Moms Demand Action

Bloomington Police brought in 217 weapons in a gun buyback program on Sunday. The tally for the no-questions-asked cash event included 66 handguns, 66 rifles, 56 shotguns, 25 assault-style weapons, and four so-called ghost guns that are assembled from parts and do not have a traceable serial number.

Dr. Anne McNamara is the assistant professor of trumpet at Illinois State University. She wants to create a Students Demand Action branch at ISU, focused on ending gun violence.

McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense held its sixth annual “Wear Orange” event Saturday at the Western Avenue Community Center in Bloomington.

The president of the Normal firefighters union says they will find a new beneficiary for proceeds from their gun raffle, after The Baby Fold raised concerns and distanced itself from the annual fundraiser.

There were at least 69 gunfire incidents in Bloomington-Normal in 2022, including five people who were killed and another 12 who were injured, according to police tallies and WGLT reporting.

Bloomington-Normal groups and institutions are decrying the shootings at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs over the weekend and calling for change in national culture and laws.

At a vigil Sunday in Uptown Normal for the 21 victims of the Texas school shooting victims and for all those impacted by gun violence, advocates urged the small crowd gathered not to give up.

The mother of a gun violence victim is launching a Violence Prevention and Intervention (VIP) center on Saturday. The VIP is a pop-up tent that will travel to gun sense events around the area, and give gun violence survivors a platform to speak about their experiences.

Another mother's son died in gunfire a week ago in Bloomington-Normal, and a gun safety group is repeating its call for sensible safety measures to prevent gun violence.

Karen Irvin from McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense says a survivor isn't necessarily always a person who's been injured by a gun incident physically, but anybody whose life has been impacted by gun violence and trauma.