From Classrooms to Closets: Gen Z’s Reality
I was ten years old the first time I remember experiencing a school lockdown. My classmates and I sat silently in the dark, tucked away from the windows. At first, I felt a strange sense of excitement—our language arts lesson had come to an unexpected halt, and part...
Who is the biggest buyer of guns and ammo in the U.S.? As a taxpayer, you are!
Altogether, taxpayers spend more than $5 billion a year to buy guns and ammunition for our nation’s law enforcement agencies. That’s a lot of money – not to mention guns and bullets – going to the people whose job it is to keep us safe. But an analysis by Brady United...
Business Must Act, Part 3 of 3: Giving your money to gun-rights activists
In parts 1 and 2 of this series, we walked you through the scorecards created by Business Must Act and Is Your Bank Loaded? Those campaigns from Guns Down America are aimed at encouraging consumers to nudge some of America’s eminent brands to work for gun-violence...
Business Must Act, Part 2 of 3: What’s in your holster?
In part 1 of this series, we walked you through the Gun Safety Scorecard, the cornerstone of the Business Must Act campaign of Guns Down America. The scorecard weighs in-store policies, corporate action and political and lobbying donations to determine which...
Business Must Act, Part 1 of 3: “How can I buy a hammer without giving money to the gun lobby?”
Raise your hand if you spend money. Now, keep your hand raised if you consider yourself conscientious about how you spend that money. Thought so. If you think the way we do at SD4GVP: You want to spend your money with companies that support the goal of ending gun...
12th Annual Remembrance for Victims of Gun Violence
SD4GVP and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego held a remembrance on December 15, 2024, for loved ones lost and for all victims of gun violence. The service included time to honor and remember victims and survivors. Following the service, we held a...
Persuading your city council to pass a safe storage ordinance
One of these days, it will be your turn. You’ll have figured out that there really is something that ordinary people – like you, like us, like them – can do to prevent gun violence. You’ll have identified the officials on your city council who feel the way you do....
GUAC: One-Father Show by the Dad of a Parkland Victim
We widened our advocacy efforts into artivism by producing “GUAC,” a one-person show commemorating the life of Joaquín “Guac” Oliver. After Joaquín was killed in the 2018 Parkland mass shooting, his parents, Manny and Patricia Oliver, embarked on a campaign to get...
Tipping Point: Santana High School
I live in Santee, California, where on March 5, 2001, a 15-year-old student took an eight-shot, .22-caliber revolver to class at Santana High School. The student opened fire, killing two students and wounding 13 others. Santana showed me that this kind of thing can...
White House Announces New Actions to Reduce Gun Violence
We're relieved to tell you that the Biden-Harris Administration announced on January 25 a series of new executive actions to help promote the safe storage of firearms. The actions implement President Biden’s Executive Order of March 2023, which promoted safe gun...
Tipping Point: My Sandy Hook Quilt
On the morning of December 14, 2012, we were preparing our annual Hanukkah party for thirty neighbors and our family. Standing at the head of our dining room table, I placed the menorah on the blue cloth with the box of candles, the matches and my husband Art’s...
The Empty Spaces that Gun Violence Creates
This period of late October to early November is a particularly harrowing time of mass shooting memories. There have been lessons learned, loopholes closed, gun safety measures taken and opportunities missed. Think of 2017, at Sutherland Springs Church in Texas. Think...