Do you know if there’s a gun in the home where your child plays? If not, then ASK.
PAX, a nonpolitical nonprofit organization working to end gun violence against children and families, is gearing up for National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day on Sunday, June 21.
Held annually on the first day of summer, ASK Day reminds parents about the importance of asking if there are guns in the homes where their children play. PAX is working with community groups and individuals to get out the ASK message, including encouraging folks to wear “Are You ASKing” buttons and “I ASK” wristbands.
“The first day of summer symbolizes a time when kids are out of school and playing with other kids at other homes,” PAX co-founder and CEO Dan Gross tells Tonic. “Most unintended childhood deaths happen in or around the home, so we encourage parents to ask about guns just like they would other safety issues.”
PAX introduced the ASK campaign in 2000 and according to national polling more than 20 million parents have begun asking about handguns since ASK’s launch. Overall, three fewer American kids die each day from gun violence since PAX’s launch in 1998 — 11 then and about 8 today.
In addition to ASK, PAX has also long promoted its SPEAK UP campaign encouraging young people to anonymously report threats of violence in their schools and neighborhoods. The program launched in 2002 after PAX discovered that a staggering 81 percent of school shooters announce their plans in advance. This summer, PAX will expand the program so people can also anonymously report threats via text message. The SPEAK UP hotline (1-866-SPEAK-UP) has received more than 30,000 calls to date, which has led to thousands of confirmed interventions.
Encouraging statistics like these are precisely why Gross co-founded PAX 11 years ago. Gross is all too familiar with the devastation gun violence can bring to a family. On Feb. 23, 1997 Gross’s younger brother, Matt, was shot in the head at close range atop the Empire State Building. The shooter, Palestinian tourist Abu Kamal, also fatally shot one of Matt’s friends and wounded four other people before turning the 38-caliber handgun he purchased in Florida on himself. Although Matt survived the attack, he suffers permanent brain damage.
The seeds for PAX were planted in the hospital as Dan, then a successful NYC advertising executive, not only waited and worried about his brother, but began discussing ways to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again. PAX officially launched on the year anniversary of Matt’s shooting, and has since grown into the nation’s largest non-lobbying group dedicated to gun violence prevention. Its board members include celebrities Richard Belzer, Rosanne Cash, Catherine Crier, Mandy Patinkin, Rob Reiner and Tim Robbins.
Dan says although his brother is doing well — and attended the PAX annual gala May 13 featuring special guest NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg — his struggle continues. (Matt, pictured here at right with his brother Dan on the left, flanking New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the event.)
“You always have to look at it in perspective to what happened to him and if you do then he’s a walking miracle,” he says. “But as anyone who is in this situation knows there are challenges and there’s a heartbreaking side watching him try to address those challenges. But to say I am inspired everyday by him would be a huge understatement.”
To learn more about PAX and National ASK Day visit their Web site, www.paxusa.org.