A Teenager Steps Up to Save Lives

By Giving List Staff   |   November 4, 2021

Like many teens, 15-year-old Stephan Abrams was devastated by the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Desperate to make a difference, and inspired by the national youth movement to end gun violence, he began educating classmates and community members about the issues.

Abrams found some adults who were doing great work and lifting up the powerful voices of his peers – Brady | United Against Gun Violence.

A storied national gun violence prevention organization with a strong California presence, Brady has been on the forefront of developing bipartisan educational and legislative solutions for our country’s gun violence epidemic for over 40 years. Among their more successful recent programs is the Combating Crime Guns Initiative, which seeks to stem the pipeline of illegal guns from a small group of rogue dealers, and Team ENOUGH, a youth-led project focused on educating and mobilizing young activists.

Team ENOUGH Executive Council members

Now 18, Abrams is involved with both. To prove how easy it was to buy illegal guns, he went “undercover” at a Southern California gun show to buy one – at 17. And to help harness the power of youth change-makers, he led the San Diego chapter of Team ENOUGH, before being promoted to its national director, further developing chapters in California, Florida, and Virginia.

But is anyone listening?

“Last year we trained with the Brady policy team, and lobbied in Sacramento to successfully pass the microstamping bill,” Abrams says, referring to a law requiring gun manufacturers to honor their commitment to more carefully identify guns.

“Stephan, and all these young people, are doing something that most adults would be afraid to do – get up there, make a stand, and help carry a gun bill,” says Steve Lindley, a former police chief who runs Brady’s Southern California programs.

Young people see the same statistics their parents and grandparents do: that 106 people die from gun violence every day in this country; that there are more gun dealers than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined; that it is often easier to get a gun than a library card. They also understand that gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color. For that reason, a majority of Team ENOUGH’s youth leaders are young people of color.

Team ENOUGH had just started to turn that awareness into focused collective action when COVID hit. Lindley was worried that they wouldn’t be able to continue their lobbying work. Undeterred, they moved their trainings and presentations online, expanding access to young activists who were unable to travel to Sacramento. Through their digital efforts, Lindley says, “these young folks are pioneering a new way of making a difference.”

 

Brady | United Against Gun Violence

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Mission

REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE 25% BY 2025. They say it can’t be done. But we can do anything. Even end the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. For we are more powerful than any problem when we work as one. Under Kris Brown’s leadership, Brady unites people of all identities, races, and ethnicities from coast to coast, young and old, progressive and conservative, and everything in between, fed up and fired up, to protect our country from what is killing it. It’s in our hands.

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I’m proud to support Brady’s groundbreaking Show Gun Safety campaign to be more intentional about how guns are portrayed on screen. We in the creative community must do our part to create a safer America free of gun violence — and that change can start in the characters we create and the stories we tell.
Piper Perabo,
Golden Globe-nominated actor (YELLOWSTONE)

Seatbelts in TV Shows Saved Lives – Let’s Do the Same by Showing Safe Use of Guns

Brady is raising $1,000,000 to fund the national expansion of our Show Gun Safety Culture Change campaign in 2024. Cultural attitudes and behaviors around smoking, drunk driving, and seatbelts have all evolved due in large part to the powerful influence of film and television. We’re taking on gun safety – and need your support to transform Hollywood’s portrayal of guns. 100% of your donation will help us change our gun safety culture and free America from gun violence.

Key Supporters

Judd Apatow
Shonda Rhimes
Adam McKay
Mark Ruffalo
Jimmy Kimmel
Amy Schumer
Glen Mazzara
Piper Perabo
Bradley Whitford