For Immediate Release
September 5, 2025
LEADING VIOLENCE PREVENTION GROUPS CONDEMN NATIONAL GUARD ACTIVATION; CALL FOR GUN SAFETY REFORM TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE IN CHICAGO
G-PAC Illinois, GIFFORDS, Brady, & March for Our Lives Call for Federal Reforms, Restoration of Critical Progress & Other Proven Solutions as Trump Threatens National Guard Deployment
CHICAGO — The Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC) of Illinois today joined with national gun violence prevention organizations GIFFORDS, Brady, and March For Our Lives to call for federal reform and restoration of vital funding and progress to help address gun violence in Chicago – not deployment of the National Guard.
G-PAC, GIFFORDS, Brady, and March For Our Lives called for the Trump administration to address gun violence with proven methods to protect communities, including:
- Reversing the rollback of the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
- Restoring the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
- Restoring funding to community violence intervention organizations working on the frontlines in communities hardest hit by gun violence
- Reversing the decision to divert ATF agents to immigration issues
- Restoring funding for gun violence research
“Chicago’s gun violence problem is directly related to the availability of illegal guns on our streets,” said Kathleen Sances, President and CEO of G-PAC, Illinois’ leading gun violence prevention organization. “Illinois has made significant progress in passing common sense gun laws with the help of GIFFORDS, Brady, and March For Our Lives, and these reforms have helped prevent access to illegal weapons. These efforts have contributed to Chicago’s reduced crime rates, with the city recently experiencing the fewest summer murders in 60 years. But without meaningful reform at the federal level, guns will continue to cross into our state and violence will persist. If the White House wants to get serious about violence, it can start by supporting gun safety efforts instead of the gun lobby.”
“States that provide easy access to guns are exporting crime to places like Chicago. When one state makes it easy for dangerous people to buy guns, those guns don’t stay there. Gun traffickers flock to them and innocent people are dying because of it,” said GIFFORDS Political Director Gladis Merino. “To reduce crime in Chicago, Chicagoans need Republicans in Washington to stop appeasing their gun industry CEO campaign donors and start passing commonsense gun laws.”
“Gun violence has devastated our Chicago communities, and it’s what took the lives of two of my children,” said Delphine Cherry, Brady Illinois State Lead. “But deploying the National Guard into Chicago would only worsen this crisis. Instead of telling lies about Chicago and denigrating our city, Trump should empower federal law enforcement to crack down on gun traffickers who purchase weapons in red states and then bring them here to terrorize our communities. Gun violence in Chicago will only be solved when we hold negligent gun dealers and traffickers accountable, invest in community-based violence intervention programs, back common-sense gun safety laws, and change the culture around firearms in America.”
“President Trump’s threat to militarize Chicago’s streets with the National Guard is a dangerous distraction from his administration’s complete failure to address the gun violence epidemic,” said Jackie Corin, Executive Director of March For Our Lives. “While our children dodge bullets in classrooms and churches, Trump is threatening to deploy soldiers instead of funding proven solutions like community violence intervention programs and common-sense gun safety legislation. If he wants to get serious about protecting communities, he can start by reversing his rollbacks of gun safety measures instead of making threats that will only harm the people he claims to help.”
G-PAC, GIFFORDS, Brady, and March For Our Lives were critical in implementing significant gun safety reforms in Illinois and called for passage of similar measures at the federal level:
- Background checks on all gun sales, including gun shows
- Funding violence intervention and mental health services
- Banning weapons of war and machine gun conversion devices
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