CREDO Mobile Blog

Donations update: Support Brady in its work to end the epidemic of gun violence

Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This February, Brady is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will help Brady in its mission to free America from gun violence and create safer communities nationwide.

Read this important blog post about Brady’s critical work, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send funding to Brady to support its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding February grantees.

Gun violence in America is a public health crisis that devastates communities nationwide. Every day, more than 300 people are shot and more than 100 others are killed with guns. Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children in America. It causes low-birthweight babies in impacted communities due to the stress faced by mothers and it costs our healthcare system $3.5 billion a year. And despite what the gun industry claims, this epidemic is preventable if we enact sensible, evidence-based solutions.

Since our founding in 1974, Brady has led the charge on such solutions to free America from gun violence. Inspired by the roadmap behind successful movements to curb youth smoking, promote seatbelt use and prevent drunk driving, we focus our efforts across three critical areas:

• Change the laws
• Change the industry
• Change the culture

Passing life-saving legislation in Congress and statehouses nationwide

We are at a turning point in the movement to end gun violence. ​​Following the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the first gun-safety law in nearly 30 years — President Biden again delivered for gun safety: His administration established the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which is the first in our nation’s history and will create a coordinated federal response to our gun violence crisis. Brady was integral in helping form the office and we couldn’t be prouder with the result. The office will coordinate support for survivors, families and communities impacted by gun violence, similar to the way FEMA operates, identify executive actions that the president can take, put all efforts of the Biden-Harris Administration to end gun violence under one roof, as opposed to in disparate government agencies working independently, and so much more. This progress is the breakthrough our movement needs to save lives. But we need to ensure it’s just the first step of many.

With your support, we’re also making progress in state legislatures across the country. In a single year, Brady prioritized 100 gun violence-prevention state bills, monitored 200, defended 15 and passed 39 life-saving laws in states across the country. These laws take a comprehensive approach to address gun violence in all its forms. In Illinois, as a direct response to the Highland Park July 4 massacre, we helped ban deadly assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. In California, we helped pass a first-of-its-kind law that will implement a tax on firearm sales to provide sustained funding to gun violence-prevention programs, including community violence intervention efforts. We also worked with Colorado to prohibit the sale and possession of homemade ghost guns, helping to end the proliferation of these unserialized weapons, which are often the weapons of choice for prohibited gun purchasers.

Even when Congress is gridlocked, you can always count on Brady to make vital progress in states across the country to protect our communities from senseless gun violence.

Changing cultural norms and promoting responsible, safe firearm storage

Every day in America, eight kids are unintentionally injured or killed as a result of family fire, which is a shooting involving an improperly stored or misused gun in the home.

Our nonpartisan, award-winning End Family Fire program works to promote responsible gun ownership, spreading awareness among gun owners and non-gun owners alike about the life-saving role of safe firearm storage — which means storing firearms locked, unloaded and separate from ammunition. Unintentional shootings, suicide and firearm misuse are all forms of family fire, which has an outsize impact on young people, veterans and firearm owners. But we’re making a real, lasting difference in communities across the country.

Research shows that 73% of gun owners who have seen our safe storage ads agree that storing all of their guns locked and unloaded reduces the risk of someone dying by suicide in their home — a marked increase from when we launched the program five years ago. Additionally, according to an Ad Council study, approximately half of gun owners or adults in gun-owning households who are aware of End Family Fire report that they have taken steps to store their firearms more safely. So whether or not you own a firearm, we can all be part of the solution. By simply sharing our PSAs, you will help prevent incidents of family fire and save lives.

Changing attitudes and behaviors around firearms by engaging creatives to #Show Gun Safety

Culture-makers, like writers, directors and actors, have always had a deep influence on how we think of ourselves, what we value and how we act. They’ve helped shift attitudes around public health crises, like smoking, drunk driving and seatbelts.

Brady’s Show Gun Safety campaign works with leaders in Hollywood to spark positive norm and behavior change and reshape America’s relationship with guns.

Over the past two years, we’ve worked with the creative community — including Emmy and Academy Award winners — to harness the power of culture-makers to model gun safety on screen. This has included convening Show Gun Safety ambassadors at the White House, consulting on major TV shows, partnering with USC’s Norman Lear Center on gun safety media best practices, hosting a panel at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and amplifying the voices of actors and advocates nationwide.

Today, there are more firearms than people in America and we know it’s likely guns will always have a role in the shows and films we watch. Our Show Gun Safety campaign does not ask anyone to stop showing guns on screen. But our nation’s content creators and storytellers have the power to model safety norms and show the consequences of reckless gun use — depictions that help guide us to a safer America free of gun violence. Learn more about Brady’s Show Gun Safety campaign today.

Winning legal reforms and taking the gun industry to court

Brady Legal takes on the gun industry in court to secure justice for the victims and survivors of gun violence. Brady’s litigation centers on limiting the gun industry’s special protections and reforming the practices of irresponsible industry actors.

Recently, with the support of Brady’s legal team, the family members of Charles Carver, Johnny Coxie and Meagan Coxie reached a settlement of more than $2.4 million against Academy Sports + Outdoors, one of the nation’s largest gun dealers. In 2016, Charles David Carvery, Johnny Coxie and Meagan Leigh Coxie were found shot and killed on the property of a now-convicted serial killer. The killer, who was legally prohibited from buying a firearm, used a firearm sold by Academy Sports + Outdoors in an illegal straw purchase. Had Academy Sports + Outdoors acted responsibly, Johnny Coxie, Meagan Leigh Coxie and Charles David Carver might still be alive today. While we cannot bring back Charles, Johnny or Meagan, we at Brady are proud to have represented their families and to work toward ensuring no other family suffers in this way.

This settlement also sends a clear message to members of the gun industry that if they choose to participate in negligent and unlawful business practices, they will be held accountable. To date, our legal team has won over $70 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of victims and survivors of gun violence.

Learn more about the vital work Brady does at BradyUnited.org.