Last week I had the pleasure of spending a few moments with Senator Chris Murphy. Many of you may remember him as the Junior Senator from Connecticut, but if you’ve been following Whitney/Strong for some time, you know him as one of the key negotiators of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). More than a year had passed since our last meeting, and I was eager to hear his perspective on the current state of gun safety policy in Washington, D.C.
At W/S, none of us are content to rest on our laurels. We are driven to improve every facet of the organization, knowing that with each instance of leveling up, we are saving more and more lives. As such, I don’t often go into conversations with lawmakers with the mindset that we are here to take a victory lap. If there is still death and injury, there is work to be done.
After a brief discussion on the critical role that many of you played in helping to get Senator McConnell and Portman on board with BSCA (that’s right, he truly believes OH and KY played a large role in its passage!), I asked him what is giving him hope right now. Instead of telling me about a piece of legislation that is moving, or a bad one that isn’t, he said the most obvious thing: “Whitney, what we did together through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is working. That is the hope!” Senator Murphy reminded me that we’ve seen a 37% decrease in mass shootings since this time last year (from 211 mass shootings through May 2024 to 132 through May 2025) and homicides continue to drop, with a 21% decrease since 2021, when homicides peaked at over 21,000. (GVA.org) The funding allocated toward mental health support, community violence intervention, and crisis intervention is working! The increased background checks, closure of the boyfriend loophole, and increased penalties for straw purchases are working! We now have evidence that our bipartisan effort is saving lives, Senator Murphy said. He encouraged me and Whitney/Strong to take that story into every conversation with lawmakers on the Hill.
I was gob smacked. I still am. Did I know these numbers? Yes, in fact, the team had just recently discussed several news articles citing similar positive momentum. In my quest to maintain a constant state of self-improvement, I had failed to acknowledge the wins that were so obviously bearing out in the numbers. It took Senator Murphy looking me in the eye and saying it for me to finally realize just how much we have accomplished together.
Supporters, I cannot predict if these numbers will hold through the rest of 2025. Nor can I predict if we will soon find ourselves in a place where conditions are ripe to repeat what we experienced in 2022 with the passage of BSCA. What I do know is that we have a story to tell in every office in Washington D.C., Columbus, Frankfort and beyond. A story of smart, bipartisan work that has led to thousands of American lives saved from gun death and injury.
I am thankful to Senator Murphy for this message of hope. Sit with it. Let yourself have a moment of celebration – for you, for your loved ones, and for all Americans – before going back to the work that is necessary for change.
With gratitude,
Whitney
PS Thanks to you, we were able to get in two lobbying trips to D.C. recently. We were grateful to the following lawmakers and their teams for productive meetings focused on our Save A Life programming and, of course, sharing the successes of BSCA!
Senator Husted (R-OH)
Representative Landsman (D-OH)
Representative Barr (R-KY)
Representative Comer (R-KY)
Representative Guthrie (R-KY)
Senator McConnell (R-KY)
Representative McGarvey (D-KY)
Representative Rogers (R-KY)
Also, we delivered 90 letters to 29 lawmakers prompted by the most recent mass shooting at Florida State University. Many of you wrote letters requesting more protections against mass violence in America, and your message was received. Thank you.