Keeping Guns Out Of Unsafe Hands

Yetide Badaki, Actress. Producer, Activist
Safer Country Spokesperson and Advisory Committee Honorary Chairperson

In 2025, Safer Country will be prioritizing:

— expanding our red flag law public awareness campaign within Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria, and to other jurisdictions;

— working with military veterans to reduce gun suicides by military veterans;

— updating Virginia’s domestic violence protection orders law to prohibit respondents to ex parte orders from possessing firearms and requiring surrender or to encourage victims, survivors, advocates, and lawyers to ask the judge to explicitly prohibit the respondent from having firearms in the terms of the ex parte order;

— adding a penalty for someone convicted of misdemeanor for brandishing a gun so that there is a loss of a right to possess a gun for a reasonable period of time;

— promoting the adoption of Connecticut’s Ethan’s law, a comprehensive safe and secure storage law, in Virginia; and,

— urging the adoption of legislation to pass a special tax on the sale of guns and ammunition to better fund injuries and other related costs caused by gunfire.

As well, we will be challenging the Fairfax County Sheriff’s policy deterring people from voluntarily turning in their guns to the government for mental health reasons, which was described by a government official this way:

“A person with a weapon in crisis can and should give a friend or trusted associate temporary possession of the weapon. It is in the best interest to draw up a document and have it notarized around how long the person will relinquish possession of the weapon etc. and return when the individual is no longer in crisis.

The second option is to turn the weapon into the sheriff’s office but, they do not recommend this course of action. Resecuring the weapon can be cumbersome because the person would have to go through multiple protocols to prove they are no longer in crisis before the weapon can be returned.”

It’s essential that every jurisdiction make it easy and encourage those with a willingness to voluntarily turn in their guns for mental health concerns to do so.

Safer Country is a 501(c)(3). Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Read Safer Country Executive Director Paul Friedman’s 10/10/23 Op/Ed on Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s refusal to take federal funds to prevent mass shootings and suicides, including military suicides.

It was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch and republished in The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.

Learn about the Gun Violence & ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Order) Study.

This study was commissioned by The Joyce Foundation.

URGENT: If you feel concerned about your mental health and are in need of special help, call 988, the SUICIDE & CRISIS LIFELINE.

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SAFER COUNTRY IS TAKING ACTION!

Safer Country has created gun tragedy prevention public awareness campaigns in the DMV area and is developing a pilot project devoted to preventing gun suicides by military veterans.

“Prevent A Gun Tragedy – SPEAK UP!” signs are in Connector buses in Fairfax County and DASH buses in the City of Alexandria. Visit our Media page to see more.
“Gun Security Unit” This pilot project, which is designed to prevent gun suicides by military veterans, is in development.

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.

Fairfax County Red Flag Data Dashboard

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

There have been great success stories, such as former NFL player Richard Sherman, whose life was saved by the use of a red flag law. He’s now a Host on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football show.

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

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.

Safer Country Solutions

Safer Country supports effective measures to prevent gun tragedies and crimes, such as:

closing the loopholes in our national firearms background check system
supporting state firearms background check systems
banning the sale and possession of all military-style assault weapons, except for use by law enforcement and the military
limiting high-capacity magazines to enable the interruption of a mass shooting during reloading
requiring serial numbers on every weapon produced to prevent criminals from using “ghost” guns to escape accountability
restricting access to body armor
passing safer/secure firearms and ammunition storage laws to prevent negligent deaths, particularly to children, and theft, which increases the supply of illegal guns

MRI studies show brains are not fully developed before the age of 25. Putting weapons in the hands of people under 25 is highly dangerous.

An article by John Sommers-Flanagan, Professor, Counselor Education, University of Montana, and clinical psychologist supports this.

Please join Safer Country’s advocacy and educational efforts by making a tax-deductible donation today!

Together we WILL create a Safer Country.

Our Mission

Safer Country is dedicated to keeping guns out of unsafe hands.

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.

Help Safer Country educate and advocate to effectively pass and implement gun safety laws that can protect lives.

Together, we will create a safer country!

Safer Country is a 501(c)(3) educational and advocacy nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the maximum extent of the law.

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Contact Information

To contribute by mail or to contact us:

Paul A. Friedman, JD
Founder/Executive Director
Safer Country
P.O. Box 372
Alexandria, VA 22313-0372
[email protected]