Every time another school shooting or mass shooting happens, I am approached by people asking, "What can I do? What can we do?"  

So I wanted to take a moment to offer some actionable steps you can take in the face of this tragedy.  

State: 

UPDATE: Governor Pritzker has signed HB 4729, which will fund a statewide public awareness campaign to promote safe firearm storage. It's effective date is January 1, 2023. Feel free to send him a thank you!!!

Springfield

Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: 217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831

Chicago

Office of the Governor
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122

Contact the Governor Online

Federal:

Reach out to your congressmen and let them know you want to see action now to prevent tragedies like the one in Uvalde Texas and that failure to do so could greatly impact your support of them in future elections. 

Congress: Find your Members

Education & Resources

• Giffords: Courage to Fight Violence

• Radiolab Presents: More Perfect - The Gun Show, WNYC

• The Trace: Investigating Gun Violence in America

Supporting Strong Communities

• Changing the Beat of Mental Health: Amplifying Our Voice, Communities United

Support and Prevention

• Talking to Your Children about Tragedies in the News, Lurie Children's Blog

• Helping Your Children Manage Distress in the Aftermath of a Shooting, American Psychological Association

• Terrorism and Violence, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

• Healing Circles

• Talking to Children about the Shooting, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

• Helping Youth after Community Trauma, Tips for Educators, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

• Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen, Program for Prevention Science, University of Colorado at Boulder

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255

• Firearm Safety Toolkit

Research

• Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Illinois: Research, Policy Analysis and Recommendations, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Public Health On Call Series: Gun Violence Prevention, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Chicago Firearms Report, UChicago Urban Labs

• Lurie Children's infographic on firearm data in Illinois

Thumbnail photo by Jay Rembert on Unsplash