This event took place 200 days after the PA House passed two lifesaving, bipartisan gun violence prevention bills. However, no action has been taken by Senate leaders, with more Pennsylvanians dying from firearm violence daily.

“These bills have sat in the Senate Judiciary Committee collecting dust when they could be saving the lives of those we have lost to gun violence,” said Sarah Jones, CeaseFirePA Education Fund organizer. “Every day the Senate waits, Pennsylvanians die preventable deaths to gun violence. People in Bucks County are dying while the Senate waits to act.”

Colleen Campbell, long-term care manager for the Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership, urged passage of Extreme Risk Protection Orders: “If someone has expressed or exhibited behavior that would harm themselves or others, then they need not only mental health support, but a way to take a weapon from their reach — immediately!”

This vigil was one of six organized by CeaseFirePA Education Fund with local partners across the commonwealth. It built on the recent launch of a new campaign to put increasing pressure on Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lisa Baker and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman to schedule a hearing, then a vote, on the pending legislation: House Bill 1018 to establish Extreme Risk Protection Orders, and House Bill 714 to enact universal background checks.

Also in attendance at the vigil was Pennsylvania’s Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Red Wine & Blue and League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.

Read more at lowerbuckstimes.com

The post Bucks County ‘Not One Day More!’ vigil remembers those lost to gun violence appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

The Moving Macomb Forward event was hosted by Red Wine and Blue, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, For Our Future Michigan and Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

“We are an unlikely alliance because women’s groups don’t traditionally work closely with environmental groups, so we are just trying something new,” said Kelly Dillaha, Michigan Red, Wine and Blue program director. “We wanted to bring the different groups together to see if there was any kind of crossover in the work that we are doing and if we could help each other.”

People from around Macomb County attended the brainstorming session and networking event and discussed issues facing local residents including the lack of affordable housing, high energy costs, flooding, gun violence, education, access to mental health services, and updating water infrastructure.

“People are coming to us because they see things that are happening at the school board level, or a lot of moms are concerned about gun violence issues,” said Dillaha. “It is those kinds of issues that are motivating people to feel like they need to show up and get involved and to vote.”

Read more at macombdaily.com

The post Moving Macomb Forward event connects community appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

“As a child, I lived through the traumatic experience of domestic violence with a gun,” she said. “I’m so relieved and proud that fewer little girls will have to live through that same nightmare. Today, we’re giving domestic violence survivors the hope and safety they deserve.”

The advocacy organization End Gun Violence Michigan noted that passage of the legislation capped off a “historic year” for gun safety legislation in Michigan, including for safe storage of firearms, universal background checks, and red flag laws.

Gun reform activists had mobilized after two school shootings in the last two years at Oxford High School in November 2021 and Michigan State University in February.

Read the complete article at michiganadvance.com

The post Legislation expanding gun restrictions for domestic abusers clears Michigan House appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Similar legislation has been approved in 31 other states, strongly tying into the goals that End Gun Violence Michigan (EGVM) has for people and communities all over Michigan. EGVM reunited people who were affected by domestic violence in Michigan to share their stories as a way to support new legislation. Their testimonials were publicized during press conferences streamed all over Michigan on Monday, Sept. 18, in order to speak further about the vigil.

Participants wanted to bring attention to the changes in legislation they are strongly pushing for, and how they plan to do what they can to help this legislation to get passed as soon as possible and in effect in Michigan. One press conferences took place at St John’s Church in Royal Oak, Michigan, in which End Gun Violence Michigan had people speak about their firsthand experiences with these issues.

Some people involved with this organization have personal experiences regarding domestic violence or gun violence and are looking to spare others from the pain they or someone close to them faced. Kelly Dillaha is the Michigan Program Director for Red, Wine, and Blue, a state organization that educates women about issues in civics, as well as helping provide tools and resources needed to help them contribute to the community. Dillaha’s job has had stories be told regarding domestic violence in people’s communities, including personal issues for both Dillaha and the women she works with.

Dillaha’s experiences with domestic violence run deeper than just this organization though, as she grew up in a household where domestic violence with a firearm took place and her sorority sister, who introduced her and her husband, was murdered by her husband.

Dillaha also mentioned that her children were at Michigan State during the mass shooting back in February 2023. “The tragic reality is that two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence related. We know domestic violence escalates when women try to leave,” Dillaha said.

Read the complete article at news.jrn.msu.edu

The post Survivors of domestic violence push for gun reform laws in Michigan appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Every year, 19,000 children and teens are shot and killed or wounded, and approximately 3 million are exposed to gun violence. A significant portion of these deaths involve the accidental discharge of a firearm, including a number of recent horrifying incidents in Southeast Michigan.

Read more at Press & Guide

The post Tlaib introduces Safe Storage Saves Lives Act to reduce firearm deaths of children appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Cara Erskine was in Lansing earlier this year to testify on new weapons laws being proposed in the wake of mass shootings in Oxford and at Michigan State University.

While she was waiting to speak, she met members of Red, Wine and Blue, a group geared toward suburban parents who want to organize and push for change in their schools, as well as push back against ultra-conservative activists that have become more prevalent in the past few years.

The group recently created a campaign dubbed “Freedom to Parent 21st Century Kids”.

Read more at The Oakland Press

The post Oxford mother advocates for national parent group appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

If the last 50 years is any predictor – if 2023 continues as it has begun, there will be approximately 400 school shootings this year, up considerably from 2022’s record high of 273, so says David Reidman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, which is updated daily,

Read more on Downtown Magazine

The post What are local schools doing for student safety? appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Kelly Dillaha was one of those parents. Her twin sons are juniors at Michigan State University.

“[M]y son texted a picture of how they had barricaded furniture against the doors and window of their apartment and asked my husband if he thought it was going to be secure enough to hold anyone back and if there was improvements they could make to how they had barricaded,” Dillaha said. “And that was kind of the low point of the evening because you’re trying to remain calm as a parent.”

Read More at Michigan Radio

The post Stateside Podcast: The parents on the other side of the phone appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

“The vast majority of people in Michigan are for this kind of reform with our legislation, and I don’t think all of the legislators are listening to us,” said Dillaha, a Birmingham resident and the Michigan program director for the progressive women’s group Red Wine & Blue, which advocates for gun reform.

In addition to the bills introduced by Republicans, a flurry of press releases from Republican Senators and House members have focused on mental health access and school safety measures.

Read more at Michigan Advance

The post After Oxford, gun violence advocates felt helpless. But there’s hope for change in Michigan now. appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.

Yes, they are traumatized; yes, they are overwhelmed with grief and sadness. They know they will need mental health support in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. But, right now, in the wake of three students being killed and five others being injured in a mass shooting at Michigan State University Monday night, they are also deeply angry.

Read more at Michigan Advance

The post ‘We all ran for our lives’: MSU students describe mass shooting as a never-ending nightmare appeared first on Red Wine and Blue.