Washington, D.C., February 23, 2024 – Tomorrow, leaders in culture change to end gun violence, Brady, joins forces with esteemed Detroit community leaders Council President Mary Sheffield and Judge Tenisha Yancey, alongside influential hometown artist Skilla Baby, to host an empowering community event aimed at combating gun violence and fostering restoration. With a focus on healing and restoration, the event champions initiatives to enhance public safety and eradicate gun violence through community-driven efforts including a gun buyback. On the heels of recent reporting from the New York Times about vendors using buybacks to accumulate weapons stock for resale, the City of Detroit has worked with Brady and local law enforcement to ensure the event’s vendors will destroy any firearm collected, ensuring they are taken out of circulation permanently.
Tomorrow’s event underscores the importance of restorative practices, including expunging records, restoring driver's licenses, and creating job opportunities to dismantle barriers, foster holistic restoration, and create peace.
"This buyback is Detroit taking care of Detroit,” said recording artist and Detroit native, Skilla Baby. “So often, people point fingers at cities and our communities for violence, but we know there are racist systems that have fueled violence and created the cycles that are truly to blame. By taking these guns out of circulation, we’re breaking these cycles and saving lives.”
Recognizing that a gun buyback is just one component of an overall public safety strategy, Brady’s partnership also engages gun owners in solutions by promoting safe storage practices and educating them about options like gun locks. Brady’s National End Family Fire initiative works with gun owners to enshrine safe storage as a crucial tenet of responsible gun ownership. Locking all household firearms could reduce firearm suicide and unintentional firearm fatalities among youth by up to 32%, and the need could not be more dire with a new analysis from Brady finding firearm suicide rates are rapidly increasing in Black communities.
“This buyback is an opportunity for Detroiters to participate in protecting themselves, their families, and the whole community,” said Kelly Sampson, Brady’s Director of Racial Justice and a Detroit native. “Gun violence, like every other public health issue, results from systemic and individual factors. We know many Detroiters are actively calling for systemic change, such as stronger gun laws, economic investment, and holistic public safety policies. But while we work toward these necessary systemic changes, Detroiters can forge change by making choices in their own homes – like storing firearms safely and only choosing to purchase firearms from responsible dealers – those small steps can have a lifesaving impact. This is so much more than a buyback; it is a disruption of the status quo telling every Detroiter gun owner or non-gun owner, they can be a part of the solution.”
“This event is extremely near and dear to my heart,” said Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield. “There are so many Detroiters who face barriers to employment and housing which directly impact their quality of life. I’m happy to have true allies in Skilla Baby, Judge Yancey, Brady, and all the donors and organizations who have pledged their time and money to provide these essential services and resources to Detroiters.”
More information about the buyback can be found here.
Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.
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