Tampa advocates pushing for state level and national gun violence policies

TAMPA, Fla. - The president created the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention.

Federal leaders are offering guidance to states struggling with increasing gun violence.

The office will take the lead on implementing bipartisan gun legislation signed into law last year, and that includes incentives for states to pass red flag laws that can help remove weapons from people deemed a threat to themselves or others. It also expands background checks on people between the ages of 18 and 21 who want to buy a gun.

In Tampa Bay, communities have dealt with several deadly shootings involving teenagers over the past week that will impact families forever. Those who know firsthand how gun violence changes lives want to see more done to help families.

It’s been 18 years since Elliott Saunders and his wife Darla lost their son to gun violence in Tampa.

"His name was Isaiah Brooks, and he was killed Super Bowl Sunday morning early. So, that makes a difference for us every year," said Elliott Saunders, a Tampa Bay chapter co-coordinator of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice.

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The healing never ends, and Saunders remembers what his family needed back then.

"What I really felt like we didn't get was support from our local police and we didn't get any victims assistance support," said Saunders.

They’ve worked ever since to make sure other families do get that help through their own nonprofit, Advocates for Safer Communities, and through the national group Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ).

Organizations are asking elected officials to do something about gun violence.

"It's just hard when you lose somebody and nobody's there. But now we have that group of people to help us and to help us heal first," said Saunders.

The Crime Survivors group is pushing for changes at the state level, coming up with policy recommendations for the Florida legislature.

"Basically, we don't want to impede anybody's rights. We just want common sense gun laws and common-sense laws to help survivors," said Saunders.

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Nationally, the group is urging Congress to keep funding the Victims of Crimes Act, which includes federal grant funding that pays for victim services across the country. CSSJ said it’s at risk of being cut by nearly 40 percent next year.

"We want our lawmakers to think of survivors first when they go to make a law or when they, you know, do something that is going to affect survivors. We want them to think of us first," said Saunders.

Elliott Saunders and his wife Darla lost their son in 2005.

So, while they wait, families like the Saunders say those solutions matter to every community.

"Everybody is impacted by gun violence. It could be a friend. It could be a family member. It can be a friend of a friend or cousin or a friend. In some way, we are affected by gun violence," Saunders said.

Some of the CSSJ state policy recommendations include establishing and growing trauma recovery centers, funding community organizations on the front lines of responding to gun violence and asking for more legal protection in the aftermath of violence for survivors’ jobs and housing. For more