There is a public health and safety concern with gun ownership that goes far beyond politics and the second amendment. The epidemiological data shows that guns and suicide are inextricably linked. There are more gun deaths by suicide than by homicide. “In 2016, the last year for which the CDC provides numbers, 22,938 people committed suicide by firearm, while 14,415 people died in gun homicides”. www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars (**please note, the use of the word "committed" was from the CDC and is not language we at PU4P use in reference to suicide loss)
As a means of suicide, guns have a higher success rate and result in more deaths than suicide attempts by other means. It is a well-known safety precaution to remove any firearms or access to them in a household where an individual may be unstable, mentally ill or at risk of suicide. This is called removal of lethal means and is not different than other safety precautions in these circumstances such as access to knives, pills, hanging or other common methods of suicide. Additionally, gun safety needs to be viewed in common sense safety terms just like other public health and safety measures such as wearing a seat belt, installing a pool fence, using a bicycle helmet, or getting vaccinated. Common sense gun safety means keeping fire arms locked, keeping ammunition stored separately, keeping all weapons away from children, and reporting lost or stolen fire arms. If you are interested in learning more about gun safety measures or would like a free gun lock, you can contact the league of women voters at gunsafety@lwvbroward.org or call (954) 735-1311. They are providing free gun locks to any Broward County resident. For additional information on gun safety, visit http://www.preventgunviolenceflorida.org/ and https://everytown.org/
Program Spotlight Orange Ribbons for Jaime
Orange Ribbons for Jaime was created by the family of Jaime Guttenberg to honor Jaime by dedicating resources to organizations that were meaningful to her. One of the important focuses of the organization has been to draft policy and meet with legislators to ensure common sense gun safety laws are in place. From the ORFJ website: "On March 3, 2019, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) introduced commonsense, bicameral legislation to implement instant universal background checks for the sale of gun ammunition. The Ammunition Background Check Act will be known as “Jaime’s Law” in honor of Jaime Guttenberg. Blumenthal, Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), U.S. Representative Ted Deutch (FL-22) and other members of Congress were joined at a press conference in Washington, by Fred Guttenberg, Jaime’s father, as they announced the bill." For more information about Orange Ribbons for Jaime, Jaime's Law, and the meaningful work being done by Jaime's family to better ensure public safety, please visit Orange Ribbons for Jaime
PU4P Updates PU4P is currently revising our directory of the therapists affiliated with us. We will be carefully vetting everyone. If you did not receive our email request for your information and you are a mental health clinician, please send an email to unitedforparkland@gmail.com. When the vetting process is complete, we will be publishing the directory on our website. Interested in volunteering to assist with fundraising, education, or networking? Please email us at unitedforparkland@gmail.com If you can't assist in person, please consider choosing PU4P as your designated charity with The AmazonSmile Foundation. They will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible smile.amazon.com purchases. Tens of millions of products are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their smile.amazon.com product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible to generate donations. Remember, only purchases made at smile.amazon.com generate AmazonSmile donations. Thank you for your support of PU4P and your dedication to the Parkland community