Our Mission
Safer Country is dedicated to keeping guns out of unsafe hands.
“Gun violence is a leading cause of premature death in the U.S.” — American Public Health Association, 2020
“In 2017, firearms were used to cause 85,000 injuries and 38,882 deaths, of which 23,854 were suicides, 14,542 were murders, and 486 were accidental.” — PolitiFact, 2019
“Murder-suicides are a shockingly common form of gun violence in the United States — an estimated 11 such incidents each week. More than 1,200 Americans die in murder-suicides each year. Nine out of 10 murder-suicides involve a gun. In nearly two-thirds of all murder-suicides, an intimate partner of the shooter is among the victims.” — Violence Policy Center, 2020
Safer Country is committed to doing our part to stop the flow of blood.
That’s why we initiated Fairfax County, Virginia’s Red Flag law public awareness campaign and created its slogan:
“Prevent A Gun Tragedy – SPEAK UP!”
This law saves lives. It empowers the police to disarm a person for up to two weeks if a judge believes there’s an imminent danger that person will use their gun or guns to harm themselves or others. If the basis for the original intervention hasn’t changed when reviewed at a required court hearing 14 days later, that person may be barred from purchasing, possessing or transporting a firearm for as much as 180 days.
In the words of Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime died in the infamous mass shooting on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida: “If a Red Flag law had existed then, my daughter would be alive today.”
Poignantly, our Alexandria, Virginia-based nonprofit was founded exactly one year after the Parkland shooting. We believe that together we can create a safer country. If necessary, we’re willing to do that one county at a time.
We’re making progress and need your support to do more. Please join us by making a donation that is tax-deductible to the maximum extent of the law and play your part.
Additionally, if you see a tragedy developing, go to the campaign website and learn how you can take action:
fairfaxcounty.gov/topics/red-flag
Our Challenge
The NRA and Second Amendment extremists have blocked action at the national, state and local levels for many years.
The interrelated novel coronavirus and financial crisis have drastically reduced the resources needed to fully implement the laws that could be saving more lives.
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.