SAFE is pleased to announce our new Education on Policy Initiative! The goal of this initiative is to provide education to healthcare providers on firearm injury prevention policy focusing on state law and policy. Understanding the policies in place in our states is foundational in advocating for comprehensive secure firearm storage policies and practices in our communities. Click on the button below to explore the new webpage!
SAFE August Newsletter
August 2025 SAFE Newsletter
Table of Contents:
What have SAFE Chapters been up to?
SAFE’s Education on Policy Solutions Series: Secure Storage in 6-parts
Workshops on Firearm Injury Prevention Curriculum
Register for Fall StandSAFE with Dr. Brian H. Williams
Get a SAFE Scrub Top
“Clinicians and Firearms” Course Distribution Packet
SAFE Welcomes Ariana Ali, M.D. Candidate, Class of 2027, to the Board of Directors
Ariana Ali is a 3rd year medical student at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. After living through the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018, she became a passionate advocate for firearm injury prevention through her own nonprofit organization at the time. This experience inspired Ariana to pursue medicine and public health with a focus on advocacy. Through SAFE, Ariana hopes to reach future and current healthcare professionals in order to promote firearm safety and injury prevention through evidence-based practices and training.
SAFE Co-Founder Discusses Treating Firearm Inflicted Injuries in Podcast
SAFE Co-Founder Dr. Sarabeth Spitzer discusses treating firearm inflicted injuries in an episode of the “Back to School Shootings” podcast.
SAFE Launches Firearm Safes and Locks Project
One of SAFE’s goal is to help prevent unnecessary firearm injury by supporting our medical school chapters’ procurement and distribution of firearm safes and locks.
SAFE is pleased to announce that we are launching our Firearm Safes and Locks Porject this year, which include resources for our clinicians, our medical school chapters, and our SAFE community members who are interested in participating!
By putting these devices in the hands of our healthcare providers and directly to firearm owners, SAFE is committed to promoting secure storage culture and responsibility.
Register for Secure Firearm Storage Education and Policy Series: Session 4
This series focuses on state law in Wisconsin but is open to individuals across the country! Learn new skills and apply them to your state!
Register for Sept. 9 National Event - Stand SAFE - State Policy Shift
SAFE is honored to host Dr. Brian H. Williams, an Air Force veteran, trauma surgeon, former congressional health policy advisor, and recent candidate for US Congress in Dallas.
Dr. Williams, a member of SAFE’s National Board of Directors, will be sharing the critical shift from federal to state policies in firearm injury prevention work. Moreover, he will be discussing core themes from his best-selling memoir, The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal, including the intersectionality of race, racism, and healthcare as well as the broader future of the firearm violence epidemic.
SAFE Launches New Map Project
Search your medical school and be connected to key personnel to get involved!
The Trace Shares SAFE's Mission for U.S. Medical Schools
Most Medical Schools Don’t Require Gun Violence Prevention Training. This Group Wants to Change That.
Doctor Bigham's Blog Post with Giffords
Doctors and Firearm Injury Prevention: Conversations Can Save Lives
June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, and it’s the perfect time to check in with your doctors or patients about reducing harm and saving lives.
Doctors learn gun safety to improve patient conversation
to read the full article, click on photo or:
https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2025/05/12/firearm--gun--shooting--doctor
'We have a chance to actually shift the culture': Doctors learn gun safety to improve patient conversations
BY Alyson Bruner in Madison Spectrum News 1
PUBLISHED 7:00 AM ET May 30, 2025
MADISON, Wis. — About four in 10 U.S. adults live in a household with a gun, according to Pew Research Center.
Thirty-two percent of those people say they personally own one.
That’s why Dr. James Bigham, a family doctor in Madison, is on a mission to teach more medical students, doctors and behavioral therapists about guns, specifically, how to safely lock and store them. He said his goal is to make sure firearm safety is part of routine checkups and counseling appointments.
Dr. Bigham is the Vice Chair of Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic.
Read the full article click on photo: https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2025/05/12/firearm--gun--shooting--doctor
Watch first 3 sessions of SAFE's secure firearm storage education & policy series
This 6-part series will prepare medical students and healthcare professionals to be knowledgeable and effective advocates for evidence-based secure firearm storage and child access prevention policies.
Op-Ed by Brian H. Williams, M
Please, No More Shooting Victims in My OR — Defunding community violence intervention programs will have deadly consequences - by Brian H. Williams, MDMay 10, 2025 • 4 min read
Read entire piece by clicking below the image.
Read entire piece here: https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/115515
Sign-on to CVI Healthcare Open Letter: Restore Critical Funding for Community Violence Intervention Programs in Healthcare
This open letter urges leaders to restore federal funding for Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs in the healthcare space which were recently cut by the Trump Administration. CVI saves lives through proven, community-led strategies. Without funding, critical services are at risk.
You can individually sign and are not required to sign on the behalf of any organization.
Sign on to show your support and join the call to restore CVI funding in the healthcare space.
In Defense of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Safety
At Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic (SAFE), we believe in the dignity, safety, and humanity of every individual—especially those returning to our communities after incarceration or hospitalization. We write today to express our deep concern over recent actions by the federal government that roll back critical efforts in firearm injury prevention and in diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI).
Policies that silence efforts to address the root causes of firearm injury and limit DEI initiatives do not make our communities safer—they make them more vulnerable. These actions ignore the lived realities of the communities we serve, where structural inequities, systemic racism, and concentrated violence are not abstract concepts but daily challenges.
SAFE was founded on the belief that safe transitions begin with inclusive systems—ones that recognize and respond to the unique needs of every person. This includes building health systems and reentry pathways grounded in equity, trauma-informed care, and community-based solutions. It includes investing in programs that prevent firearm injury and violence, not defunding or denying them.
We remain steadfast in our mission: to disrupt cycles of violence and incarceration by centering healing, restoring opportunity, and advancing justice. We call on our partners—healthcare systems, policymakers, advocates, and neighbors—to stand with us in upholding the values of equity and safety for all.
Now is not the time to retreat from hard truths. It is time to double down on what works: compassion, accountability, and a commitment to justice.
In Solidarity,
Lowering Age to Purchase a Gun in Texas is a Lethal Mistake - Dr. Brian H. Williams
Read entire Opinion piece by SAFE Board Member Dr. Brian H. Williams here: https://apple.news/AA2YH8ZlETV-FMKKXy3EQYw
Last week’s mass shooting at Dallas ISD’s Wilmer-Hutchins High School reminds us of the constant threat of gun violence Texas children and teens endure.
This incident, thankfully without reported fatalities, happened against a grim reality. Since 2015, our state has been the site of three of the five deadliest mass shootings in the United States: Sutherland Springs, El Paso and Uvalde. While we await further details about the Wilmer-Hutchins High School shooting, the lethal combination of youth with easy access to firearms demands immediate attention.
SAFE April Newsletter
April 2025 SAFE Newsletter
Table of Contents:
SAFE’s Mission & Goals
SAFE’s Education on Policy Solutions Series: Secure Storage in 6-parts
Workshops on Firearm Injury Prevention Curriculum
Welcome Dr. Stephen Hargarten and Dr. Jasman Kaur
Register for Fall StandSAFE with Dr. Brian H. Williams
Get a SAFE Scrub Top
“Clinicians and Firearms” Course Distribution Packet
Register for StandSAFE - Sept 9 - with Dr. Brian H. Williams
Join us September 9 at 8 PM Central Time (5 PM Pacific).
One of SAFE’s two annual events that are open to all clinicians and trainees. Brian H. Williams, MD, FACS, is a member of SAFE’s National Board of Directors, and will share the critical shift from federal to state policies in firearm injury prevention work.
Dr. Williams is a trauma surgeon, a USAF veteran, former congressional health policy advisor, and nationally recognized expert in gun violence prevention and healthcare disparities; writer and bestselling author of "The Bodies Keep Coming"
Registration is Required: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/RIh7GItTSheZRrpp4MyNiQ
Register for Session III of SAFE's series on secure storage and policy solutions.
Session 3: April 21 at Noon Central Time, 2025 will feature Dr. Brian H. Williams from SAFE's Board of Directors, Sean Holihan from Giffords, and Nick Matuszewski from Wisconsin Anti Violence Effort. The session will be co-hosted by SAFE's chapter leaders at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
1. Coaching on tone, Power of storytelling and anecdotes, perseverance.
2. The importance of relationship building with legislative aides
3. How Wisconsin's Day of Action at the State Capitol will work and how to host something similar in your state.
Congratulations to Dr. Sandy McKay who co-authored policy brief "Policies to Prevent Gun Violence in Schools"
Impact of Gun Ownership on Child Safety
March 25, 2025 | Kellie Walker, Cedric Dark, Sandra McKay
Center for Health Policy | Firearm Injury Prevention and Safety | Policy Report
Gun violence continues to rise across the United States. With widespread access to the internet and a 24-hour cable news cycle, the American public receives constant reminders of this critical problem. In recent years, the increase in firearm-related morbidity and mortality among pediatric and adolescent populations has become particularly evident, surpassing motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death.[1] This milestone was reached in 2017 for individuals aged 0–24.[2] By 2021, total firearm-related deaths in children had reached 4,752, with pediatric suicides involving firearms at a record high.[3]
While some have speculated that the increasing levels of gun-related deaths are due to rising gun ownership, in actuality, household gun ownership declined by 28% between 1973 to 2021.[4] However, household gun ownership has started to trend upward again. As of April 2021, approximately 30 million children lived in households with firearms, seven million more than in 2015.[5]
Read more here: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/policies-prevent-gun-violence-schools