By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

One year after being established as a measure to help curb gun violence in the state, the Pennsylvania Office of Gun Violence Prevention held its first advisory group meeting with key stakeholders on Sept. 9 in Harrisburg to discuss possible measures that will continue to ratchet down the number of gun-related incidents in the Commonwealth.

In 2019, Pennsylvania was one of the first states in the country to designate a state-level Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In the years since, more than a dozen states – in addition to numerous cities and municipalities – across the United States have established dedicated Offices of Violence Prevention.

On Sept. 9, 2024, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2024-02 that reestablished the office within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD).

Since the office was reinstated a year ago, it has run parallel to several promising numbers that reflect a large improvement in the area of public safety. In 2024, homicides in Pennsylvania dropped 23 percent, outpacing the national decline of 15 percent. Further data shows that 30 counties in the Commonwealth saw reductions in homicides in 2024 - including Philadelphia - which recorded a 36 percent drop last year and a 22 percent decline so far in 2025.

Further statistics show that other violent crimes committed with firearms also decreased statewide in 2024 compared to the prior year, including a 15 percent reduction in aggravated assault by firearm and 32 percent decrease in robbery by firearm incidents.

“Today’s convening marks a key step in our fight against gun violence and highlights the critical work that we’ve done over the past year to better understand and address the trends,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). “By bringing together committed individuals from every corner of the Commonwealth, we are turning research and stakeholder input into real strategies that will save lives and make our communities safer.” 

While the forum acknowledged these statistics, it did so over the continuing cloud of gun-related violence that pervades throughout the U.S. in what has been redefined as a public health epidemic. In the first eight months of 2025, the U.S. has recorded 309 shootings that have led to the deaths of 302 people and the wounding of an additional 1,354 people.

In Pennsylvania, gun violence claims the lives of more than 1,500 Pennsylvanians each year and injures thousands more. According to 2022 statistics from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,900 Pennsylvanians were killed as a result of firearm-related injuries – a rate of nearly 15 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Additionally, firearm-related injuries remain the leading cause of death among children and adolescents; black Pennsylvanians are more than 22 times as likely to die by gun homicide as white Pennsylvanians; guns accounted for 60 percent of all suicides in the state during 2023; and in 2023, 77 percent of domestic violence homicide victims in Pennsylvania were killed by guns. 

As part of an all-points bulletin aimed at providing solutions, the office released an initial report and strategic plan this year that is based on the results of the seven stakeholder listening sessions the office has hosted:

● Increasing investments in community-based violence intervention and prevention programs and bolstering resources for victims’ services

● Improving data collection, availability, analysis, and research on firearm-related incidents

● Developing a statewide “blueprint” for expanding strategies to promote youth safety and well-being in collaboration with young people and youth-serving organizations

● Encouraging safer gun ownership practices by raising awareness of and addressing barriers to secure firearm storage practices

● Advancing local suicide prevention initiatives and postvention strategies and 

● Strengthening protections and resources to reduce domestic violence-related shootings 

The Shapiro administration has continued to stress the importance of investing in youth-serving programs and violence prevention initiatives. Since January 2023, PCCD has awarded $85 million in Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grant funding for more than 130 projects across Pennsylvania, and last January, PCCD announced the first-ever recipients of Building Opportunity through Out-of-School Time (BOOST) funding. 

PCCD also recently announced more than $4 million in federal Byrne SCIP funding to help communities across Pennsylvania reduce gun violence, address firearm suicides, prevent intimate partner homicides, and strengthen local behavioral health crisis responses; and continues its work to better support survivors, families, and caregivers in Pennsylvania affected by gun violence through its Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Initiative. 

In addition to the OGVP’s Executive Committee, PCCD will be launching regional advisory groups later this fall to help shape the Commonwealth’s gun violence prevention strategy. Stakeholders who are interested in participating in these regional groups can sign up using OGVP’s Stakeholder Interest Form.

“We’re taking a comprehensive approach to make Pennsylvania communities safer— addressing trauma, supporting mental health, and disrupting cycles of violence at the root,” said Kirsten Kenyon, PCCD’s executive director. “By bringing together survivors, advocates, public safety and health experts, and leaders from state and local agencies, we are joining forces instead of working in silos. 

“Every community in our commonwealth has unique needs and challenges, but one truth remains the same—too many lives are being cut short by gun violence. That’s what we’re here to change.” 

To read the initial report by the Pennsylvania Office of Gun Violence Prevention, visit www.pa.gov.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].