OPINION|
Some topics need to be discussed even though most people prefer not to discuss them. This is the case when it comes to gun safety and gun violence.
Yes, it can be a sensitive subject depending upon the discussion and the intent. However, awareness with facts and data are ways to guide the conversation to community action.
Great work is taking place in our community on this topic. However, as a community, building strong systems for long-term sustainability is important for consistent measurable positive outcomes with a reduction in duplicated efforts.
Many discussions about guns center on the differences between guns used by responsible owners versus guns used for criminal acts. Sometimes even responsible gun owners may not realize things they may do that could lead to misuse of their gun. For example, picture a well-standing community member, who has a gun they take with them when they leave their house. They leave their gun in the car and there is no gun safety lock. Suppose someone breaks into their car and steals the gun. The stolen gun is then used to commit a crime and another person becomes victim of gun violence. Could this situation have been prevented? Most likely if the gun was not left in the car or if a gun safety lock was used.
Another example is when someone uses a gun to end their life. I learned through the World Health Organization that a person makes about 20 attempts to take their life before succeeding.
One of the things I admire about this city is Springfield has never been afraid of addressing tough, difficult and sensitive matters from an approach of what can we do. We recognize the collaborative spirit of Springfield as accomplished many challenging issues. According to research from the University of Michigan, a starting point for addressing gun safety and violence issues can start with community readiness to develop a plan to address these types of issues.
New collaborative puts focus on guns
Several entities and organizations have focused on outreach and messaging about suicide, mental health, men’s mental health and access to guns. However, a collaboration to create a citywide focus is underway to identify all the efforts already in place.
The Community Partnership of the Ozarks Gun Safety and Violence Collaborative has been established to develop a plan to address these issues, determine the gaps and complete an ecosystem of community readiness to increase gun safety and reduce gun violence.
The new collaborative is developing a community approach with education and awareness about gun injury prevention, such as other new initiatives like the suicide prevention number, 988, for a person to text or call to connect with a trained mental health counselor.
We also recognize the importance of involving parents and guardians of young people, ages 13 to 17, who are increasingly obtaining access to guns. According to a member of Mom’s Demand Action Gun Violence Prevention, nearly 700 children a year, ages 17 and under die by suicide with a gun. We want to know data specific to Springfield and be in a better position to reduce the number of young people accessing guns. One tool this organization uses is a SMART acronym to outreach:
- Secure all guns in your home and vehicles.
- Model responsible behavior around guns.
- Ask about the presence of unsecured guns in other homes
- Recognize the role of guns in suicide.
- Tell your peers about SMART.
Goal is to create violence reduction plan
The new Collaborative can develop a data-driven Violence Reduction Strategic Plan that includes training, technical assistance, and establishment of a Victim’s First Fund. The University of Michigan developed a Violence Reduction Assessment Tool that can be used as a planning and support instrument for our community to assess our capacity for effective implementation. Through completion of this assessment, the community can develop evidence-based practices to move forward.
Local city and county law enforcement will continue to focus on the criminal aspects of gun violence. While the community can collectively develop the most acceptable gun safety with proactive prevention concepts that include responsible guns safety and ways to reduce gun related suicides. These efforts would include a focus on mental health related issues that can lead to suicide.
According to the Every Town for Gun Safety organization, over half of the suicides in the U.S. are with a gun. For children age 10 to 17, that proportion is 43 percent. In January 2023, the Springfield News-Leader reported an increase in firearm injuries for kids. An Ozarks Department of Mental Health survey in 2022 reported 6.7 percent of Greene County’s students in grades 6-12 reported attempting suicide in the last year and 10.1 percent reported planning suicide in the last year. “Safe firearm handling and storage can save lives and prevent harm,” according to Chris Davis, vice president of prevention and youth support for the CPO.
Our community goal is to have collaborative participants representing the private, public, and social sectors impacted by these issues.
Clay Goddard with Burrell Behavioral Health and Francine Pratt with CPO Prosper Springfield are co-chairs for the collaborative.
For more information, please contact Francine Pratt at fpratt@cpozarks.org.
