Help and resources
Help for families who are grieving, for parents keeping children safe, and for anyone ready to act. Choose a state to add its own resources: its victim compensation program, its legislature, and what its gun laws do today.
Showing national resources and resources for the District of Columbia. Visit the District of Columbia memorial wall.
Grief and crisis support
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988, any time, for yourself or for someone you are worried about.
- DC Crime Victims Compensation Program Families of a child killed by gunfire can apply to the state for help with funeral costs, counseling and other expenses.
- VictimConnect Resource Center Confidential help finding victim services near you. Call or text 1-855-484-2846.
- The Compassionate Friends Support for families after the death of a child, with local chapters in every state.
- The Dougy Center Grief support for children and teens, including brothers and sisters, and a finder for programs near you.
- Everytown Survivor Network Peer support groups and events for people whose lives have been touched by gun violence.
Safe storage
- Be SMART for Kids Five steps every adult can take: secure guns, model safe handling, ask about guns where children play, recognize the role of guns in suicide, and tell others.
- Guns in the home (American Academy of Pediatrics) Pediatricians' advice on storing guns locked, unloaded and apart from ammunition.
- Free gun locks (Project ChildSafe) Find a local police department that hands out free cable locks. A program of the firearm industry's trade association.
Gun buybacks and safe surrender
- Turn in a gun to your local police Many police and sheriff's departments will take an unwanted gun at no cost and destroy it. Call the non-emergency number first and ask how to bring it in: unloaded, locked, and in the trunk. Never carry a gun into a station unannounced.
- Guns to Gardens (RAWtools) A national network of faith and community groups that takes donated guns, disables them, and forges them into garden tools. Donate a gun or find an event.
Take action
- Write to your officials in the District of Columbia Enter your address, find your legislators and members of Congress, and send them a letter in a minute.
- Where the District's officials stand See how many letters each official has been sent, what they said, and who has not answered.
- Follow bills in the Council of the District of Columbia Track the bills your legislators are voting on this session.
- Moms Demand Action Volunteer chapters in every state that meet with lawmakers and testify at hearings.
- Students Demand Action Student-led groups working for safer schools and communities.
- Sandy Hook Promise Free school programs that teach students and adults to recognize warning signs and speak up.
- Brady National organization working on gun safety in courts, legislatures and communities.
- Giffords Research on gun laws state by state, and campaigns to change them.
Data and research
The District of Columbia law today
- No law holding the gun industry to a standard of responsible conduct.
- Holds adults responsible when a child gets hold of a gun they left unsecured.
- Background checks on every gun sale.
- An extreme risk (red flag) law to temporarily remove guns from someone in crisis.
- Gun Violence Archive Daily records of shootings across the country, and a source for this wall.
- CDC WISQARS Official national data on firearm injuries and deaths by state, age and cause.
- RAND Gun Policy in America An independent review of the research on which gun policies work.
Taken2Young is not affiliated with these organizations. Law summary as of October 2026, from Giffords Law Center and Everytown.