Create a Statewide Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention

• States across the nation are creating individual offices to assess the local landscape of gun violence.
• These offices are critical in serving as leaders of statewide administration and coordination.*
• They can pursue federal funding for violence prevention, coordinate existing resources across state agencies, and help coordinate and support local efforts to address gun violence in particular communities.
• These offices can also serve a key educational role of teaching about firearm safety, state laws, and regulation.
• Currently in Minnesota, Minneapolis has the Office of Violence Prevention, and St. Paul has the Office of Neighborhood Safety, however no office is in place at a statewide level.**

Sources

*Giffords Launches Giffords Center for Violence Intervention. (2022, October 5). Giffords. https://giffords.org/press-release/2022/10/giffords-launches-giffords-center-for-violence-intervention/

**City of Minneapolis. (2016). Next Step. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from Minneapolismn.gov website: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/community-safety/public-health-approach/next-step/

Lee, J. (2019, November 18). After positive results, Minneapolis looks to expand anti-violence program | MinnPost. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from MinnPost website: https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2019/11/after-positive-results-minneapolis-looks-to-expand-anti-violence-program/