{"id":73386,"date":"2025-06-06T12:44:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T19:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73386"},"modified":"2025-06-06T12:44:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T19:44:49","slug":"youth-community-leaders-take-center-stage-in-launch-of-gun-safety-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73386","title":{"rendered":"Youth, community leaders take center stage in launch of gun safety effort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Reduce the Risk campaign educates people about the 9 protection orders available<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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What you need to know:<\/strong>\u00a0Governor Newsom announced a comprehensive campaign to engage youth and community leaders on the available protection orders to keep Californians safer from gun violence during Gun Violence Awareness Month.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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SACRAMENTO \u2013\u00a0As California continues its nationwide leadership with the strongest gun safety laws in the country, Governor Gavin Newsom launched a campaign aimed at engaging the state\u2019s youth and key leaders about the gun violence protection orders available during times of crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cYear after year, California continues to step up to protect families statewide from senseless gun incidents. As many of our youth experience a crisis of connection and belonging, we are welcoming them in the ongoing movement to bring communities together around these common-sense solutions.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
\nGovernor\u00a0Gavin Newsom<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Underscoring the state\u2019s commitment to using every tool available to prevent gun violence, the\u00a0<\/span>Reduce the Risk campaign<\/a>\u00a0will be led by the Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and aims to close the gap in public knowledge through key engagement about California\u2019s nine types of protection orders, which temporarily remove firearms to prevent larger tragedies. A\u00a0recent survey<\/a>\u00a0shows nearly 80 percent of Californians are concerned about how little they know about these legal tools.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtection orders have been a driving factor in reducing shootings, suicides, and domestic violence,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Cal OES Director Nancy Ward<\/strong>. \u201cYet many Californians don\u2019t know they exist. This campaign continues the work we began in 2023 to make sure every community knows how to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reduce the Risk campaign is informed by the\u00a0<\/span>Champions Advisory Council,\u00a0 composed of experts in law enforcement, legal practice, and health care, as well as the Youth Advisory Council, a group of young leaders on the frontlines of gun violence prevention. These youth advisors are helping shape campaign activities to better reach and engage younger Californians, who will be critical to sustaining progress in the future.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s youth as a solution<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nationwide, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents. Compared to the rest of the nation, California has made substantial long-term progress in reducing per capita rates of youth firearm homicide.\u00a0<\/span>CDC data showed<\/a>\u00a0that in 2022, California\u2019s firearm homicide rate for youth under 25 was about 50% below the rate recorded for the rest of the U.S. By contrast, nationwide youth gun\u00a0homicides increased<\/a>\u00a0over 46% from 2019-2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Youth Advisory Council plays a vital role in shaping real solutions to gun violence by bringing the voices of those directly impacted into the conversation,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Maxwell Martinez<\/strong>\u00a0of Sacramento, Youth Advisory Council member, who is a survivor of gun violence and recent graduate from Chico State. \u201cYoung people are not just the future, we are the present. Our perspectives are essential in driving urgent, lasting change.\u201d<\/p>\n

California has long been a\u00a0<\/span>national leader<\/a>\u00a0in gun violence prevention, with laws like universal background checks, assault weapons bans, and mandatory waiting periods. These efforts have paid off: California consistently has one of the\u00a0lowest gun death rates in the nation<\/a>. But the toll remains high \u2013 about\u00a03,200 Californians lose their lives<\/a>\u00a0to gun violence each year, with suicides making up a significant share,\u00a0especially among men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGun violence affects every community, and for too long, young people have been left out of the conversation. Through my work producing a documentary on gun violence prevention, I saw the power of youth voices firsthand,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0said\u00a0Sarah Youssef\u00a0<\/strong>of San Diego, Youth Advisory Council member, high school senior, and active participant in the local chapter of the Brady Campaign. \u201cReduce the Risk gives us the platform we need to push for real change and make sure no more lives are lost to preventable violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community leaders come together<\/span><\/h2>\n

Experts from the\u00a0<\/span>Champions Advisory Council include community leaders who see the daily toll that gun violence has on families statewide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is solid evidence that restraining orders can help prevent interpersonal violence, including domestic violence and mass shootings, and suicide.\u00a0<\/span>Reduce the Risk will help Californians put these important tools to work,\u201d said Garen Wintemute, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Violence Prevention at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n

In California, men aged 15\u201344\u00a0<\/span>die by suicide at 3 to 4 times<\/a>\u00a0the rate of women, often by firearms. While violence is focused both internally and externally, affecting all people in the community, men are responsible for\u00a0almost 80%<\/a>\u00a0of violent crime. Almost half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male intimate partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often we see the devastation that could have been prevented if someone had spoken up or taken action. Protection orders are a proven tool that can interrupt violence before it happens,\u201d said\u00a0Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper<\/strong>. \u201cThrough the\u00a0<\/span>Reduce the Risk campaign, we are making sure every Californian knows how to use these lifesaving laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protection orders reduce gun violence\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

California was the first state in the nation to adopt a \u201c<\/span>red flag law<\/a>\u201d in 2016. In the first three years of their existence, these protection orders were used to prevent\u00a058 cases of threatened mass shootings<\/a>. The protection orders available in California include:<\/p>\n