Summary

Responding to the safety needs of our region, the King County Council has passed legislation to immediately create a new $2 million gun violence prevention grant program.

Story

Responding to the safety needs of our region, the King County Council has passed legislation to immediately create a new $2 million gun violence prevention grant program.

The plan, sponsored by Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, calls for community-based organizations to solicit grants to support data-driven grassroots efforts that promote public safety and reduce violence, especially among our young people.

“COVID-19 has devastated our economy, eliminated thousands of jobs, laid people off, created hardship, led people to become unhoused, trapped people with their abusers,” Zahilay said. “And all of these things mean we have to give people what they need to survive and also support community-based safety initiatives.”   

In just the past week, a man was shot and killed while attending church in Rainier Valley and a spa employee was shot during a robbery in Skyway. There have also been nationally high-profile mass shootings in both Georgia and Colorado.

The measure was passed in the form of an amendment to the $94.3 million supplemental budget passed by the council yesterday. That package also including funds for rental assistance, eviction prevention, vaccine distribution, and other items pertaining to COVID recovery efforts.