Pennsylvania Must Address Gun Violence Crisis
Recently, when President Joe Biden announced the creation of the first-ever federal office to centralize and coordinate gun-violence prevention efforts, he was joined by youth activists from March For Our Lives.
The images from the Rose Garden ceremony moved me deeply because, once upon a time, I was a teenager much like them, worried about gun violence in my community and wanting politicians to do more to keep us safe.
Back then, I was 15, living in McKeesport with my mom and my sister, when gun violence came to our doorstep. Not 50 feet from our house, a man was shot. I decided to go to a city council meeting and find out what our representatives would do about it.
The meeting left me unsatisfied, and I decided to take action. I started a youth-violence prevention program in my community. Then, after I graduated from college, I helped start Allegheny County’s first violence-prevention office, still operating today.
Nearly two decades later, this work is even more critical.
Firearms are now the Number One cause of death for young people in America. Nearly half — four in 10 — of young Americans say that they are worried about becoming a victim of gun violence or a mass shooting.
Here in Pennsylvania, the gun violence epidemic touches nearly every corner of our Commonwealth. An average of more than 1,700 people are killed by guns in Pennsylvania every year, and nearly 2,000 more are wounded.
That doesn’t even begin to count the number of people affected by gun violence — the family members who have lost loved ones, the doctors and nurses who must care for the wounded, the schoolchildren who live with the constant fear and trauma of active-shooter drills, the community members who worry about whether it’s safe to walk the streets or knock on a neighbor’s door or worship at church.
No matter your age, your race or religion, all Pennsylvanians deserve the freedom to be safe and feel safe in their community. That’s what Gov. Josh Shapiro and I believe, and that freedom is what President Biden is fighting for.
Last year, the president signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, breaking a decades-long logjam on gun safety at the federal level. This legislation took a historic step toward addressing America’s gun violence crisis, but it was not the end.
With last week’s announcement, President Biden has heeded the calls of survivors and advocates to create a gun-violence prevention office that can better coordinate on critical policy efforts across the federal government. Vice President Kamala Harris will be leading the office.
I’m grateful to have President Biden’s steady leadership in this fight, but I know that federal action is only one piece of the puzzle. America is a patchwork of gun laws, and ending gun violence in this country requires innovation and cooperation at every level of government.
This summer, I toured our state, talking to survivors, young people, and community leaders about the resources they need to address the crisis. I know that the people closest to a problem are also often closest to the solution. Across the state, communities are leading the way to create tailor-made solutions to combat violence in their own neighborhoods, and the Shapiro–Davis administration will work to support them in every possible way.
As always, there is more work to be done. From individuals to households, state legislatures, Congress and all the way up to the Oval Office, making our communities safe from gun violence will take the efforts of all of us.
The work is not easy, but it’s necessary. We’ll keep fighting until every person in Pennsylvania and across the country can live free from the fear of gun violence.
