#BusinessMustAct
Learn more about how Corporate America can step up for gun safety here.
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Happy New Year
Happy New Year!
Thank you to our generous donors for your year-end support!
Gun Control and Prevention in the States:
- In 2019, Boston homicides are down.
- Massachusetts would benefit from greater awareness of the Extreme Risk Protective Order law.
- A 3D printed gun was used to kill a mother in Rhode Island.
- Nearly 500 guns turned in for buyback in Gilroy California.
National News and the Gun Industry:
- U.S. Senator seeks to block Trump’s administration attempt to ease small arms exports.
- B.U. School of Public Health releases new study on gun violence and racism.
- Alex Jones of InfoWars ordered to pay Sandy Hook court fines.
- The NRA is collapsing under scandal and criminal investigation.
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VOTE with your wallet
After the 2018 Parkland shooting, several companies responded to the youth outcry to end gun violence. Most recently, chief executives of 145 companies signed onto a letter to the Senate to pass universal background checks.
But, the Senate’s response has been silent as they continue to ignore the will of the people. So we are calling on our nation’s largest businesses to take the lead in gun violence prevention (GVP).
We’ve partnered with GVP allies to release the first-ever Gun Safety Scorecard for businesses. The Scorecard measures retailers’ efforts to keep the public safe from gun violence in three specific categories and assigns a letter grade to 29 large American businesses. The Scorecard gives consumers the opportunity to vote with our dollar this holiday season and support businesses that are prioritizing gun responsibility.
Go to BusinessMustAct.org to see if your favorite business is gun safety certified and then take action. Ask America’s largest businesses to initiate policies to prevent customers from bringing guns into their stores, end political donations to lawmakers who stand in the way of gun reform, and invest in community-driven gun violence intervention programs.
Thank you & Happy Holidays! Together we can end gun violence.
Stop Handgun Violence Team
Our Year in Review
Thank you so much for your past support of Stop Handgun Violence.
With your help, we have made Massachusetts the gun violence prevention capital of the United States and we’ve saved countless lives! In fact, as the Boston Globe has editorialized, if every state had the same low gun death rate as Massachusetts, over 27,000 more lives could be saved each year.
As we work to replicate our effective gun laws and regulations nationwide, we are also actively involved in mentoring young activists and supporting the rapidly growing student movement.
This spring we hosted the first New England regional student summit in partnership with Boston University School of Public Health and March for Our Lives. The summit brought together students from across New England to learn, practice skills and network. Using skills learned at the summit, we helped students organize including a summer ARTivism project as part of the nationwide Gun Violence Awareness Day.
In the Fall, we celebrated our 25th anniversary. We could not have sustained this effort without your help and your commitment for the past quarter of a century. We are extremely thankful and proud of the work we did together over the last 25 years, including: 
- Passing the nation’s most comprehensive and effective gun laws in Massachusetts, including renewable licensing and registration for all gun sales.
- Banning assault weapons, high capacity magazines and Bump Stocks in the Commonwealth.
- Creating a nationwide grassroots public awareness campaign, the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence, that has included over 7,000 performers at 500 events in 43 states.
- Reducing the rate of gun deaths in the Commonwealth by 40% and proved the NRA’s worst nightmare—gun laws save lives without banning most guns.
But we’re not done yet.
In the coming year, we’ll continue to be a leader for effective gun violence prevention and fight for rational evidence based gun laws, in Massachusetts and federally. We’ll continue to educate our elected officials, business people and the public about how they can be part of the movement to end preventable gun violence and replicate our effective and proven gun safety laws. Our most recent collaboration, #BusinessMustAct aims to hold Corporate America accountable using the Gun Safety Certified Mark that we helped develop with our partners, Change the Ref and Guns Down.
Please donate today to help us continue this life-saving work.
Thank you again and we can’t do this work without you!
Sincerely,
John Rosenthal, co-founder and the SHV Team
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See you at the movies, Parkland Rising!
Get your movie tickets online at www.coolidge.org
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Ghost gun was used in Santa Clarita shooting
The ATF investigates the firearm used in the Santa Clarita shooting and finds it was a ghost gun (untraceable). Meanwhile, a judge ruled that the White House administration broke a federal law when it reached a settlement allowing a small gun-technology company to post online the digital blueprints for making weapons with a 3D printer.
3D printed guns are dangerous. Tell Congress #BAN3DGUNS
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Last week, John Rosenthal and volunteer Matt Nugent testified to the MA Joint Committee to divest pension funds from the firearms industry. There are many ways to counter gun violence. One is to stop funding the firearms industry!
Check hereto see if your bank is properly invested.
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There’s still time to call your legislator…
It’s not too late to call your MA Representative and Senator to tell them you support Crime Gun Data Reporting & Analysis.
Find your MA state legislator here.
Local & State News
- Springfield youth express their concerns over gun violence.
- Gabby Giffords is honored at UTEC’s 20 anniversary gala.
- After a decade, a gun law in Philadelphia is now enforced.
- Tennessee youth continue conversations on gun violence after headlines fade.
- Texas collides over gun measures.
- Virgina elections a result of the General Assembly’s special session on gun violence.
- University of Virginia cancels 21-gun parade salute because of gun violence trigger.
National Gun Reform & The Gun Industry
- President Trump abandons ideas to prevent gun violence.
- Suicide screening by doctors could help stem suicide rate.
- A Secret Service study showed school attackers exhibited warning signs.
- A pediatric study reports doctors are less likely to ask about safe gun storage.
- Supreme Court rules in favor of Newtown victim families.
- The NRA’s big loss in Virginia explained.
- The NRA Foundation is raising funds by auctioning off guns in schools.
On Our Calendar
- Nov 18 (Mon) Gun Violence Panel in Needham.
- Nov 14 (Thu) Maine Gun Safety Coalition Fitzgerald Award in Portland.
- Nov 16 (Sat) 91% Screening hosted by Grandmothers Against Gun Violence in Cape Cod.
- Nov 18 (Mon) MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence quarterly meeting.
- Nov 22 (Fri) LDB Peace Institute Victims Awareness Month opening ceremony.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Boston annual vigil to end gun violence.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Screening Parkland Rising documentary in Brookline.
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Upcoming November Events
On Our Calendar
- Nov 18 (Mon) Gun Violence Panel in Needham.
- Nov 14 (Thu) Maine Gun Safety Coalition Fitzgerald Award in Portland.
- Nov 16 (Sat) 91% Screening hosted by Grandmothers Against Gun Violence in Cape Cod.
- Nov 18 (Mon) MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence quarterly meeting.
- Nov 22 (Fri) LDB Peace Institute Victims Awareness Month opening ceremony.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Boston annual vigil to end gun violence.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Screening Parkland Rising documentary in Brookline.
Local & State News
- Attorney General Healey brings Sandy Hook Promise to the state.
- Massachusetts Motorcycle Club President arrested on firearm charges.
- Gun activist (John Rosenthal) at milestone.
- Highway shooting in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- New Hampshire school district bans guns from buildings and buses.
- In Philadephia, a man confessed to killing his family members.
- Gun violence prevention is on the Virginia ballot races.
National Gun Reform & The Gun Industry
- 2019 Veterans Suicide Prevention reports 69% is from firearm injury.
- White House promises are broken again for gun reform.
- U.S. Border Patrol buys 33 million bullets for handguns.
- Kids brought guns to school 392 times last year.
- Amnesty International to conduct a hearing with gun violence survivors.
- Another one bites the dust. Eighth NRA board member quits.
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Gun Activist at milestone
Gun activist at milestone
By Jon Chesto and Shirley Leung Globe Staff,October 28, 2019,
John Rosenthal didn’t set out to become a gun control activist 25 years ago, but he became one when he decided to put up a 252-foot-long billboard along the Massachusetts Turnpike by Fenway Park.
Rosenthal and the late Michael Kennedy owned a Lansdowne Street garage, giving them prime real estate to send a message to thousands of commuters every day about stopping gun violence without banning guns.
The first billboard – photos of 15 local youth who had been killed by a gun – went up in 1995, and that is how the world got to know Stop Handgun Violence, the nonprofit Rosenthal and Kennedy founded.
After selling the Fenway garage, the nonprofit’s billboard now hangs off a Back Bay garage on Dalton Street and currently features Joaquin Oliver who was killed in the Parkland, Fla. mass shooting.
Last Thursday, the nonprofit celebrated its silver anniversary with a fund-raiser at the House of Blues that included Senator Ed Markey, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Families of gun violence victims also attended, including Tina Chery, whose 15-year-old son Louis Brown was among the images gracing the first billboard.
Rosenthal, a real estate developer, is proud of what the nonprofit has achieved in helping to pass stricter gun laws in Massachusetts, making it a model. There is, however, more work to be done nationally, such as requiring universal background checks and banning the sale of military assault-style weapons.
Thursday’s event raised more than $120,000. Rosenthal was happy to honor politicians, business leaders, and community activists who have supported his cause all these years, but it was also a night filled with bittersweet moments meeting so many who lost loved ones due to gun violence.
“Half the time I was celebrating, the other half time I felt like crying,” he said.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
On Our Calendar
- Nov 6 (Wed) A public health approach to gun violence.
- Nov 18 (Mon) Gun Violence Panel in Needham.
- Nov 14 (Thu) Maine Gun Safety Coalition Fitzgerald Award in Portland.
- Nov 16 (Sat) 91% Screening hosted by Grandmothers on Cape Cod.
- Nov 18 (Mon) MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence quarterly meeting.
- Nov 22 (Fri) LDB Peace Institute Victims Awareness Month opening Ceremony.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Annual vigil to end gun violence.
- Dec 11 (Wed) Screening Parkland Rising documentary in Brookline.
#SHV25 Triple challenge continues to the end of the day!
Gun Control & News
- U.S. Army wants smarter gun technology.
- ATF data reveals potential gun trafficking hubs.
- MLB Umpire threatens civil war with an AR15.
- Stop Handgun Violence pushes common sense laws.
- A shooting in Roxbury left two injured and one dead.
- A class action lawsuit was filed against Kroger for a store shooting in Kentucky.
- In Oklahoma, school hoax threats cost the community.
- A year later, remembering the Tree of Life victims.
- A deadly shooting at a Texas A&M college party.
- In a turn of events, the NRA calls its’ own video network racist.
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