PLAYTeam ENOUGH: A Youth-Led, ‘Supply-Side’ Approach to Ending Gun Violence in L.A.
90% of guns recovered from crimes come from just 5% of gun dealers who put profit over public safety, flooding Black and Brown communities with guns. Direct service organizations work to decrease the demand for guns--but to make sustainable change and end LA’s epidemic of community gun violence, we must target the sources of guns instead of just the trigger-pullers. Brady is the only organization taking this ‘supply-side’ approach. With your support, we will mobilize young Los Angelenos around our supply-side solutions to gun violence in LA.
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
City of Los Angeles
What is the problem that you are seeking to address?
Where you live should not determine if you live, and that the color of your skin should not dictate your life expectancy. Yet, more than 25% of the country’s homicides occur in neighborhoods containing just 1.5% of the population--largely Black and Brown communities suffering the effects of systemic inequality and oppression. 90% of guns recovered in crime are traced back to sales by just 5% of gun dealers. These crime gun dealers engage in illegal and negligent behaviors that divert guns to the criminal market, prioritizing profit over public safety. These actions flood impacted communities with guns, and the ubiquity creates the problem—it’s akin to attempting to stop opioid addiction with opioids available on every corner. To combat the epidemic of urban gun violence, we must reduce the supply of illegal guns driving urban homicide and gun crime. Brady is the only national gun violence prevention organization leading this supply-side approach.
Describe the project, program, or initiative that this grant will support to address the problem identified.
Gun dealer oversight dramatically decreases the flow of guns into the criminal market. Despite its proven impact, the federal government inspects only 7% of gun dealers per year, and some who are violating the law can go over a decade without an inspection. These dealers are predominantly white individuals from suburban neighborhoods. That these largely white gun dealers can evade punishment for their negligent and illegal behavior--while Black and Brown communities suffer from downstream gun violence and mass incarceration--highlights the racial imbalance of the criminal justice system. Targeting the industry that is profiting from flooding communities with guns, Brady’s supply-side work fights this inequity. Brady has been preventing gun violence in Los Angeles for over two decades. We have two major programmatic priorities in LA. Team ENOUGH, our youth-led program, provides organizing resources and a platform for diverse young Los Angelenos to speak up on gun violence issues that matter to their communities. Our Combating Crime Guns Initiative (CCGI) takes an innovative supply-side approach to gun violence in LA, holding the gun industry accountable for its role in facilitating gun violence. Alone, each of these programs is critical and impactful—but together, they can create a citywide movement. We seek to bring together Team ENOUGH and CCGI, piloting a model for youth organizing around our supply-side approach to gun violence that deeply engages impacted LA communities.
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Pilot or new project, program, or initiative
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 1,770
Indirect Impact: 3,967,000
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
In many communities, it can be easier to find a gun than fresh produce. But easy access to guns is not inevitable--if we stem the flow of guns into communities, we can make it much more difficult for individuals to obtain and use firearms. In fact, research shows that shutting down a major source of crime guns can significantly reduce crime in a city for up to 18 months. Brady has identified and created an online map of the most high-risk gun dealers in the LA area. We have strategized local supply-side actions that can be taken to combat gun violence. But to disrupt the supply of guns, we must engage impacted communities in our fight. We envision an LA where diverse young people are provided with the tools needed to hold the gun dealers that feed the persistent gun violence they experience accountable, and empowered to advocate for local supply-side solutions. In the long term, we see a city with decreased gun crime and incarceration and healthier, stronger communities.
What evidence do you have that this project, program, or initiative is or will be successful, and how will you define and measure success?
Project objectives and corresponding measures of success: --Build a sustainable supply-side grassroots movement that lifts up young voices from impacted communities: The number of youth engaged in Team ENOUGH LA initiatives will be tracked via growth in chapter membership, social media following, and the number of local/online events held and estimated number of attendees. Demographics of chapter members will also be tracked; we hope to see increases in socioeconomic and racial/ethnic diversity of the LA chapter throughout the grant period. --Drive community awareness of supply-side solutions: We will hire a program evaluator to assess overall project impact. Exact data collected will depend on initial assessments of the evaluator, but changes in community awareness of the supply-side approach will be evaluated. --Implement supply-side solutions that will make the city of Los Angeles safer: We will track supply-side solutions implemented in Los Angeles and the surrounding area.
Which of the PLAY metrics will you impact?
Crime rates
Gun-violence victims
Perceived neighborhood safety
Indicate any additional LA2050 goals your project will impact.
LA is the healthiest place to LIVE