How bad is youth gun violence in Tacoma? Advocacy group hosts talk with local politicians
A young woman is killed in a drive-by shooting. Two 16-year-olds are shot and killed. One was a Tacoma resident, shot dead at at an apartment near 112th Street East in Parkland. The other was found unresponsive on South Mildred Street near Tacoma Community College. A Foss High School student is struck down outside TCC, and local police have charged two other teenagers for pulling the trigger.
These events illustrate an increasingly common connection between youth violence and firearms. Candace Wesley understands this message intimately, and she wants to do something about it. Wesley and her leadership partner, James Watson, co-founded the grassroots advocacy organization Tacoma Cease Fire in 2019.
Last week, Wesley described instances of Tacoma’s gun violence in adolescents during a local roundtable discussion that included U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington’s 6th Congressional District and Tacoma Deputy Mayor Kristina Walker.
Wesley drove home the message that the nation, and Tacoma, face an escalating violence and mental health epidemic among youth.
“I don’t fear my community,” Wesley said. “I fear failing [my community]. … When you’re in survival mode, you don’t have the time to embrace the beauty around you.”
What are youth gun violence rates in Tacoma?
Since the start of the pandemic, firearm deaths overall in the United States have risen sharply.
The Tacoma area has had its share of violence involving children and teens. The News Tribune reported earlier this month that at least five children have been killed in 2023. The most recent death took place in early April in the case of the 16-year-old shot dead in Parkland.
The Pew Research Center finds that there were 6.7 firearm murders per 100,000 residents nationwide.
Those metrics are comparable to those of Tacoma at 6.1 and Pierce County at 4.8, according to the city of Tacoma’s 2022 Youth & Adult Violence Assessment.
Pew also found that from 2019 to 2021, gun deaths of American children rose by a whopping 50%. A 2022 study from the New England Journal of Medicine states that in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of deaths in Americans age 18 and younger, overtaking vehicle accidents as the leading cause in child fatalities.
The number of kids who died or were injured by gunshot wounds continues to increase every year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In Tacoma, the 2022 Youth & Adult Violence Assessment found that Tacomans age 15-17 die by assault at a rate of 6.9 for every 100,000 people, a higher number than the city or county’s overall rate. The report also states that firearms are the leading cause of youth hospitalizations in Tacoma.
The rise in adolescent gun violence coincides with increased access to firearm in the past several years. The Tacoma city government assessment also found that local gun purchases spiked during the pandemic, especially during summer of 2020 and throughout 2021. In addition, 10% of teens in grades eight, 10 and 12 from Tacoma Public Schools thought it was easy to get access to a firearm, based on feedback from the 2021 Health Youth Survey.
It’s not just legally-purchased firearms, either. People in Tacoma are stealing guns from inside vehicles at a heightened frequency. In January, Tacoma Police Department stated in a news release that a gun is stolen from inside a car every 48 hours.
“Stolen guns are finding their way into the hands of juveniles and are being used in violent crimes,“ stated Tacoma Chief of Police Avery Moore in the release.
Government response to gun violence
In 2022, Rep. Kilmer supported the bipartisan Safer Communities Act to address gun violence, which implemented laws requiring more comprehensive background checks and other protective measures surrounding gun purchasing and distribution.
The law also provides funding to the state of Washington and Tacoma Public Schools to address mental health services, emergency preparedness and crisis prevention measures.
“I want [children] to be excited about school, not be afraid for their day, not be afraid for their safety,” Kilmer said at the meeting.
Friday’s discussion took place only days before Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a bill banning assault weapons in the state of Washington, becoming the 10th state in the U.S. to prohibit the style of firearm.
Tacoma advocates’ response to youth violence
Tacoma Cease Fire works to implement prevention measures before violence occurs, as well as raise awareness about gun violence. They recently partnered with the City of Tacoma to implement a trauma response team that completes initial crisis response training and monthly training updates. Their team collectively has more than 30 years of crisis response experience.
The leaders of Tacoma Cease Fire state that gun use and deaths among children in the Tacoma area has been an issue that’s become more severe over the past few years.
They emphasize several approaches to addressing the problem:
Connect with parents to understand their mental health and parenting skills.
Integrate gun legislation that keeps firearms out of reach of children, such as enacting age restrictions for owning a weapon and protocol for locking them up.
Understand the mental health needs of children, parents and families as a whole. This includes resources for an entire family instead of one person.
Partnerships with local organizations to foster unity among the community.
Implement prevention measures, such as family outings and programs for children to attend, to help to curb violence among children.
Provide safety and infrastructure in schools to address student needs and well-being.
Other WA gun violence prevention groups
One way to take a stand on gun violence is to get involved with a local organization. Advocates against gun violence can volunteer with Washington’s chapter of Moms Demand Action. The group is hosting a volunteer event May 6 in Sammamish. Volunteers will learn to “use the power language of our movement, how to have a Be SMART conversation to protect your children, how to use your voice to help elect Gun Sense candidates.”
For those who want to take a stand on gun violence and dispel myths about firearm violence, it’s important to know all the facts. Everytown Research & Policy is a nonprofit organization that conducts robust research on gun trafficking, school safety and armed extremism.
