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NOVEMBER 2022 NEWS

Join us to enjoy wine and light appetizers with your Grandparents For Gun Safety friends and prospective members. We’ve come a long way! Our first gathering of 30 people in October of 2013 has grown to today’s organization of close to 300 paid members plus another 1,600 contacts in our database.

On November 14, we’ll toast the progress we’ve made in our first 10 years and share our goals for the first year of our second decade working to make our community safer. We’ll also unveil The GGS Story, our new PowerPoint presentation to be shared throughout the community.

Most importantly, we’ll thank our members who’ve helped GGS grow. With plans for the new year and beyond, we hope new members will join in our work advocating for gun safety and educating others about the need for safe storage. That’s why we ask current members to bring prospective members to the event; invite them to Stand With Us!

Members and their guests can win gift cards in special drawings and yes, you must be present to win!

If you haven’t already told us you’ll be attending, please RSVP by Sunday November 6  and let us know you and a guest will attend.

GGS’ 9th Annual Community Forum Held on Gun Safety Awareness Day

Some 200 people attended Grandparents’ 9th annual Community Forum last month, either in person or online, on the day declared “Gun Safety Awareness Day” in Prairie Village where the Forum was held.

On October 10, attendees heard keynote speaker attorney Josh Koskoff and a panel of local activists discuss their successful advocacy efforts. Earlier this year while representing nine Sandy Hook families, Mr. Koskoff won a landmark $73 million settlement from the insurers of Remington. It was the company that manufactured and marketed the AK-15 assault rifle used in the 2012 elementary school shooting that killed 26 people, 20 of them children.

“The real linchpin of the settlement was to make gun manufacturers the pariah of American industries, to let them know they court violence and risk financial jeopardy,” Mr. Koskoff said of the Sandy Hook case that took eight years to resolve. At its beginning, he knew nothing about guns or gun laws, but developed a novel legal approach that concentrated on Remington’s marketing the AK-15 to vulnerable customers. Mr. Koskoff had earlier likened his work on the case to climbing Mount Everest saying, “You just start walking.”

Keynote speaker Josh Koskoff and Forum moderator Dave Helling, KC Star.

In his livestreamed presentation, Mr. Koskoff traced the proliferation of AR-15s from its early cousin the Tommy gun, which was used in World War I and then later by mobsters like Al Capone and Pretty Boy Floyd. “Today those crimes (using Tommy guns) would barely make the front page,” Mr. Koskoff said, adding later that the AK-15 “is the most effective killing machine on the planet.”

Mr. Koskoff urged attendees to research which banks and insurance companies keep firearms manufacturers afloat, then refuse to do business with them.

That’s one form of advocacy. Any successful advocacy takes patience, persistence and at the very beginning “just showing up,” said Erin Woods, the local founder of Six Degrees of Activism who was among the panel of activists that followed Mr. Koskoff’ s presentation. ”You can’t be overwhelmed by the magnitude of a problem; you need to take baby steps and just find something you can do.” Her words were echoed by Kansas State Senator Cindy Holscher, who encouraged Grandparents to attend legislative sessions wearing GGS orange to show the magnitude of support for common-ground gun reform.

Attendees left inspired to engage in advocacy efforts that fit their time and interests. Included in the packet of materials they received was an “I’m Ready To Take Action NOW!” card as a reminder of advocacy opportunities each person can choose.

Forum planners celebrate another successful event. Front Row: Carla Oppenheimer, Gail Roberson, Judy Sherry, and Barb McNeile. Back Row: Katie Cangelose, Maribeth Brennaman, Jan Brunks, Julie Young, and Lisa Veglahn.

A follow-up survey to Forum attendees showed that they were inspired by Mr. Koskoff and the panel, and happy with the location. That is wonderful news as we begin the planning for our 10th Anniversary Forum on October 9, 2023.

The “I’m Ready To Take Action NOW!” card, all the contents of information packet, more of Mr. Koskoff’s remarks, and photos from the Forum can be found here. You can also view the entire Forum here. Use this password: K0Z!U2=k.

Remembering Sandy Hook, 10 Years Later

This December 14 marks the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.

To honor the victims, Grandparents will host a brief remembrance at Colonial Church in Prairie Village beginning at 9:30 am, the approximate time of the shooting. We’ll gather to say their names and share our thoughts about that traumatic day, then and now. Join us as we renew our efforts to end gun violence and work for gun safety.

On the national level, the 10 Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence will be held in Washington, D.C. on December 7. In the 10 years since Sandy Hook, more than one million Americans will have been killed or wounded by guns.

Grandparents continues partnering with a coalition of gun violence prevention groups to keep shining a light on the national epidemic of gun violence until Congress takes meaningful action to reduce gun injuries and deaths. Find more information about the vigil here.

In Other News

Major credit card companies are making it easier to track gun sales.

Most school shootings occur with a gun belonging to someone in the family, usually a parent.

                                                                       Source: Giffords Law Center

Say Their Names

Following are another 29 lives lost to firearms since September 26. That brings the total to 214 homicides in the metro area since January 1. We say their names while we keep true to our vision that one day everyone in our community will be safe from gun violence.
 

Mark Your Calendar

Tuesday, November 8
Election Day!
Let’s work to Get Out the Vote
 
Monday, November 14
Bring a Friend to Grandparents’ Special Event!
Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse, 91st & Nall
4:00 to 6:00 pm
 
Thursday, November 24
Thanksgiving
GGS is thankful for your support
 
Wednesday, December 14
Sandy Hook Remembered
Colonial Church in Prairie Village, 7039 Mission Road
9:30 to 10:30 am
 
Monday, January 23, 2023
First meeting of the New Year
Colonial Church in Prairie Village
4:00 to 5:30 pm

Our Vision

All members of our community have the right to feel safe from gun violence.
 

Our Mission

We focus on working for solutions, educating the community and seeking common ground reform that respects the rights of gun owners and non-owners alike.

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Grandparents for Gun Safety

P.O. Box 8617

Prairie Village, KS 66208-0617

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