How An Ambitious New Initiative From the University of Chicago Crime Lab Is Empowering Leaders to Close America’s Safety Gap

Over the past few years, American cities have experienced an alarming increase in murders, reaching levels unseen in the past five decades. This rise in gun violence has disproportionately affected communities of color, exacerbating existing public safety disparities. In some neighborhoods, the progress made in reducing gun violence since the 1990s has been completely erased. […]

by Roseanna Ander and Kim Smith

The Power of Art to Prevent Gun Violence: Artist Bonnie Lautenberg Launches National Fundraising Effort with Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords

Ten years ago, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords founded Giffords, a gun-prevention organization. It was a month after the Sandy Hook tragedy, and two years to the day after Giffords was shot in the head in an attack that left six people dead and 13 injured at a Saturday morning constituent meet-and-greet outside a grocery store […]

by Better Staff

Wilmette Becomes Latest North Shore Town to Urge State Lawmakers to Pass Stricter Gun Laws

“Emphatically aye.” Wilmette Trustee Peter Barrow’s statement of assent was part of the Village Board’s unanimous approval on Tuesday, Sept. 13, of a resolution encouraging the Illinois General Assembly to address gun violence and firearm safety. As part of the resolution — full text on page 298 — the board is asking for a statewide […]

by Joe Coughlin | The Record North Shore

How to Help the Grieving Family of a Murdered Chicago Mother of 8

On the evening of June 19, 2022, 36-year-old Fredrica Coleman, a single mom to eight children, was coming home from grocery shopping. As she approached her Englewood apartment, where her children were waiting inside, she was gunned down and killed.  A police investigation is ongoing but no suspects are currently in custody. Witnesses reported seeing […]

by Better Staff

What Drives Someone to Commit Violence and How Can We Help Break the Cycle? A Licensed Clinical Psychologist Weighs In

Disclaimer: Some topics relating to mental health and violence are discussed within this article — readers sensitive to those topics, please be advised. As the country reels from the bombardment of recent gun violence — that has been rapidly normalized, despite public fear, as federal regulations have been decisively cut back — the public is […]

by Margaret Smith