Pennsylvania responds as Trump shutters White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

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Shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump disbanded the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, taking its website offline.

Pennsylvania officials and advocacy groups say they are aware of the shutdown, but their work will continue.

“I think there are a lot of moving pieces around funding in this space right now in the Trump administration,” Lt. Gov. Austin Davis told WHYY News. “But we are committed to these principles and working to prevent violent crime in Pennsylvania. We’re going to continue to make sure young people have safe spaces that they can call their own.”

WHYY News contacted the White House, but officials could not be reached for comment. The impact of the shutdown remains unclear.

The Pennsylvania Office of Gun Violence Prevention, created in 2019, brought state agencies together to reduce gun deaths, injuries and crime through evidence-based practices and new violence prevention initiatives.

In a typical year, 1,783 deaths occur because of gun violence in Pennsylvania, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. The state has the 32nd-highest rate of gun deaths in the country.

According to the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at John Hopkins University, Pennsylvania experienced a 32% increase in gun violence fatalities from 2013 to 2022. In 2022, the state ranked 15th in the country in gun homicides.

Last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to update and re-establish the agency within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to provide funding for staff members. It’s currently under the leadership of the lieutenant governor.

Davis said the commonwealth will continue to try and partner with the federal government wherever they can.

“This is our priority,” he said.

President Joe Biden established the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention on Sept. 21, 2023, in response to requests from gun violence prevention organizations, advocates, legislators and survivors of gun violence who lobbied the White House to create an office specifically devoted to gun violence prevention. A year later, Biden signed an executive order focused on enhancing active shooter drills in schools and addressing issues related to firearm conversion devices, firearms without serial numbers and “ghost guns,” which are firearms typically produced with 3D-printed parts that are untraceable. It is not known whether those initiatives will survive under the new administration.

David Brown, executive director of the Civic Coalition to Save Lives, which brings together community leaders, organizations and resources to address gun violence in Philadelphia, pointed out that with any new administration, it is always prudent to anticipate that there will be changes in federal funding priorities.

“We anticipate that there will be a greater federal funding focus on enforcement, which may require us to be more creative in funding philanthropic resources to support our work in the intervention side of the equation,” Brown said in an email. “We also want to ensure that resources from the State and City levels continue to be effectively deployed as they continue to work together around this critical issue.”

The organization implements targeted interventions, promotes collaboration, aligns efforts and provides support for effective strategies to ensure assistance reaches those who need it the most.

In a press release, advocacy group CeaseFirePA said the dissolution of the federal agency threatens the progress against gun violence.

“The harmful action at the federal level makes it even more important that we continue to support the state’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and fund our own, state-level community violence prevention activity,” the statement said.

The closure of the national gun violence prevention office was among the gun industry’s top priorities. Now, the Firearm Industry Trade Association is urging the president to open an office dedicated to the preservation of the Second Amendment.