Independence First’s Post

I'm thrilled to announce that the PerVista team is stepping up our efforts to double down on the traction we've seen at the start of 2024, and I'm hopeful that YOU will agree to join us in shaping the future of our technology! 🌐🔒 For much of the past year, we've been hard at work developing PerVista, an AI-powered platform dedicated to enhancing public safety by proactively detecting firearms in real-time video streams. Our mission is clear: to end gun violence in schools and public places across the U.S. 🏫🛑 Now, we're opening up a unique opportunity for YOU to be a critical part of this revolutionary movement! 🌟 🚀 Community Round Launch! 🚀 Today, we're thrilled to kick off our Wefunder Community Round, allowing early supporters, customers, and the entire community to invest in PerVista and contribute to our mission. 🔍 Why Invest? Your investment, starting at just $100, will translate into equity in PerVista once we hit our valuation cap. Together, we can make a tangible impact on public safety and combat the alarming and exponential rise of active shooter events across the U.S. 💪 📈 Our Progress So Far: Since conceptualization in 2023, we've evolved from an idea into a fully operational platform. We've onboarded high-profile beta users, welcomed our first full-time team members, and we're just getting started! Expect more exciting announcements in the coming weeks as we continue to hit our strategic milestones. 👉 Ready to Invest? Visit our Wefunder page and click "Invest" to be part of this groundbreaking initiative: www.wefunder.com/pervista 💡 Spread the Word! Can't invest right now? No problem! You can still contribute by sharing this post, sending an email, or engaging with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Wefunder. Your support means the world to us! 🌐❤️ 🙏 Thank You for Your Support! Together, we can make a difference and create a safer future for everyone. Thank you for joining us on this journey to combat gun violence and protect our communities. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you or your network may have, and would love to talk through our strategy in greater detail.🌎🔒 #PerVista #InvestInSafety #EndGunViolence #CommunityRound #AIforGood

The Center for Justice Innovation recently published a study that explored why young residents in Crown Heights Brooklyn carried guns. The researchers found that many did so in part to fulfill material needs. Most had been pushed out of the mainstream economy, and had turned to illegal activities to make money, putting them at risk of gun violence. Reducing gun carrying practices, the researchers argue, requires giving those at risk access to the mainstream economy through educational and job opportunities. “What you hear a lot, especially for gun carriers… is don’t do this, don’t do that, put that down, stop doing this, don’t don’t don’t don’t. And there’s never here: here’s what you can do, here’s what I have for you. Here’s how I’m going to help you,” said Elise White, the study’s principal investigator. Read the latest Blacklight story to learn more about the researchers’ findings, and their proposed solutions. https://bit.ly/bkfear Everytown for Gun Safety Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Highest gratitude to RedBalloon for their vital support, making Hold My Guns® 2024 SHOT Show booth a reality! As a nonprofit, partnerships like RedBalloon's are crucial for our outreach and growth, enabling us to support and equip even more gun owners in practicing self-governance this year. RedBalloon uniquely bridges connections to Hold My Guns' mission: 🎈 With numerous jobs involving relocation, RedBalloon is in a prime position to educate both employers (consider relocation packages!) and job seekers about the significance of secure firearms storage and FFL to FFL shipment, promoting personal responsibility and self-governance during their move. 🎈 Understanding that unemployment and underemployment can be devastating experiences and risk factors for suicide, RedBalloon can inform job seekers about Hold My Guns as a pro-rights option to voluntarily store firearms, equipping them to make life-affirming decisions as they regain stability. Our operations depend on the generosity of sponsors and robust partnerships that align with and reinforce Hold My Guns' commitment to the preservation of rights and the empowerment of gun owners for self-governance. About RedBalloon - redballoon.work : RedBalloon connects thousands of businesses with career-minded job seekers who value work environments respecting personal beliefs, constitutional rights, and medical privacy. We celebrate the founding liberties that fueled America's economic success and strive to empower employers to uphold these liberties for their workforce. We aim to place talented Americans into careers that respect their freedom and prioritize their success, fostering a culture of self-governance and responsibility.

This is worth a read. Numbers don't lie. In the United States, we have a gun problem, a mental health problem, and an emotional intelligence problem. I believe they are all intertwined. If we don't teach anyone in school how to love themselves and others, we should expect people to continue to try to solve their problems with violence. And if it's easy to get a gun, why wouldn't someone get a gun if they know the other person probably has a gun, right? Who brings a fist or a knife to a gunfight? If people aren't emotionally intelligent, and most aren't because they are never taught those skills, then they resort to their primitive mind and pick up a bigger rock -- or in this case, a bigger gun. And when people lose hope, or tip the anger scale too far, they have a well documented habit of killing themselves or killing others before they kill themselves. We should know by now that more guns is not the solution. Bigger guns is not the solution. We must begin the widespread teaching of how to love. There is no other path to a better state of being. There is no overnight fix to a problem that has been growing for hundreds of years. We must find the will to change course and learn and practice love. If we do that, truly commit to that, we will see incremental improvements year over year and we will be living in a much safer, more beloved community in a couple of decades. I'm not talking about taking anyone's guns away. What I am saying is the more we teach love, the less we'll resort to guns to solve our problems, and the laws of supply and demand will take it from there. There's no reason we should have more guns than people. There's no reason babies should be shot at an National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl parade. There's no reason our grandchildren should grow up in a war zone. We can choose to do better. We can choose love. We've tried everything else. Trust me on this. #trylovenow Learn more and become part of the solution at L.O.V.E. Is The Answer

"I want to focus on one of the most challenging issues within my community- gun violence. Living on Pennsylvania Ave in SE DC, gunshots can be heard almost daily, and the solution is not simple, which is why I would start with a multifaceted approach to ending gun violence in Ward 7. Starting with raising awareness, I want to organize workshops and campaigns to educate and unionize the people of Ward 7. Then I would work toward policy changes; living in DC, I have access to local lawmakers and organizations already working on this topic to advocate for stricter gun laws but I would solely focus on Ward 7. I want to emphasize through my workshops and campaigns, the socioeconomic factors that often create gun violence, and I want to generate support and resources for the victims and survivors of gun violence. Gun violence is a very difficult and sensitive subject to work with. However, I have lived in DC almost my entire life and as I journey off to college, I want to leave my home with something that’s protecting; dignifying Ward 7 as more than a crime scene, but a community".

It’s been a quarter of a century since the Columbine massacre. A quarter of a century since two white senior males committed one of the most infamous school shootings in American history. A quarter of a century since these two seniors murdered 12 students and one teacher. A quarter of a century of endless gun violence throughout communities across the nation. What TF are we doing America? Mass shootings > Thoughts and prayers > Gun reform organization fundraising > Congress f*cking around > MORE CHILDREN SLAUGHTERED. We must stop facilitating this endless f*ckery. We must stop regulating inhumanity. WE NEED TO BAN THE F*CKING GUNS. Period.

For more than 25 years we’ve been investing in research, education and policy solutions to reduce gun violence and help make communities safer. This week our President & CEO Ellen Alberding was a panelist at the 2024 Milken Institute Global Conference examining ways to get beyond the social & political gridlock of gun violence issues and move toward solutions. The panel was moderated by Milken CEO Richard Ditizio and Ellen was joined by Ralph Clark, Shereef Elnahal, Nicole Hockley and Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez. Among Ellen’s takeaways during an illuminating hourlong discussion: —Gun violence is a public health issue. —Solving gun violence is not unfixable; nationally, homicides are down 12%. —Philanthropy and business *should* continue investing in the issue, as the reputational “risks” are minimal. —Most people in the U.S. support common sense gun laws & highly impacted communities support safe and just policing. —Gun deaths are under-researched; more research and evaluation of effective interventions is needed. Visit Milken’s page and follow the hashtag #MIGlobal to see the entire discussion and to learn more about the conference. #GunViolencePrevention

Joined #cgtn to discuss the significance of 2 US parents being convicted for involuntary manslaughter due to their son killing four of his classmates and wounding seven others. The Crumbleys are the first parents to be convicted for a school shooting committed by their child. They face up to 15 years behind bars, the son's sentenced to life in prison. What’s the significance of this case? Evidence presented at the parents’ trial show their son was mentally ill, hearing voices and hallucinating, which he discussed with his parents, as well as evidence he was planning to attack his school, including drawing it as a cartoon on a math test. The son was 15 at the time but was tried as an adult. The parents were convicted because they bought him a gun and trained him to shoot. They didn’t secure the weapon despite his illness, and they didn't seek treatment for his condition. We must ask why a mentally ill child was punished as an adult when the adults in his life ignored his condition and facilitated the tragedy. How can the court sentence a child to life in prison as an adult and then convict his parents for not properly parenting their child? This reflects the profound contradictions and frustrations associated with America’s failure to deal rationally with #gunviolence.   The New York Times reports shooters under 21 are increasing, while public health agencies claim guns kill more American kids now than any other cause. Why?   With lax gun restrictions, the US has too many #guns. It has a glorified gun culture and even glorifies the role of the villain, as we can see with films like The Joker, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, American Psycho and others that are popular now with young people, which are now being recycled as YouTube shorts and on other platforms.   Young people also experience the normalization of violence in video games in very popular, online, multiplayer, first-person shooters. This is where many experience socialization while pretending to kill each other with realistic graphics. Meanwhile, many have mental problems but few are treated adequately. Many are depressed and feel hopeless. However, a gun makes some feel powerful and relevant in a culture that fetishizes guns, violence and five minutes of fame.   Why is America still reluctant to deal with the problem?   The 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution has been interpreted as a sacrosanct right to own guns with few restrictions. Gun lobbies and gun companies wield considerable influence. Intense political #polarization means it’s difficult for US government to deal with even less controversial issues, like fixing infrastructure. Fourth, people don’t trust each other or the government. Many believe guns are vital for security.   I have a permit to carry a concealed weapon in my home state, and yet, since getting that permit in 2020, the law was changed and now no permit is required. So government is not only reluctant, some restrictions are still being loosened.

Powerful voices that need to be heard. Action is needed!