In light of ISAAC meeting cancellations and stay-at-home orders, The Gun Violence Task Force is going to keep highlighting awareness of gun violence topics which affect Kalamazoo.  In particular, there are currently gun violence prevention issues which intersect with the coronavirus pandemic.

Stay-at-home orders for those in domestic violence situations are intensifying the danger that women, children and families face in these times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/us/coronavirus-lockdown-domestic-violence.html

(If you can’t see article on NY Times page, the source of the article is here:

https://fullerproject.org/story/for-abused-women-a-pandemic-lockdown-holds-dangers-of-its-own/)

When there is a firearm in a domestic violence situation, the danger for women and children not attending school increases:

Report from NPR NewsHour

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Our Kalamazoo YWCA with its domestic violence shelter and sexual assault services, is staying open and increasing responses to victims and families in crisis.  They could use our financial support: http://ywcakalamazoo.org/covid-19/

Encourage those you know or encounter who need help to contact the YWCA. (Crisis Line is (269) 385-3587.)  Listen to them.

In the midst of the pandemic and our state and local attempts to flatten the curve, sales of guns are increasing, as has been the case in other crises and after mass shootings in our country. It is part of our national legacy of social fear and the reaction to it.  This could further increase, not lessen, the danger to all of us, especially children.

https://giffords.org/blog/2020/03/the-importance-of-safe-gun-storage-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-blog/

Stay safe and healthy. Looking forward to when we can meet again.

– Tami Rey & Rick Omilian, Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Co-Chairs