Gun Violence committee gathers for advisory group meeting

One year after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2024-02, re-establishing the Pennsylvania Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP), the Shapiro-Davis Administration recognizes the critical progress the office has made over the last year to keep Pennsylvanians safe, and is marking the milestone by continuing to build on its work and bringing together stakeholders from across the Commonwealth for its first Advisory Group convening.

“Today’s convening marks a key step in our fight against gun violence and highlights the critical work that we’ve done over the past year to better understand and address the trends,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). “By bringing together committed individuals from every corner of the Commonwealth, we are turning research and stakeholder input into real strategies that will save lives and make our communities safer.”

In 2024, homicides in Pennsylvania dropped 23 percent, outpacing the national decline of 15%. Data shows that 30 counties saw reductions in homicides in 2024, including Philadelphia, which recorded a 36 percent drop last year and a 22% decline so far in 2025. Other violent crimes committed with firearms also decreased statewide in 2024 compared to the prior year, including a 15% reduction in aggravated assault by firearm and 32% decrease in robbery by firearm incidents.

Still, gun violence remains a persistent public health crisis across the Commonwealth as:

• Firearm-related injuries are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents.

• Black Pennsylvanians are more than 22 times as likely to die by gun homicide as white Pennsylvanians.

• Suicides accounted for 60% of all gun deaths in 2023.

• In 2023, 77 percent of domestic violence homicide victims in Pennsylvania were shot.

“We’re taking a comprehensive approach to make Pennsylvania communities safer — addressing trauma, supporting mental health, and disrupting cycles of violence at the root,” said Kirsten Kenyon, PCCD Executive Director. “By bringing together survivors, advocates, public safety and health experts, and leaders from state and local agencies, we are joining forces instead of working in silos. Every community in our commonwealth has unique needs and challenges, but one truth remains the same — too many lives are being cut short by gun violence. That’s what we’re here to change.”

PCCD also recently announced more than $4 million in federal Byrne SCIP funding to help communities across Pennsylvania reduce gun violence, address firearm suicides, prevent intimate partner homicides, and strengthen local behavioral health crisis responses; and continues its work to better support survivors, families, and caregivers in Pennsylvania affected by gun violence through its Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Initiative.

In addition to the OGVP’s Executive Committee, PCCD will be launching regional advisory groups later this fall to help shape the Commonwealth’s gun violence prevention strategy. Stakeholders who are interested in participating in these regional groups can sign up via the PCCD’s website at www.pa.gov/agencies/pccd.