving action. This move matters because Surgeon General reports are widely respected publications that take an “evidence-based approach to our nation’s most urgent public health issues.” These types of reports have proven to be an important first step in making progress on public health issues in the past; for example, in 1964, the Surgeon General released a report on smoking and its effect on health, laying the foundation for a greater, multi-pronged approach to reduce levels of smoking. This comes just weeks after our This Is Our Lane Advisory Council, announced an initiative pushing for such action. Our This Is Our Lane Advisory Council is led by Brady: United Against Gun Violence's Chief Medical Officer and gun violence survivor, Dr. Joseph Sakran, and includes Dr. Halleh Akbarnia, Robin Cogan MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN, Dr. Rochelle Dicker, Dr. Cornelia Griggs, Dr. Emily Lieberman, Dr. Fabiola Plaza, Dr. LJ Punch, Dr. Megan Ranney, Dr. Babak Sarani, Dr. Chethan Sathya MD, Dr. Randi Smith, and Dr. Layla Soliman, MD. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dCtwa7KF

Our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon and gun violence survivor, explains the disastrous Supreme Court decision to allow bump stocks into our streets and communities.

Today, the Supreme Court has decided to put bump stocks back into civilian hands. These accessories turn semi-automatic weapons into the functional equivalent of machine guns — weapons that have been banned by Congress since the 1930s. The move to prohibit the sale and use of bump stocks was done at the direction of the Trump administration with broad bipartisan support because it was clear that the availability of such weapons could only lead to death and destruction. The Supreme Court’s decision has not only stripped the ATF — the sole federal agency with oversight over the gun industry — of its power to uphold long-standing gun laws, but it has inevitably put American lives in danger. We need your help urging Congress to pass legislation to regulate these weapons of war before tragedy strikes again. Please use the form below to make your voice heard! https://lnkd.in/e7ivV58i