GIFFORDS applauds California’s new interagency group promoting community safety

WASHINGTON —   GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, applauded Governor Newsom for signing an executive order establishing a new interagency group designed to promote community safety. 

The group brings together agencies, offices, and departments across California already focused on reducing violence, allowing them to coordinate and build on existing efforts. 

“With this new interagency effort, California’s multi-faceted programs and experts will come together, pool their varied resources and skills, and continue to tackle the problem of violence in the most informed and efficient way possible,” said Mike McLively, policy director at the GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention. “We know that California’s investment in CVI programs has saved tens of thousands of lives from gun violence, and we are grateful for Governor Newsom’s continued leadership. As California voters look to elect our next Governor, it’s critical to remember that sustaining this progress will only be possible with leaders who are committed to uplifting and funding each one of the many programs that keep California safe.”

Since 2019, the state has invested upwards of $546 million in community violence intervention and prevention programs, with grant recipients recording more than 30,000 incidents of violence interruption. California has since experienced record lows in gun violence in major cities, including Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco, and gun homicide rates fell 48% and 52% respectively among young Black and Hispanic men. However, in 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice terminated about 370 public safety grants originally valued at $820 million, with the largest cuts falling on CVI programs, leaving state programs to pick up the slack.

The new group will evaluate what work is most effective, determine where new efforts are needed most, and recommend coordinated, evidence-based strategies to continue fighting gun violence, domestic violence, youth violence, and suicide.