About GGS
What We Believe
We are for gun safety.
Are we against guns? NO.
Are we against gun violence? YES.
What We Do
Over the years, the organization has evolved in both focus and name.
The first name change came in 2015 when Grandmothers made way for Grandparents Against Gun Violence to recognize and encourage inclusion of male members. The name changed again in 2021 to Grandparents for Gun Safety, Stand With Us! to more clearly emphasize our collaborative vision that all members of our community have the right to feel safe from gun violence.
As the organization’s name evolved, so did its primary focus, from pressing for changes in gun legislation to the more immediate need for gun safety.
To meet that need, we began Lock It For Love (LIFL), our signature program of distributing thousands of free gun locks and educational materials about safe storage of firearms. Through LIFL, we strive to have a direct impact on preventing suicides as well as accidental deaths and injuries by limiting access to firearms.
In 2014 we began another proactive program, the Heartland Coalition Against Gun Violence, comprised of like-minded groups in both Kansas and Missouri concerned about the spread of gun violence and its effects on the metro area. Each year, we and the Coalition host a Community Forum to educate the public about the many facets of this issue. Forum attendance and sponsorships help fund LIFL and other GGS activities.
The first six Community Forums were hosted in person and featured nationally recognized keynote speakers including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed at Sandy Hook, and Candace Lightner, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
In response to the pandemic, Forums in 2020 and 2021 were held virtually. In 2021, keynote speaker, Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, an emergency room physician and nationally recognized epidemiologist, spoke about the public health epidemic of gun violence and the strategic steps used to help curb it.
The 9th Annual is scheduled for Monday, October 10, 2022. The keynote speaker is Attorney Josh Koskoff, who secured a $73 million settlement from Remington firearms for nine Sandy Hook families. Click here to see details about time, location and how to register: grandparentsforgunsafety.org/
By working together, we believe we can make progress to achieve safety from firearms. Our tag line of Stand With Us! invites people of all ages and political outlooks to join us in our efforts and reflects our commitment to stand with others as well.
Our Position on Second Amendment Rights
We respect the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the right of individuals to bear arms, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 with its landmark D.C. v Heller ruling.
We also take to heart the cautionary words of the late Justice Antonin Scalia who wrote in the Heller decision:
“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited… Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
We Stand with Others to Address Gun Violence
In addition to our local community partners, we stand with many national organizations advocating for common sense solutions that address public health and safety concerns stemming from gun violence. These affiliations include the Giffords Organization, Moms Demand Action, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and The Sandy Hook Promise. We are also the Missouri and Kansas affiliate of States United to Prevent Gun Violence.