Our Priorities
#PROTECTUS
The problem of firearm violence in Minnesota is multi-faceted, and therefore requires numerous solutions. We’re working to address the most common ways that firearm violence occurs in our state, creating safer communities for us all.
Our Communities
88% of homicides in Minnesota are committed by a firearm. Black Americans account for 55% of gun homicide victims but make up just 13% of the population; Black men are 10 times more likely to be shot and killed than white men. As a society, we have a long way to go on preventing the contributing factors to community gun violence.
Historical trauma, systemic racism, economic and educational disparities, high incarceration rates: each of these contributes to instances of community gun violence. As complicated and deep-rooted as community gun violence is, Protect Minnesota is working to implement proven solutions:
- Combatting Untrue Narratives. The causes of community gun violence are varied and complex, but they do not include many of the racist, classist narratives that have sprung up in the place of true solutions. We are working, across platforms, to ensure that everyone has access to accurate, equitable information about the causes of and solutions to incidents of community gun violence.
- Community Partnerships. There are many incredible organizations that are doing the on-the-ground work of preventing community gun violence and addressing its root causes. We seek to uphold, not replicate, the work that these organizations do through partnerships, investment, and shared events.
- Safe Storage. Safe storage supplies, like trigger locks and biometric safes, can be prohibitively expensive in economically disadvantaged areas. Our Safe Storage Program disbursed safe storage tools and training to new, inexperienced gun owners to ensure that firearms are not accidentally discharged or stolen.
- Local Government Partnerships. We work directly with local government departments, like the Minneapolis Office of Violence Prevention, that endeavor to prevent gun violence in the cities they serve.
- Through our Eyes. Art is one of the most effective ways to build community, in itself a gun violence prevention tactic, and express the trauma caused by routine exposure to gun violence. In 2022, we are piloting an art program for Minneapolis youth who live in neighborhoods that experience high rates of firearm violence, bringing their stories of survival to policymakers, leaders, and community members.
Our Kids
In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data that showed firearms were the leading cause of death among children 1-19 years old. An alarming 45,222 children were killed by firearms in 2022.1
- Safe storage at home. Working with families, medical providers, and schools across the state, we are creating education campaigns on the importance of safe storage when there are children present. Safe Storage can prevent accidental shootings as well as youth suicides.
- Safe schools. In the aftermath of Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary, schools across the nation have implemented Active Shooter Drills or Lock Down Drills. Minnesota Statute Section 121A.037 requires all schools to conduct five school lock down drills per school year. As ongoing research demonstrates, lock down drills can be traumatic for children. We are working with teachers, students, parents, and state leaders to ensure these lock down drills do not further traumatize school children.
Our Families
Over the last decade, almost 80% of firearm deaths in Minnesota were suicides. Of those, white men and rural areas are disproportionately impacted. These deaths are not inevitable.
Protect Minnesota is working to address the epidemic of firearm suicides in the following ways:
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Suicide Prevention Plan. We are partnering with the MN Department of Agriculture in the implementation of these resources across rural communities. We are meeting rural residents where they are and getting them the help they need in moments of mental health crisis.
- Interfaith Alliance. Our Interfaith Alliance is fluent in the unique needs of Minnesota’s many faith communities, putting culturally aware suicide prevention materials, training, and tools into the hands of those who need them, with an emphasis on churches in the rural areas where firearm suicides occur most regularly.
- Gun Shop Project. We are working to implement the Gun Shop Project here in Minnesota, disseminating firearm suicide prevention as well as safe storage materials from locally trusted sources by firearm owners, like gun shops and shooting ranges.
- Clinician Counseling. We are training physicians throughout the state to talk to their patients about safe firearm storage, use, and how to prevent firearm suicide in the home.
- Community Partnerships. There are many great community organizations that are successfully doing the work of reducing suicide throughout the state. We seek to uphold, rather than replicate, the work that these organizations do through partnerships and shared events.
- Family Resources. We are the first organization in the state to provide suicide prevention materials in languages in addition to English: Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. Our radio ads appear across Greater Minnesota. Knowing what to do if you or someone you know is feeling suicidal and has guns in the home, as these materials do, is important across all languages.
Our Neighbors
Annually, thousands of children are unintentionally shot and killed across the country with an unsecured firearm. These deaths are tragic, and avoidable. Protect Minnesota is working to ensure that all gun owners in Minnesota practice safe storage to ensure the safety of all:
- Safe Storage Supplies. Safe storage supplies, like trigger locks and biometric safes, can be prohibitively expensive. Our Safe Storage Program disburses safe storage tools, including thousands of trigger locks annually across the state, as well as safe storage training, to new and inexperienced gun owners. This helps to ensure that firearms are not accidentally discharged, used by someone experiencing immediate crisis, or stolen.
- Safe Storage Materials. Sometimes safe storage isn’t practiced for cultural reasons, or because gun owners are worried about not accessing their firearm in time in the case of an emergency. We provide safe storage materials specialized to recreational gun owners and self-defense gun owners. These materials are available in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong, assuring that they are accessible to folks from all communities.
- Gun Shop Project. We are working to implement the Gun Shop Project here in Minnesota, disseminating firearm suicide prevention as well as safe storage materials from locally trusted sources by firearm owners, like gun shops and shooting ranges.
