Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

The group was founded in the 1970s as the National Coalition to Ban Handguns and the educational fund was previously known as the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence lobbied for firearm restrictions at the federal level and formed many state-level affiliates to push gun control measures within state and local governments. Policies supported by the group included microstamping, universal background checks, bans on many commonly owned firearms, and “Taking on the NRA and the Insurrectionist Reality.” ^{1 2 3}

Background

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence was formed in 1974 as the National Coalition to Ban Handguns and was the sister organization and lobbying arm to the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence. Later the groups were renamed the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence respectively. ⁴

The Coalition to End Gun Violence served as the “action” and lobbying arm for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence throughout the organization’s existence. the coalition worked with the Educational Fund to launch a lobbying campaign to enact restrictions on firearm ownership such as the Education to Action Campaign and the Virginia Action Network as part of a project led by the two groups called “Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws.” The group later expanded its “Education to Action” workshops from Virginia to Seattle, Washington, and Nashville, Tennessee. ⁴

Policy Stances

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence stated that its number one priority was centered on influencing the state and federal legislative process to promote left-of-center firearm-restriction policies. The organization’s website further states that it was a primary driver of the passage of Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws that depend on analyzing “behavioral risk factors” to allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from individuals who are deemed as being “at risk of violence towards themselves and others.” ¹

The coalition also states that it is “dedicated to taking on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and their toxic agenda” and that the group was the first gun control group to use the term “insurrectionism” to describe the NRA’s agenda and interpretation of the second amendment. ¹

Other issues supported by the coalition included microstamping laws, universal background checks, assault-weapons bans, and bans on guns in public. ¹

Merger

In 2022, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence wound down its operations as its parent organization, the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, merged with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy to become the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, headquartered within Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. The merger was partially funded through a $5 million gift from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ³

Josh Horwitz, who was previously executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence was appointed as a professor of the practice in gun violence prevention and advocacy within the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins as part of the merger. ⁵