We Can End Gun Violence by Taking Action – Not Sides

By Giving List Staff   |   November 1, 2021

To those who say we can’t reduce gun violence in America, Tony Porter has a response: “Remember when we didn’t have seat belts?”
Porter is a risk-management expert and advisor to start-ups, oriented toward finding and supporting the most effective people and projects in a field. When a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 and igniting a new national conversation about gun safety, Porter wanted to support the organization most likely to make a tangible and meaningful difference. He did his research, which led him directly to Brady | United Against Gun Violence formerly known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

“I couldn’t look at my kids and say that this was the world I was leaving them with,” says Porter. He acknowledges that gun violence “is a massively complex problem.” But at the same time, as with the move to require seat belts, a campaign of “the right ideas, competently executed,” could flip the switch.

Porter, based in Marin County, now sits on the national board of Brady. A storied national gun violence prevention organization with a strong California presence, Brady has been at the forefront of developing bipartisan educational and legislative solutions to our country’s gun epidemic for over 40 years.

Like many volunteers and supporters, Porter was attracted to Brady’s multi-pronged approach, including their Combating Crime Guns Initiative, a “supply-side” strategy that seeks to stem the pipeline of guns sold from unscrupulous dealers, as opposed to overburdening impacted communities (especially communities of color) with tackling violence prevention locally. Brady’s data analysis, and collaboration with local and federal law-enforcement, is making it harder for dealers to evade the law.

Successes like this make it possible for Brady to do even more work on the ground. In Oakland, for instance, Brady staffer Erica Rice has helped community-based organizations develop educational and policy toolkits that they might not otherwise have access to. Brady has also developed a successful youth-oriented coalition called Team ENOUGH, which trains and empowers young people in California to organize and advocate on a range of gun-related issues. Brady also works with The Ad Council on the  End Family Fire campaign which is educating both gun owners and non-gun owners on the role of safe firearm storage.

But tragedy continues to lurk around every corner, as gun violence has again spiked during the pandemic. Brady recently partnered with Oakland based nonprofit Youth Alive! to create a short, animated video, “Remembering Davey,” about a 21-year-old who was murdered in Oakland in the summer of 2016.

“I didn’t want to live,” says Davey’s mother, Jasmine Hardison, who narrates the video. But five years later, through educational opportunities like this video, she can show her son that “I’m still out here pushing for you… That’s what I’m here for. To have hope after this.”

And that is what Brady is in the business of providing: hope.

 

Brady | United Against Gun Violence

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www.bradyunited.org
(202) 370-8149
Gun Violence Survivor & Vice President of Development and Partnerships: Liz Dunning

Mission

We’re uniting people from coast to coast, liberal and conservative, young and old, fed up and fired up, to end gun violence.

Begin to Build a Relationship

We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s Director of Development and/or Executive Director.

Talk is the least we can do, which is why Brady’s work is so important. They’re taking action to curb gun violence in achievable, common sense ways by emphasizing education, litigation, and legislation, and by recognizing that gun violence affects everyone in our country, and does outsized damage within black and brown communities.
Stephen Colbert
Host, Executive Producer and Writer of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Invest in Our Safety

More likely than not, your life has somehow been touched by gun violence. Whether it’s your children experiencing lockdown drills or the loss of a loved one, firearms and the human suffering they cause have reached epidemic levels. 

To staunch the bleeding requires expertise, dedication, and money. 

Brady is unabashed in its request of you, the donor. It needs $2 million to fuel its End Family Fire campaign this year. 

Your donation pays for research to target the audiences that most need to hear Brady’s message, to produce the advertisements and to provide training for clinicians about how to talk about the risks of guns in the home and safe storage with patients.

“The next school shooter could be stopped. The suicide that you don’t know your teenager is contemplating with the gun in your closet can be stopped with this campaign,” says Brady President Kris Brown. “And even if it saves just one life, the  investment will be worth it.”

Key Supporters

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RLC:
Marita Daly (Past Chair)
Pellie Anderson (Co-Chair)
Kath Tsakalakis (Co-Chair)
Ben Bartlett
Jeff Bleich
David Bray
Johanna Carney
Anne Ching
Randi Curhan
Kris Dyszynski
Jenny Fannin
Eric Havian
Steve Henry
Dan Horn
Dennis Joyce
Pam Kosinski
Nick Kenig
Coach Steve Kerr
Sonja Caldwell Kos
Kira Dahlgren Lancaster
Reginald Lee
Mark Linton
John Maa
Dennis Mulqueeney
Christina Nooney
Jeanette Pavini
Jonathan Parkhurst
Michael Plimack
Kari & Tom Rocca
Steven Roland
Michael Ronen
Juana Schurman
Louise Serio
Steve Sposato
Eric Swergold & Dawn Dobras
Brittany Votto
Joyce Wang
Saeri Yuk