Gun Safety Tools and Resources
Gun Safety Starts With You
Be Part Of The Solution
Gun safety is everyone's responsibility, whether an individual owns a firearm or not. We all can play a role in learning about gun safety measures to protect our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and in working together to build a more peaceful society where all people can thrive. To address the public health crisis of gun violence, the Department of Public Health's Office of Violence Prevention is working with county and community partners to raise awareness and implement a comprehensive set of strategies to decrease gun violence deaths, life altering injuries and their social-emotional impacts in Los Angeles County.
Safely Secure Your Firearms
Keep guns safely stored. Keep ammunition locked separately.
Foster Communication
Know the facts and the conversation about firearm safety with neighbors, family, and friends.
Educate Yourself & Others
Find the right tool for the right situation. Educate yourself about gun violence restraining orders.
The Impact of Gun Violence
National Statistics
Los Angeles County Statistics
LA County residents
visited hospitals and emergency departments for non-fatal firearm injuries during 2020. 5
Sources:
- American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Everytown Research and Policy, Guns and Violence Against Women. October 2019, Updated May 2024.
- Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) LA County Firearm Violence Data Fact Sheet
- Los Angeles County Annual 2022 Data File (Provisional), assembled from California Department of Public Health Vital Records Data. Office of Health Assessment amp; Epidemiology, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Take Action: Means Safety for Firearms
Means safety means taking steps to put barriers between someone's thoughts of harm to themselves or another and their access to lethal means, essentially placing a "speed bump" to reduce their risk of action. Means safety is a violence prevention strategy we can all practice, especially before the risk of violence or suicide may become apparent.
Some means safety practices for firearm prevention include:
Keeping all firearms in the home secured and unloaded or at another location.
Normalizing conversations about getting help among friends and family.
Learning the warning signs for violence and keeping numbers for crisis resoruces at hand.
Educating yourself on other means safety practices
Access Suicide Prevention Hotlines & Grounding Resources (English/Spanish)
To talk to someone about self-harm and/or suicide or to get help now, call or text
988
To learn more about means safety, including how to be safe about other lethals means such as medication or bridges, visit: Striving For Safety website
Gun Safety Tools and Resources
In addition to practicing gun safety inside the home, there is important information you can share with others to reduce firearm deaths and injuries.
Gun Lock and Safe Gun Storage Saves Lives Flyers
To download the flyer includes information on safe gun storage in English and Spanish.
11"x18" Secure Your Firearms, Secure Their Future Posters
Social Media Messaging
Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Resources
We encourage everyone to get connected with supportive mental health resources, get educated about warning signs and prevention strategies, and to get informed about the data. To talk to someone about self-harm and/or suicide or to get help now, call or text 988.
Download Suicide Prevention Hotlines and Grounding Resources
Download Community Mental Health Hotlines and Resource Sheet
Additional Resources
- Be Smart for Kids
Promotes responsible gun ownership to reduce child gun deaths. - Brady United
Brady works to unite all Americans against gun violence by working across Congress, the courts, and communities. - BulletPoints Project
Provides clinicians with the knowledge and tools to reduce firearms injuries and deaths with their patients. - Everytown for Gun Safety
Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. - Giffords Law Center
Advocates for and seeks systemic change to reduce gun violence. - Hope and Heal Fund
Supports and amplifies community-driven, public health solutions proven to prevent gun violence. - Moms Demand Action
Grassroots movement that fights for public safety measures to protect people from gun violence. - Project Child Safe
A program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation to promote firearms safety and education. - State Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Newly formed agency that supports the efforts of the State Department of Justice to prevent gun violence and injury. - Striving for Safety
Limiting a person's access to means by which they may cause themselves harm is called lethal means safety, and here you'll find information about a range of strategies to promote safety in times of crisis or in anticipation of crisis.
"It is always an adult's responsibility to make sure children are never in the presence of unsecured guns. Kids will be kids, so don't assume a child will not find and touch an unsecured gun, even if they have been told not to."
- Everytown For Gun Safety