Our Mission
Safer Country is dedicated to keeping guns out of unsafe hands.
SAFER COUNTRY IS TAKING ACTION!
Safer Country has created gun tragedy prevention public awareness campaigns in Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria.
This fall, Safer Country will be launching its safe and secure storage saves lives pizza box messaging campaign.
Safer Country Is Succeeding!!!
Safer Country’s temporary firearms removal (also known as red flag) laws public awareness campaign has successfully launched in Fairfax County! The above photo features Fairfax County’s Board Chair Jeff McKay, Safer Country’s Founder/Executive Director Paul Friedman, Supervisor and Public Safety Chair Rodney Lusk, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano at a press event on September 20, 2022.
Working together, Fairfax County and Safer Country introduced a bus sign with Safer County’s campaign message, “Prevent A Gun Tragedy – SPEAK UP!” in 344 Fairfax County Connector buses. The bus signs are in English and Spanish and have a QR code and webpage for people to use to get the info they need to prevent a gun tragedy and save lives.
It’s now a model for other jurisdictions seeking to apply for 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act federal funds, via state agencies, to create, facilitate, and promote temporary firearms removal laws.
BREAKING NEWS: The City of Alexandria’s DASH bus system now features our public awareness campaign signs!
Red Flag Laws Save Lives!
The laws empower people to intervene to prevent a gun tragedy. Studies have shown a minimum of one in ten interventions saves lives. This law has proven effective in preventing suicides, domestic violence gun use, and mass shootings.
It creates the opportunity to get a civil court order to temporarily remove from the subject of the order all their guns and bar that person from possessing any guns. The initial decision by a judge is based upon proof of probable cause that the subject is a danger to themselves or others.
In Virginia, within 14 days, a full hearing is required to determine if that order should be extended. Clear and convincing evidence must be provided at that stage. If the state succeeds in its case, the court may bar access to guns for up to 180 days with the option of an extension upon a new motion.
Details about red flag laws all over the country may be found on our Programs webpage and on Wikipedia’s red flag law page, including a reference to Safer Country’s work.
A Red Flag Law and an NFL Player
Answers to FAQ’s
1) This isn’t a criminal law. It’s a civil court order, so it’s not about proving someone is guilty. It’s about intervening to prevent a gun tragedy.
2) For the court order to be issued, evidence must be presented to a judge. It is insufficient to simply make an assertion that someone is a danger to themselves or others.
3) The first temporary firearms removal law passed in Connecticut in 1999 and was called a risk warrant. It’s now called a risk protection order. In all that time, even though it’s been opposed by the infamous NRA, it has not been found unconstitutional.
Speak Up!
We are also working to encourage jurisdictions without the law to pass it and use our campaign to get people to speak up to people in authority they trust.
Whether or not there’s a law to temporarily firearms removal law in a state or not, getting the word out about a person who has, or intends to get, a gun, and is a danger to themselves or others, may save lives.
Safer Country is committed to empowering the public to keep guns out of unsafe hands.
Safer Country leverages government to effectively implement gun safety laws and works to create, advocate for, and pass needed laws.
As a 501(c)(3), contributions to Safer Country are tax deductible to the maximum extent of the law.
Executive Director Paul A. Friedman
Safer Country · P.O. Box 372 · Alexandria, VA 22313-0372
Contact us at [email protected].
Guns Became the Leading Cause of Death for American Children and Teens in 2020
Safer Country is especially outraged by a newly-created AR-15 that was made for children under 5. It’s called a JR-15 and is being marketed so children will beg their parents for it. This isn’t satire. It’s real.
Solutions Are Needed Now!
Over 250,000 guns are stolen every year and are used to commit more deadly crimes. Homemade guns are also used to evade the law. Safer Country supports effective measures to prevent gun tragedies and crimes, such as:
- closing all the loopholes in our national background check system
- getting every state to create their own background check system to expand the categories of people that may be barred
- banning military-style assault weapons – at a minimum for men 25 and under and women 21 and under, in line with MRI studies determing when brains are fully developed
- banning high-capacity magazines
- requiring serial numbers on every weapon produced to prevent criminals from using “ghost” guns to escape accountability
- restricting access to body armor, and
- passing safer/secure gun and ammunition storage laws to prevent tragic accidents and theft.
Please join Safer Country’s advocacy and educational efforts by making a tax-deductible donation today!
Together we can create a Safer Country.
Our Challenge
The NRA and Second Amendment extremists have blocked action at the national, state and local levels for many years. We must also face the reality that the public continues to buy guns in large numbers, endangering itself in the process. As well, it doesn’t know about the laws that could help reduce gun tragedies.
Our Work
Safer Country educates and advocates to the public and policy makers to promote the passage and effective implementation of gun safety laws that can save lives.
Critically, we also push government officials to track the success of these laws and report on them.