New Gun Safety Implementation Toolkit Highlights Best Practices for Effective and Inclusive Implementation
Washington, DC — Today, Giffords Law Center, the gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a toolkit highlighting best practices for implementing gun safety laws. Implementation, the way policies and programs are put into effect, is a critical component for ensuring that gun safety laws work fairly and effectively to prevent violence.
The implementation toolkit emphasizes the importance of effectively implementing gun violence prevention measures such as background checks and extreme risk protection orders. The toolkit also provides examples of effective implementation, including a case study on a domestic violence firearms unit in King County Washington.
“Implementation is a crucial and unfortunately, an often overlooked aspect of gun violence prevention. From the beginning of the policy process, thought should be given to how a policy or program will be implemented,” said Julia Weber, Implementation Director for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I am hopeful that this toolkit will be an invaluable resource for communities, advocates, and other stakeholders to explore policies and approaches for preventing gun violence.”
Gun violence is a complex problem that includes firearm suicide, mass shootings, police-involved shootings, community violence, and domestic violence. As such, gun violence must be addressed with a range of solutions. The goal of the gun safety movement is to save lives, not simply to pass laws. Lifesaving policies need to be implemented with the intention to make a difference. Just last week, a federal judge found the Air Force was 60% responsible for a shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where more than two dozen people were killed. The agency failed to put the man’s criminal history into the national database that could have prevented him from purchasing firearms. His prior history included assaulting his ex-wife and cracking his stepson’s skull.
Giffords Law Center is deeply committed to working with policymakers and stakeholders to identify key components of effective implementation.
Key components of effective implementation include:
- Developing equitable and inclusive policies with diverse input
- Clarifying purpose, goals, opportunities, and challenges
- Developing and documenting policies, practices, and procedures
- Spreading the word through education, training, and public information sharing
- Measuring success and avoiding pitfalls
Examples of obstacles to effective implementation:
- Missing input from key stakeholders in identifying the problem and solutions
- Lack of clarity in the policy itself and/or frequent changes and amendments
- Limited education and training for key stakeholders responsible for the implementation
- Underfunding necessary resources, including technology, staffing, or facilities
- Lack of diverse input and groundwork to build support and coalitions
- Lack of clarity about how to measure success and absence of focus on data collection
Stakeholders that work together to identify gaps, promising practices, missing resources, and develop policies with input from a wide array of stakeholders can more effectively implement approaches to prevent gun violence. This toolkit is intended to serve that purpose.
Read the full report, Implementation Toolkit for Gun Safety Laws.