Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Applaud Washington Senate for Passing Legislation to Establish the Washington Office of Firearm Violence Prevention

The Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Students Demand Action, both a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after the Washington Senate passed Senate Bill 6288, legislation to establish the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. The office would promote effective state and local efforts to reduce preventable injuries and deaths from daily gun violence in Washington.

“Violence intervention and prevention programs in cities and states across the country have already been proven to save lives,” said Cause Haun,a volunteer with the Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Today, we’re one step closer to enacting a similar program that will help reduce gun violence in the most impacted Washington communities. We’re grateful to our leaders in the Senate for taking the necessary steps to advance this bill, and we urge our gun sense champions in the House to take up this bill immediately.”

“Washington lawmakers continue to show to us that they’re serious about preventing gun violence in all its forms,” said Jadyn Malone, a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action. “We’re thrilled to see progress in the legislature to advance this critical bill that has the potential to save so many lives in our state.”

The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention would promote effective state and local efforts to reduce preventable injuries and deaths from daily gun violence in Washington. Community violence intervention programs have already been successful in helping reduce daily gun violence in California, New York, and Massachusetts by applying localized approaches to addressing gun violence in some of their cities’ hardest-hit neighborhoods. 

While Washington is a national leader in gun violence prevention, the state has not historically prioritized local violence intervention and prevention programs aimed at reducing interpersonal gun violence. Establishing the Washington Office of Firearm Violence Prevention would allow the state to support several effective gun violence reduction initiatives and create a case study for funding throughout the state. 

Statistics about gun violence in Washington are available here, and information on how Washington’s gun laws compare to other states overall is available here.