Press Releases

“Gun injuries take an enormous emotional, physical, and monetary toll on the well-being of Americans. More of our citizens are being shot and injured than ever before, which reinforces the urgent need for stronger and effective gun violence prevention laws.”

Falling less than two weeks after the historic March for Our Lives, April 2-8 marks National Public Health Week -- an initiative of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and a unique opportunity to discuss gun violence as the public health crisis APHA and others, including the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, know it is.

"As a Public Health Analyst for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and native of Framingham, Massachusetts, I am writing today in support of House Bill 3081 - An Act establishing Extreme Risk Protective Orders (ERPOs). This bill would prohibit a person who poses a significant danger of causing physical harm to themselves, the petitioner, or anyone else from having in his or her custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or ammunition for a period of up to 1 year"

“As a public health analyst, I amalgamate research evidence regarding indicators of dangerousness, the risk of violence towards self or others, access to guns, and gun deaths. Using the best available research, my colleagues and I work to determine who is likely to be at the highest risk of perpetrating violent acts and develop policies that reach and prohibit them from purchasing and possessing firearms for the duration of elevated risk. We also know that families and law enforcement desperately need legal tools to intervene and prevent tragedies when they are concerned about an at-risk individual. Laws like the High Risk Protection Order can save lives

“We are committed to listening to research and crafting life-saving policies based on what data tells us about risk factors for violence. We are pleased to hear that Representative Murphy and others are also committed to this common-sense, data-driven approach.”

“While NICS checks tend to decrease in the new year, it is interesting to see such a significant change from one January to the next,” said Ed Fund Executive Director Josh Horwitz. “We don’t yet know whether the decrease is due to the change in administration, but we will continue to monitor this trend, explore possible contributing factors, and make the numbers known.”

A new law that allows family and law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from a person in crisis goes into effect in Washington state today.

In California, 53 percent of all gun deaths are suicides, and roughly four suicides by a firearm occur every day. Often family members are the first to know when a loved one is in crisis and poses a potential risk to themselves or others. The GVRO offers family, household members, and law enforcement a process to remove firearms from someone in a temporary crisis situation.

Research shows that easy access to guns turns domestic violence fatal. More than half – 55 percent – of American women killed with a gun are killed by an intimate partner or family member. Women in abusive relationships are 500 percent more likely to be killed when their abusers have access to guns. Evidence also shows that states that restrict abusers’ firearms access can reduce the risk of domestic homicide by as much as 25 percent.

Evidence shows Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) can save lives. A new report released by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence shows how such protection orders can be a valuable tool in reducing gun deaths in Washington. The report examines newly released data on the success of a similar policy in Connecticut that has been in effect for over a decade.