Educate

About the Coalition

We educate legislators, decision-makers, and the general public about the complexities of gun violence -centering research, data, and community-based solutions. The goal of this education is to promote an understanding of root causes and how gun violence intersects with other complex public health and safety issues.

Our public education tools include: screenings and panel discussions of the Emmy-nominated documentary film This Ain't Normal with Kreateabuzz Films, trainings about the different forms of gun violence and ways that people can advocate for change, webinars and lunch & learns, and comprehensive fact sheets. You can also view our quarterly meetings with relevant updates here.

Learn more about gun violence in Massachusetts and its root causes below.

Watch a Webinar

Guns, Safety and the Edge

of Adulthood

A webinar with Citizens for Juvenile Justice and the Center for Court Innovation highlighting why young people carry guns.

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The Rising Threat of Ghost Guns - in partnership with Giffords Law Center

A webinar hosted with an expert from Giffords Law Center on the rising threat of ghost guns.

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The Intersection of Guns and Domestic VIolence

A webinar hosted with Suzanne Dubus of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center on the dangerous intersection of guns and domestic violence.

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The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

Lunch and Learn White House Screenshot 1

A webinar about the newly created White House Office of GVP with Deputy Directors Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox

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Request a training

These trainings are adaptable for all ages. Get in touch to learn more.

Inquire today

Intro to the Coalition

This training is designed to introduce individuals to the work of the Coalition, our core values and our legislative priorities.

Areas of focus for this training include our unique leadership structure, centering individuals who identify as survivors, frontline workers, activists, advocates, and community members who are taking a stand against gun violence. We also customize this training for particular populations, such as health care providers, youth workers, or faith communities.

Advocacy 101

This training is designed to train youth and adults in advocacy skills that can be used for state, municipal, or very local advocacy. The module addresses issues ranging from general empowerment to specific action outreach models, such as direct outreach to legislators and utilizing research.

The central focus of the Advocacy 101 training is to empower MA residents to build advocacy skills to promote policy change that targets access to guns, the proliferation of firearms, and root causes of gun violence. Through Advocacy 101, we enhance and expand the network of activists, future policymakers, and leaders striving to improve our Commonwealth.

Gun Violence in the US and Massachusetts

This training addresses the specific ways that the United States and its citizens experience gun violence nationally and at the local level in MA. The issues addressed in this training range from firearm suicide to domestic violence, community-based violence, police-involved shootings, homicide and unintentional firearm injuries.

This training reviews current data surrounding the impact of gun violence, and specifically focuses on its impact on youth and BIPOC communities.

Community-Based Violence

This training addresses the day to day gun violence that is happening in our communities and also discusses police shootings as its own category of gun violence. The module explores root causes of community-based gun violence such as racial and economic disparities, inequitable policies, and chronic disinvestment in the communities most impacted. The discussion also touches on the prevalence of police shootings related to mental health crisis calls.

Through this training, we ground ourselves on gun violence in Massachusetts and how that compares to what is happening nationally. We explore how systems and policies have caused harm in our communities here in MA, and outline our work on systems change, with an emphasis on juvenile justice reform. We close this training by describing a path forward to reimagining public safety and reinvestment in community-based solutions as well as the communities most impacted.

Guns and Domestic Violence

This training is designed to educate individuals about the deadly intersection of easy access to guns and domestic violence. The issues addressed range from the ways guns show up in domestic violence situations to the demographic disparities amongst those most impacted by this type of gun violence. The training also addresses the connection between domestic violence and mass shootings, as well as how domestic violence can fuel shootings that happen in the community.

The session explores the ways that systems have further perpetuated this type of violence, current protections for survivors, and policy solutions that can keep survivors safer. We close this training by describing a path forward to reimagining safe relationships and the best ways to support those impacted.