This month’s post on reducing gun violence (The Gun Problem and a Silver Bullet Remedy) prompts me to highlight a remarkable and well-known nonprofit organization—Everytown for Gun Safety. Everytown encompasses a wide range of actions and advocacy toward building a safer society with sensible gun laws, including: researching the issues as well as solutions for preventing gun violence; taking action toward creating sensible policies; and building a movement so more people become invested in meaningful change.
Everytown was formed in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America merged under the same umbrella, creating a powerful combination of forceful leadership with grassroots organization. Since then, Everytown has grown into a movement of over six million people that includes Students Demand Action, as well as a Survivor Network (which helps those who have survived a personal experience of gun violence). Everytown welcomes those of every political stripe to educate themselves and get involved with their purposeful and dedicated organization.
If you care deeply about the direction the US is headed regarding the gun violence issue but aren’t called to volunteering or lobbying, you can support Everytown monetarily. Here are two ways to donate:
501c3 (tax-deductible)
1) Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund is the 501c3 arm of the organization that focuses on research and “seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it.” Donations to the fund are tax-deductible.
501c4 (Action Fund, not tax-deductible)
2) Everytown for Gun Safety (Action Fund) is a 501c4, which means that your donations are not tax-deductible because the money goes towards advocacy and legislative efforts considered more “political”. This branch of Everytown works to influence public policymakers and to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other prohibited purchasers.
As a mother disturbed that children in America are subject to regular school shooting drills, and who believes that one mass shooting is too many, I have been donating monthly to Everytown for several years. And in 2020 (pre-Covid) my daughter and I joined volunteers from all over Oregon (as part of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action) to meet with our state representatives at the Capitol in Salem. It was both an educational and empowering part of our ongoing commitment to reducing gun violence. I welcome you to join me in supporting Everytown and the growing movement toward creating a more peaceful world.