Boston Public Health Commission的动态

The incident this weekend is a stark reminder that gun violence doesn't distinguish between Democrat and Republican, old or young. We're clear-eyed that the responsibility for our children's safety and well-being is a collective responsibility, and that moms are uniquely placed to address it. The fact is that guns are the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers (Everytown for Gun Safety): more than car accidents, cancer, suffocation, or poisoning. Confronting the critical issue of unregulated gun access is essential to securing their future. This is the sobering reality that we must keep in clear view as fingers are pointed and blame is sought: gun violence transcends party politics; it is a matter of life and death, and there are common sense solutions on the table right now. That's why determined moms of BOTH parties across the country have been leading the movement against gun violence for years. Here are a few examples: ? ??In 2018 Erin Maye Quade did a 24-hour sit-in on the Minnesota House floor, reading testimonies from gun violence victims aloud. ??Michelle Au, MD, MPH, a mom and pediatrician authored a bill which would have required people to securely store guns if children could gain access to them. ? ??Julie von Haefen created child access protection laws to keep legal firearms out of the hands of children and teens. ?? Kristen McDonald created child access protection laws to keep legal firearms out of the hands of children and teens. ?? Stephanie Chang sponsored a bill to prohibit the use and possession of firearms and ammunition by persons convicted of domestic violence. ??Mary Katherine Joyce and Melissa Alexander, Republican gun owners in Tennessee whose children were involved in a school shooting and who now advocate for safe storage laws, red flag laws, and universal background checks. (Read more on that here: https://bit.ly/3Lm0zBv) These are just a few of the moms prioritizing policy over party to ensure their kids can attend school without the fear of being murdered. Moms understand that safeguarding lives takes precedence over political allegiance, and that's why we've got their backs - do you? #ElectMoreMamas #GOTV #GunReform

"Importantly, we also need Congress to do its part. It’s long past time we banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, ended immunity from liability for gun manufacturers, passed a national red flag law, enacted universal background checks, and required safe storage of guns. We cannot tackle the gun violence epidemic in America while Republicans in Congress sit on their hands." - President Biden Red Flag Laws are a common-sense gun regulations that everyone should be on board with. ?? What is a #redflag law? ?????? Red flag laws allow law enforcement or family members to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from an individual deemed to pose a risk to themselves or others due to factors like mental health issues or threats. So far, 21 states have adopted similar policies. Per Everytown for Gun Safety's research--"Researchers have estimated that one suicide is averted for every ten Extreme Risk orders in a?Connecticut?study — and found the policy is associated with a 7.5% drop in the gun suicide rate in?Indiana.?" https://lnkd.in/gVarqRwP

NEW: What's working in gun violence prevention? Our final Trajectory newsletter of 2023 takes stock of the most encouraging developments — from state-level progress on gun reform to federal investment in grassroots community programs.

Awful story from Kings County, CA. King County, WA conducts about 100 review hearings a week to ensure people follow through and obey an Order to Surrender Weapons. I preside over these hearings. An Order to Surrender Weapons gets issued when a judicial officer orders a protection order (DV, stalking, any-harassment, etc). The logic is simple: if you’re a person restrained by a protection order, you shouldn’t have access to a gun while that protection order is in place. And the Legislature has told the courts “hey, if you’re going to issue this order, make sure people follow it.” Sounds easy to make this happen? It’s not. There are many steps that complicate ensuring compliance. First, the Order to Surrender Weapons must be ‘served’ on the restrained person. That means finding that person, giving them a copy of the order (typically issued on an emergency basis without them present), and filing proof of service with the Court. Serving an order can mean going to their house or work and handing it to the person. Who serves the Order? Usually the police. Superior Court issues about 100 Orders to Surrender Weapons each week in King County. This is no criticism of the police, but their staffing levels often allow for only one or two officers to be assigned to do this job. Without service, it’d be a due process violation to hold someone to account for a court order they never received. I continue many, many compliance hearings every week — cases where the restrained person has guns, sometimes alot of them — because service has not happened. That scenario is fraught with trouble. There are more challenges that Courts face, like IT issues, staffing, judicial education, timing of getting orders out, etc. I believe this legislative effort — to compel the surrender of guns when a protection order gets issued and to ensure that these orders are followed - saves lives because it requires guns to be removed from an individual who a court has found to be dangerous. But if the back room work is underfunded or not prioritized, it can lead to tragic outcomes. https://lnkd.in/gCwQyvdz

The United States is plagued by an epidemic of gun violence that kills more than 40,000 Americans every year — but it does not have to be this way. California is proof. Over the last 30 years, thanks to our nation-leading, commonsense, data-driven gun laws, policies, and programs, we have transformed from a state with some of the highest rates of gun violence to one with some of the lowest. Read more about how our office is tackling gun violence in this week's Weekly Update. https://lnkd.in/g7_btG2b

Gun rights and safety is a contentious topic for many Americans. Last night, PBS NewsHour aired a segment with Judy Woodruff featuring cross-partisan participants, the TN11, of a project Convergence worked on with Starts With Us,?Citizen Solutions.?Convergence and Starts with Us convened the TN11 to craft cross-partisan consensus solutions on gun rights and safety in Tennessee. The feature included clips from the convenings including some of Convergence’s CEO and President, Mariah Levison facilitating the session. In the segment, Judy Woodroof spoke with participants from both sides of the issue and uncovered the challenges they face around the consensus solutions they came up with when interacting with state legislators and their own communities. Participant Tim Carroll noted that, “I know that, if I start speaking out about this session and what I did, then I know that all of this could go away, right? If somebody says Tim Carroll is working with the anti-gun folks to try to come up with new laws, that’s all they will hear. And they will say, you know what, Tim Carroll, don’t go take classes with him, don’t listen to anything he says. I think that’s why I fought so hard during the solutions sessions to come up with things that didn’t infringe on our rights. But I know that will be misconstrued in the gun rights community.” Convergence applauds the efforts and courage of the TN11 who approached the conversations with empathy, thoughtfulness, and determination to make things better. Watch the segment here: https://lnkd.in/g_-yqKkN

We are in a rut. We have characterized our cause as defending the Second Amendment for so long, we have lost sight of the real battle going on right now. Gun control is a politically expedient web of lies. Politicians like it because it costs far less than addressing the real causes of violence. Gun control fans like it because they long ago ran out of ideas and with their money and media control, they can hide the fact their laws not only don't work, they can't work. They don't solve the problems because they don't even address the problems. This is where we need to attack and we need to be relentless. In 2022, the CDC fatal injury reports show that 39% of all firearm-related deaths were suicides by White, non-Hispanic males. States with red flag laws actually had higher rates of firearm usage and virtually no change in the total number of suicides. Firearm homicides with Black and Hispanic male victims accounted for 27% of the total. Focusing down even farther, we find more than ten percent of all gun-related deaths were homicides with victims who were Black, non-Hispanic males between the ages of 16 and 29. This group makes up about 1.3% of the U.S. population. So the problem isn't guns: It's gangs. It should come as a surprise to no one that measures primarily targeting legal guns owners don't have any impact. Gun control fans and fools like Joe Biden talk about keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them but they don't seem to know how those people actually get them. This is our battle. As General George Patton once said, "Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack, attack, and attack some more."

"Which states have the ideal laws to prevent gun violence? We compared gun policy across the country, scoring every state on the?strength of its gun laws?and comparing it with its?rate of gun violence. In states where elected officials have taken action to pass gun safety laws, fewer people die by gun violence. Choose a state to see how it stacks up on 50 key policies, or explore a policy to see how much of the country has adopted it."

Today is gun violence awareness day. Too many people continue to be impacted by gun violence, that I think we all can agree on. What we don't always agree on is how we reduce victimization. Sometimes the disagreements get downright ugly. What often is forgotten is the impact gun violence has on victims and their families. Many of us have lived through traumatic experiences that change our lives forever, every day more people 'join' this group. I belong to this group and I don't say that to solicit empathy (please don't) but rather to express my frustration at the 'nyet' crowds. At both ends of the political spectrum we have people who continue to obstruct progress. We have second amendment absolutionist who obstruct any and all legislative efforts to reduce access to firearms for anyone, we have activist who refuse to support any and all law enforcement solutions. Both groups are small and don't reflect what the majority of Americans want but unfortunately continue to exert a disproportionate impact on how we address gun violence. As a victim I can tell you that these groups don't represent me. As an academic I can tell you that their opinions are not supported by evidence and lean heavily on cherry picking pieces of evidence. If we want sustainable solutions we have to be better at listening to the folks that are impacted: inner city residents, survivors or mass shootings and others who had their lives upended. We also need to work together better, police and community organizers, democrats and republicans. We don't always have to agree on everything to work together, but we should be willing to listen. If you can't do that, respectfully, maybe sit this one out. If you can, let me know how I can help.

The Coalition is continuing to impact the narrative around this omnibus gun bill and gun violence in general. Our CEO Ruth Zakarin spoke to ABC6 News on Friday about the omnibus bill that was signed into law last week, and how MA state laws impact the rest of New England. “There’s no one solution to gun violence, so when we talk about it at the coalition is we move the needle on this issue through policy change, sustained investment in community-based solutions, and making sure we are listening to data and research. A state is only as safe as the gun laws in the neighboring states. So we’re impacted when other New England states and other places in the country have weak gun laws. And so if Massachusetts can be an example of leadership, which I think it has been and continues to be with the passage of this law, then we can show other states what it looks like to have this comprehensive approach." Watch the full segment here: https://buff.ly/46s1GJw