What began as a bill in the 2020 legislative session is now a new office within the Department of Commerce.

The Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention will lead statewide efforts to coordinate evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies to address community gun violence. As part of such effort, the office will administer a firearm violence intervention and prevention grant program. The grants will support, expand, and replicate evidence-based initiatives that interrupt the cycle of firearm violence. Once funding is provided, the grants will be competitively awarded to law enforcement agencies and to community-based organizations.

Reducing community gun violence requires policies and strategies different from those used to reduce other forms of gun violence, such as suicide or domestic violence. Data is crucial for helping identify which communities are at risk. The office will work with communities impacted by gun violence to coordinate and help implement evidence-based prevention strategies.

According to researchers, a person is killed with a gun every 14 hours, almost half of all suicides are from firearms, and more people are killed by gun each year than die in car accidents. The direct and indirect costs of gun violence in Washington is more than $3.8 billion annually, including $2.5 billion in pain and suffering, $1.2 billion in lost income, and $56 million in healthcare.

The office will report to the Legislature in December 2021 on its progress and findings in analyzing data, developing strategies to prevent firearm violence, and recommendations for additional legislative policy options.