ASK (Asking Saves Kids) is a national advertising campaign that urges parents to ask if there is a gun where their children play. Guns can be found in 40% of Oregon homes, and many of those guns are kept loaded and unlocked.[1] In the United States, nearly 1.7 million children under age 18 live in homes with firearms that are both loaded and unlocked.[2] Nearly 8 children and teens in the United States are killed by firearms every day in the United States.[3]
The ASK Campaign gives parents something simple and easy to do to help keep their children from being injured or killed by gunfire.
For the past few years in Oregon, the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation (COEF) has distributed ASK brochures to families and physicians across the state. We have also offered ASK presentations to local parent and community groups.
In November 2007, COEF joined with PAX, Inc., to launch the comprehensive Portland ASK Campaign. Billboards, transit advertising, and public service announcements will reach thousands of Portlanders each day, raising community awareness about firearms in the home and linking the public to ASK resources and information. Education workshops, community events, and speaking engagements will reach parents on a grassroots level.
For more information about the Portland ASK Campaign, please visit http://www.PortlandAsks.org. If you'd like to get involved in the Portland ASK Campaign, please contact the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation at 503.220.1669 or info@ceasefireoregon.org.
Notes
- Data as of 2004, the latest year for which these data are available. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Oregon data available at http://egov.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/chs/brfs/brfssum.shtml
- American Academy of Pediatrics, September 2005
- Data as of 2003, the latest year for which these data are available. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, available at www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars.