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Writer's pictureDon Lichterman

National Gun Violence Week, Brenda Mitchell, Shannon Watts, NRA, Share Your Story, Gun Safety Report

Have you been personally impacted by gun violence? Consider sharing your unique lived experience in your own words by submitting your story. The voices, faces, and stories of survivors put a spotlight on the human toll of gun violence. Share your story

Brenda Mitchell, Everytown Survivor Network

Today is the first day of both National Gun Violence Survivors Week and Black History Month. As a survivor of gun violence and a Black woman, these next several days hold deep importance for me.

That's because I'm remembering my son, Kenneth. In a few days, it will have been 16 years since I last spoke to him, saw his face, and called his name. He was shot and killed while trying to intervene in a fight. A single parent, Kenneth left behind three sons: Tyler, John, and Mykhi.


Kenneth was the center of our family and a role model for his younger siblings and cousins. He was responsible and considerate of the people around him, and had a very strong sense of family. He was the one who would organize a barbecue if too much time had passed between family gatherings.


It hurts to write those words. But in the gun violence prevention movement, I have found a community of fellow survivors and activists who help me and countless others understand that we are not alone in this process.



We commemorate National Gun Violence Survivors Week the first week of February because by the beginning of this month, more people are killed with guns in the United States than are killed with guns in any other high-income country in an entire year. Many more are wounded, witness gun violence, or have loved ones who experienced gun violence, leaving 58 percent of American adults—including 68 percent of Black and Latino Americans—as survivors of gun violence.


But Don, know this: survivors of gun violence have experienced loss to a degree that absolutely no one should, and even still, we are resilient. America's gun violence survivors, despite experiencing incredible trauma, are leading work on the ground to support other survivors and advocate for common-sense gun safety measures that save lives.



As I reflect on the history and resilience of my communities this month—as both a gun violence survivor and a Black woman in America—I know there is still much more to be done to achieve racial justice and an end to gun violence in this country, two issues that are deeply interconnected. This Black History Month and beyond is a time for us to highlight the important work of Black survivors and activists, as well as frontline workers, health care workers, and faith leaders, and to make clear why we must center Black lives in our advocacy.


So as we continue this work, I will be thinking about Kenneth. I never stop missing him or wanting him. I am grateful for the love we shared, the son he was to me. I thank God for him.

His sons feel the loss; they struggle, but they keep getting up. He will always be what he has been to us.

We love you, Ken Ken. You were our love. You were our heaven.







For decades, the NRA has peddled the far-right's dangerous conspiracy theories, spread fear to sell more guns, and fought life-saving gun safety measures at every turn. But this year, we have the best opportunity in a generation to defeat the NRA's dangerous agenda and pass life-saving gun laws.


To do that, we've set a bold fundraising goal to make life-saving progress this year: 150 new monthly donors a day for the remainder of February for the NRA's 150th year.



With the NRA and its extremist allies continuing to pursue their dangerous "guns everywhere" agenda, your sustained support will be a huge advantage for our movement and one we will need to meet this moment.


Holding the NRA accountable and defeating its dangerous agenda will require a steady, predictable source of support. Help us make the NRA's 150th year its worst year yet by becoming a new monthly donor.

Amanda Chase

From the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, to the Virginia Beach shooting in 2019, to the daily gun violence in our Commonwealth, we have been hit hard by gun violence in recent decades. And every death is painfully hard to take.


But in the last few years, Virginia has made significant progress on gun violence prevention -- by expanding background checks, implementing an Extreme Risk law, and enhancing protections for domestic violence survivors.


That’s why it’s so frustrating that Amanda Chase -- the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for Governor -- wants to eliminate all the protections we fought so hard to implement.


My position couldn’t be further from Chase’s. I fought a Republican legislature to pass the first meaningful gun violence prevention laws in decades, and I’ve proposed banning the sale of assault weapons. I want to strengthen the laws we already have in place, not erase them.

On the other hand, Amanda Chase wants to turn our Commonwealth into a warzone with fewer safety restrictions and more guns on our streets and in our neighborhoods.

It’s sickening.


I’m going to fight with every ounce of energy I’ve got -- but I’m only as strong as the support I get from you. Please support the campaign however you can.



Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives.  Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

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