Our Goal
Safer Country is a 501(c)(3) charity.
Our goal is to prevent gun violence through research, education and advocacy by empowering the public and government to effectively implement gun safety laws that can save lives.
To accomplish this, Safer Country is working to:
- Promote the creation and effective implementation of temporary gun violence removal order laws ( a.k.a. extreme risk or red flag laws, gun violence restraining orders or GVRO’s, extreme risk protection orders or ERPO’s, emergency substantial risk orders or ESRO’s, firearm restraining orders or FRO’s, among other names.)
- Ensure prohibited names, particularly people who have committed acts of domestic violence, are entered into the background check system for gun purchases.
- Requiring fingerprints at the point of sale, to ensure that buyers have no disqualifying criminal records
- Seek annual reports from the states on their progress on the full spectrum of gun violence prevention issues.
Our Accomplishments
Safer Country was established as a 501(C)(3) on February 14, 2019. Appropriately, it was the first anniversary of the mass shooting that took 17 lives in Parkland, Florida at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
At the top of our agenda is educating about and promoting red flag laws. Red flag laws have proven to be valuable in preventing suicides, mass shootings and domestic violence.
We have devoted a special page connected to our website on the issue, safercountry.org/red-flag-campaign, and have been working to create government-sponsored public awareness campaigns at the local, state and federal levels. Of course, we would love to see more states pass a red flag law too. Right now, there are just 19 states with a version of it. Virginia is the most recent to do so.
In brief, Virginia’s law, called the Emergency Substantial Risk Order or ESRO, enables law enforcement, when authorized by a judge, to temporarily remove a gun or guns when a person is found to present a substantial danger to themselves or others. After two weeks, a court hearing would determine whether or not that person’s gun or guns would be returned or kept for up to one year.
Excitingly, due to our work, on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, Fairfax County Lee Supervisor Rodney Lusk introduced and passed a resolution by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors to launch the first-ever in the nation government-sponsored red flag public awareness campaign! Read the Press Release.
Safer Country is playing an active role in the development of the campaign, including successfully recommending its slogan, “Prevent A Gun Tragedy – Speak Up!” The press conference and media coverage stemming from this work may be found on our Media page.
Incorporated in Virginia on February 14, 2019, the first anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stonham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were gunned down, Safer Country has:
- Worked with Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (VA-11) office to motivate action on getting the Pentagon to fully participate in the background check system for gun purchases and close a domestic violence loophole in the law.
- Held a candlelight vigil to honor Heather Heyer and the victims of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton featuring former Safer Country President Gene Rossi; Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8); Rabbi Jack Moline, Executive Director, Interfaith Alliance; Luis Aguilar, Virginia Director, CASA and Dreamer; Del. Mark Levine (D-45); Del. Charniele Herring (VA-46); Mo Seifeldein, Alexandria City Councilman; Gene Rossi, then-President, Safer Country; and performances by Tamara Wellons & Kinard Cherry, a husband and wife duo. The location was a memorial tree grove in Chinquapin Park, Alexandria, created by then VTV Family Outreach Foundation Executive Director Paul Friedman, with the support of the City of Alexandria and Virginia Tech graduate students in Alexandria, to honor the victims and survivors of the Virginia Tech mass shooting tragedy.
- Held a launch party at the home of David Lord and Greg Parks featuring former Alexandria mayor Allison Silberberg; Del. Mark Levine (VA-45); Mike and Kristen Song, the parents of Ethan, a child lost to a gunshot in a neighbor’s home, who passed Ethan’s law in their state to hold homeowners criminally accountable; national pollster Pete Brodnitz, President, Expedition Strategies; and had a performance of the original song, “Duty to Resist” by its co-writer, Dusty Horwitt.
- Held a Zoom forum on Virginia’s new substantial risk protective order law featuring Del. Rip Sullivan (VA-48); Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown; Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter; Expert on protection orders, Attorney Rebecca Wade, Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner PLLC; Army Colonel (ret.) Mike Jason, Defense Consultant, The Pentagon.
- Held a Zoom forum on police use of force featured Safer Country’s Zoom forum on use of force by the police featured Police Chief Michael Brown and Captain Sean Casey of Alexandria, as well as Del. Jay Jones (D-Norfolk), Arlington County Chief Public Defender Brad Haywood, and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.
- We are currently holding a series of Zoom conversations with Andy Goddard, Legislative Director, Virginia Center for Public Safety about Virginia gun bills that have passed and are working their way towards becoming laws.
For more info, photos and relevant articles and commentary, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/safercountry – and LIKE us!
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Press Release: Office of Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA-11) “I want to thank Safer Country…”
Domestic Violence Loopholes: Under current law, Military Protective Orders (MPOs) issued by unit commanders in response to domestic violence incidents do not prohibit individuals from purchasing firearms. However, comparable civilian protective orders issued by judges do prohibit such purchases.
Connolly’s amendment, based on his Safe Homefront Act, tasks the Department of Defense with studying the feasibility of creating a database of military protective orders issued in response to domestic violence incidents, and either reporting such orders to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or establishing a process by which military judges, and not unit commanders, could issue protective orders in response to domestic violence.
“Abuse is abuse, and no perpetrator of domestic violence – be they military or civilian – should be able to pass a background check and legally purchase a gun,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA-11).
“This amendment simply asks DoD to hold servicemembers who break the law to the same standard as their civilian counterparts. I want to thank Safer Country for its help in turning the bipartisan Safe Homefront Act into reality.”
Safer Country is proud to have spurred legislation offered by Congressman Connolly that subsequently passed in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which mandates that the Department of Defense (DoD) do a feasibility study to establish a military protective order database.
This is important because, federal law, “generally prohibits a person who is the subject of a qualifying protection order from possessing a firearm or ammunition that has affected or traveled in interstate or foreign commerce.” 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8).
In addition, as a result of Congressman Connolly adding an amendment to the House 2020 NDAA, Congress has directed the DoD to take immediate and deliberate action to ensure strict compliance with established DoD standards regarding submission to the FBI of criminal history information for servicemembers.
While not a legal requirement, this is expected to effectively push the DoD to follow its policy to report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) service members who are prohibited from purchasing firearms.
This is important because, among the very many other instances, the Air Force failed to report the name of the mass shooter who killed 25 people, including a pregnant woman, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on November 5, 2017. That allowed the shooter to legally purchase the weapon he used.