REALIZE FEWER LIVES IMPACTED BY GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH ADVOCATING AND EXECUTING RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP.

Our Guiding Principles

Our Strategic Priorities

IMPLEMENT ON PROVEN SUICIDE PREVENTION SOLUTIONS

More than 48,000 people lost their lives to suicide in 2018, and of those deaths, 51% are attributed to firearms.* And while determining the rate at which mental illness impacts suicide is difficult, the CDC estimates that 46% of the victims had a known mental health condition. Many other risk factors exist as well including substance abuse, intoxication, access to firearms, history of trauma, and more.

What can we do to address this problem? How can we meet mental illness and other risk factors with compassion? Several studies have indicated that when lethal means are made less available or less deadly, suicide rates by that method decline, and frequently suicide rates overall decline. Focusing on “means reduction” can prevent suicides.

We can do better together.

Whitney/Strong will launch the evidence-based Counseling Access to Lethal Means (CALM) program nationally as our key strategy for reducing suicides. While there are many organizations making progress focused on “the why” of suicide, we choose to gear our efforts toward “the how”. 

Developed by Elaine Frank and Mark Ciocca, and in collaboration with Means Matter, a project of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, CALM curriculum helps providers implement counseling strategies to assist clients at risk for suicide and their families reduce access to lethal means. The course is intended for mental health and medical professionals. We will work with founder Elaine Frank to increase program participation by recruiting new hospitals, primary care offices, and universities.

CHAMPION NEW LAWS AND FUNDING

Not all gun violence prevention policies are proven to be effective, and even fewer receive backing from both political parties. When it comes to legislation, we will only pursue solutions that fit both criteria – we cannot afford to spin our wheels when lives hang in the balance.

We can do better together.

For Kentucky, Whitney/Strong will seek a policy solution to ensure those who pose a risk (to themselves or others) can be separated from lethal means when going through a crisis period. While many states have successfully passed similar legislation, often referred to as Extreme Risk Protection Orders, we have designed a custom solution meant to balance the rights of both gun owners and non-gun owners across the state.

For Ohio, Whitney/Strong will advocate and lobby for the passage of Governor DeWine’s 17-point plan for gun violence prevention, Strong Ohio. The plan includes safety protection orders, ongoing help to those in crisis, new state background checks, greater penalties for gun crimes, and more. This solution was introduced after the powerful cries of “do something” reverberated from Dayton’s Oregon District after the August 4th, 2019 mass shooting.

At the federal level, Whitney/Strong will continue in an advocate role, educating legislators on the policy options proven to be effective and majority-supported, and strengthening our relationships with key members in leadership and within the Judiciary Committee.

Each year provides an opportunity to reassess legislative solutions, and we look forward to gathering your input on what is most important to you!

EQUITY-FOCUSED COMMUNITY WORK

Mass shootings have awakened many within our country to the devastating realities of gun violence. Researchers conservatively estimate that gun violence costs the American economy at least $229 billion every year, including $8.6 billion in direct emergency and medical care expenses.*** And while the financial pain is harrowing, it pales in comparison to the acute physical and mental pain felt by survivors.

This pain is not distributed evenly. The homicide rate for Black Americans in all 50 states is, on average, eight times higher than that of Whites (CDC, 2017). Urban areas that experience the most gun violence, are characterized by poverty, inequality, and racial segregation (Sampson, 2013).

We can do better together.

Whitney/Strong, in partnership with the Jefferson County Sheriffs’ Office, Cincinnati Police Department, and UC Health will launch the Save a Life Series throughout Kentucky and Ohio to bring safe storage, firearm safety, and Stop the Bleed training directly into communities most impacted by gun violence. These tactics have been shown to reduce the deadly impact of gun violence by preventing bleeding to death, violent crime, accidental death and injury, and suicide. 

*National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Center for Disease Control
**Center for Disease Control
*** Giffords’ Law Center

Support

Please join with Whitney/Strong today by donating. Together we’ll be working with key stakeholders to drive conversations related to gun violence as well as gathering data and leveraging findings to drive education, advocacy, and solutions. We can prevent these situations from happening and I’m excited to take advantage of my second chance in life to make a meaningful difference. I can’t do it alone… but we can do it together. - Whitney