True leadership is understanding that you can support the Second Amendment — and still have sensible gun laws to provide for public safety. We unanimously agree that injuries and fatalities from gun violence are a public health crisis and an unacceptable and avoidable outcome for a nation founded on the principles of the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
Therefore, we pledge to effect real change by:
- Advocating for common-sense gun legislation that promotes safety and preserves the right to bear arms.
- Increasing awareness of the need for more behavioral health funding, treatment and support without stigmatizing the mentally ill.
- Incorporating electronic health record screening protocols for predisposing factors, such as the social determinants of health.
- Collaborating with law enforcement and social work professionals to identify at-risk individuals and determine appropriate interventions.
- Advocating policymakers to allocate more federal funding for research to better understand the root causes of gun violence and ways to prevent it..
- Establishing working groups that will enable us to move forward with a constructive agenda aimed at reducing needless deaths and injuries through violence-prevention policies and programs.