The Alliance for Gun Responsibility works to save lives and eliminate the harms caused by gun violence in every community through advocacy, education, and partnerships.
The Alliance is made up of three separate organizations based in Washington State:
- a 501 (C3) nonprofit organization known as the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Foundation;
- a 501 (C4) nonprofit organization known as the Alliance for Gun Responsibility; and
- a Political Action Committee (PAC) known as the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund.
These sister organizations are governed by separate boards, and manage the organization’s public education, advocacy, and political giving programs, respectively.
Public Education (C3)
The Alliance for Gun Responsibility Foundation houses our program, public education, and implementation work. We have a robust volunteer program across the state organized into chapter teams. This model empowers volunteers to drive change in their communities by engaging in a wide range of grassroots activities, including organizing a phone bank, hosting a house party, visiting with a legislator and attending rallies and other events.
We are proud to partner with hundreds of organizations across Washington who support commonsense gun violence prevention efforts in our state. The depth and breadth of our coalition membership shows the strong desire for change from voices in all corners of the state.
The Foundation also works with system stakeholders to ensure that our existing gun responsibility policies are implemented effectively and working as intended. As part of this work, we regularly gather national and local subject matter experts to share information and discuss the intersection of gun violence with a number of research and advocacy issues, including suicide prevention, domestic violence, hate crimes, trauma-informed care, stigma, and racism. — More on our summits.
Advocacy (C4)
The Alliance, with the support of our volunteer base, advocates for policies and programs to prevent gun violence. We have a constant grassroots presence in Olympia during the legislative session and invest in professional lobbyists who work strategically with our elected champions to ensure the best possible outcomes for our priority policies. Our direct lobbying and advocacy work happens at all levels of government.
Additionally, we have successfully led a statewide coalition of citizens and supporters to pass three lifesaving ballot initiatives in Washington state:
- I-1639 (2018): raised the age to purchase semi-automatic assault rifles and more;
- I-1491 (2016): created Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs); and
- I-594 (2014): closed the background check loophole.
Political Action Committee (PAC)
The Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund endorses gun responsibility candidates running for office at the state, county, and municipal level. The Alliance for Gun Responsibility Federal Victory Fund supports candidates at the federal level. The Victory Fund’s work helped secure gun responsibility majorities in Olympia in 2018 and has maintained them ever since.
Since 2015, the Alliance has provided a counter to the NRA’s report card on state legislators. With careful tracking and logging throughout the year, the Alliance produces and distributes a legislator scorecard that provides a nuanced analysis of each individual with an overall grade on gun responsibility.