Protecting Families from Gun Violence: The Overlooked Toll on Children, Teens, and Expectant Mothers
When reports say a child died from a ‘firearm assault,’ it means something horrific — that a child was intentionally shot and killed, most often by a parent or other family member. 68% of children killed by guns are murdered by their parents. That’s what ‘firearm assault’ really means. Domestic violence involving firearms has profound […]
You have a right to say “no” to guns in your home
Homeowners, renters, and people who have control over a private premise (e.g. people who host an event at a rented home such as an AirBnB) have the right to prohibit firearms on the premises. A sign advising people that firearms are prohibited on the premises can be placed on the premise or in an invitation […]
Firearms fuel domestic violence-driven killing of women
Firearms are used in more than half of intimate partner homicides and two-thirds of pregnancy-related homicides in the United States. Reducing access to firearms can prevent suffering and deaths of women and children. The United Nations defines femicide as “an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation, [that] may be driven by stereotyped gender roles, discrimination towards women and […]
Harris’s continuing gun conversation helps define and model responsible US gun ownership
by Sandy & Lonnie Phillips As parents of a daughter fatally shot in the 2012 Aurora, CO theater mass shooting, we urge Vice President Harris to continue a frank discussion about gun ownership to help quell the current scourge of US gun violence. Vice President Harris’s conversation about gun ownership, which began during her interview […]
Mother Speaks Out About Suicide Prevention Awareness Month 10 Years After Valentine’s Day Gun Suicide
Valentine’s Day 2014 proved the most heartbreaking day in the life of Maryland mother Cheryl Brooks At 3 AM on February 15, 2014, Maryland state police informed Cheryl that her oldest son, Michael Derek Baughan 30, had died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head the previous day. His roommate found him in the bathtub […]
Named one of CNN’s Champions for Change a year ago, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips continue championing change in 2024…and beyond
‘We found our joy again and we want other survivors to find their joy again, too.’ -Sandy Phillips during Anderson Cooper/CNN interview Last September, CNN’s Anderson Cooper profiled his chosen Champion for Change, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips of Survivors Empowered. In the interview, Sandy said that their legacy, in honor of their daughter, Jessi—slain in […]
Gun industry immunity law repeal draws closer with 12 new Congressional HR 4184 cosponsors
Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, Newtown Action Alliance, and Junior Newtown Alliance secure additional support, bringing total to 129 cosponsors Marking 12 years since their daughter’s brutal shooting death along with 11 others in an Aurora, CO theater, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips recently collaborated with Newtown Action Alliance and Junior Newtown Alliance in Washington, DC to […]
3 Supreme Court Elephants trample gun violence prevention
Weighty influence of Roberts, Thomas, Bruen opinions Amid the endless parsing of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment to support gun rights is another famous declaration from the US Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that […]
Good news prevails amid gun control inaction and setbacks
Frequently lost amid gun control inaction and setbacks are gun control wins mounting up in the states, incredible perseverance of gun control organizations to gain momentum for meaningful federal legislative change, and evolving corporate policies designed to discourage gun violence.
Remembering Jessi Redfield Ghawi
Jessi’s spirit and sacrifice shine more intensely than ever as we mark twelve years since she and eleven others were senselessly slaughtered in the 2012 Aurora, CO theater shootings. Tragically for Survivors Empowered founders Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, the shooting death of their daughter Jessi Redfield Ghawi on July 20, 2012, became the catalyst for […]