Guns and gun violence sadly are ever-present in our society. Sometimes it feels hopeless when still another person or mass shooting is broadcast. Yet many people are engaged in efforts to fight this, including the valiant Gabby Giffords, the former congressional representative gunned down at an election rally in 2011. After a miraculous recovery from her wounds, she has emerged as a leading advocate for gun safety through her organization, GIFFORDS. (www.giffords.org). 

To support the annual United Nations International Day of Peace (September 21), LA5’s Peace Committee together with the Rotary Club of Downtown Los Angeles are welcoming speakers Jarlene Choy, Adam Skaggs and Paul Carillo from GIFFORDS who will tell us about the many efforts to enact safer and effective gun laws proven to make communities safer, as well as their violence intervention work. Please join us at this important meeting to hear how to turn gun violence into gun safety, and the role we each can play in thwarting this existential threat to our safety.