April 24, 2013 Meeting

Meeting Notes

The following are a few of the meeting notes taken by your always-tardy blogger, Missy. The rest of the meeting notes will be sent to me by our scribe of the day, who arrived on time! After I arrived, we mainly focused on refining our list of participants so that we can more effectively coordinate our planning efforts for a gun violence awareness event in the South Hills with those of CeaseFirePA (see twitter feed on right-hand bar). Three members will meet with the CeaseFirePA representative later in the week to settle on a date for the event (tentatively June 6) and further refine the list of panelists before we begin to contact them. 

Next week, we will (A) discuss the outcome of the meeting with CeaseFire; (B) refine questions and info sheet for potential panelists (below); (C) discuss advertising and other potential partners (beginnings of list below); (D) assign contacts for each potential panelist and reach out to them.

Potential Participants

Potential participants fall into roughly six categories of folks that deal directly or indirectly with perpetrators and victims of gun violence. We sketched out these categories and chose a few potential participants that would fall within each.

1. Religious Leaders [Bower Hill Minister; Southminster Minister; Unitarian Church Minister]
2. Law Enforcement [Chief McDonough; Allegheny Co. D.A. Zappala; FBI South Hills; PA State Police Troop B]
3. Health Professionals [Cyril Wecht; AGH trauma surgeon Allan Philp; Public Safety Medical Director Dr. Roth (see also PIRC); Psychologist Mark Miller]
4. Education [Nancy Rose; Pam Cook--tofind more info on others who may be of interest in education]
5. Community Member [Those directly impacted by gun violence, may include: Mother of West Penn Shooting victim (spoke at Murphy meeting); College student/HS Student; WFA member; Baumhammer Victims; LA Fitness Shooting Victims]
6. Government [Blaise Larotonda; Matt Smith]

Additional Partner Organizations?

• PIIN
• LWV
• PTA
• Moms Demand Action
• UPitt Public Health Community Violence Prevention Project 

Draft of Flier for Panelists

Reducing Gun Violence in the South Hills: What YOUR Family Needs to Know!

Too often gun violence events, while deemed horrific, are still viewed as something that happens elsewhere: in “the city” or in another state. However, as one Newtown parent lamented, things always seem distant and surreal until they happen close to home. The purpose of the event will be to provide some perspective on gun violence issues by educating the community on how gun violence issues impact residents of the South Hills, and surrounding area(s). The event will provide information about how problems are currently being addressed in the region (and beyond), and what might be done in the future.

Logistics

·       The event will be conducted in the evening on a weekday in May or June (prior to the end of the school year) and will be no more than two (2) hours long.

·       Each panelist will be asked to speak for 5-10 minutes to provide background about who they are and why issues of gun violence are important to them (personally or professionally). They might also answer some of the questions posed below.

·       After all panelists have presented, there will be an open Q&A session, with questions being provided by the audience. Audience will provide questions by writing them on notecards to be picked up and read by MC/staff. This format will be made clear to the audience by the MC in the opening remarks, but will also be posted around the meeting room and on some event fliers as to preempt confusion.

·       Multiple panelists may answer questions, and discussion among panelists is encouraged. Depending on the number of audience questions submitted, these discussions may need to be timed/cut off in order to move on to different issues.

·       Information about gun violence, mental health, and activism more generally will be compiled on fliers and made available at the event.

Content

The following are a sampling of questions that were relevant to organizers:

·       What are the statistics on gun violence in Allegheny County, including the city of Pittsburgh?

·       What records of assaults with guns are kept in each locality and are they shared with any other entity?

·       How much work is involved in finding out the ownership of any gun used in a crime? How could this be
        reduced or improved so it is easier and faster to obtain?

·       What is the best way families can protect themselves against gun assault?

·       What preparedness steps have been taken to plan for a potential event in our school, our community?

·       What do you see as the best way to decrease violence in the community?

·       What can we, as families, do to stop the increase in gun violence?

·       What does your organization need to support your efforts to reduce violence?

·       What are your concerns about providing safety for the people your organization supports?

·       How do we keep guns away from children? How do we educate parents on gun safety?

·       Are there any known militia groups in the South Hills (or nearby communities)?

·       Are most guns used in crimes legally purchased under current law? If so, where are they purchased?