Rep. Glenn Ivey, Community Members Discuss Gun Violence Solutions

Wrapping June’s National Gun Violence Awareness Month commemorations, community leaders, advocates and health care professionals met with Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey (D) to discuss community-based solutions to address safety concerns across Prince George’s County.

For Ivey, who served as state’s attorney for Prince George’s County from 2003-2011, gun violence solutions start with the community. 

‘It’s not necessarily just funding, but it’s connecting people,” Ivey said during the June 29 conversation at Union Bar and Grill in Hyattsville. “You can be a catalyst on that front.” 

The congressman listened and spoke to residents and representatives from gun violence and health organizations, including: University of Maryland Medical System CAP-VIP Program; University of Maryland Capital Region Hospital Trauma Services; University of Maryland Progress Initiative; Community Justice Action Fund; Hope in Action; Everytown for Gun Safety; Guns Down Friday; Jacob’s Ladder Youth Foundation; and Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Center.

According to the Maryland Department of Health, firearms were connected to 17 injuries and 16 homicides in the county between January and May of this year. Between 2024 and 2025, homicides dropped by 40% from 96 fatalities to 57. Youth violence also declined, with 21 people under the age of 25 who died from firearms in 2025, a drop from 45 deaths in 2024.

Still Jawanna Hardy is working to reduce numbers even more.

“That bullet, it goes so far,” said Hardy, founder of Guns Down Friday. “It hits the entire community.”

One point of discussion was funding gaps for various programs addressing community violence, whether due to federal cuts, grant delays or inconsistent funds for state and local initiatives. 

Many attendees present advocated for gun violence solutions starting with county programming,, primarily by establishing an office dedicated to gun violence prevention.

“It’s sustainable because it’s built into the state and county budget,” said Joseph Richardson, co-director of the University of Maryland’s gun violence research initiative PROGRESS. 

For Donica Thompson, an Injury Prevention and Outreach coordinator for Trauma Services at UM Capital Region Health, the county needs more support for basic necessities like mental health, education, housing and employment.

“I feel the community needs to take more action,” Thompson said. “Create opportunities for the youth, create more jobs for the youth.”

The conversation ended with Ivey affirming the need to begin building towards a local office to address gun violence prevention through conversations with Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. 

“I think it makes a lot of sense, because [then] we have a stakeholder,” Ivey said.

As a staunch advocate for addressing gun violence, Hardy was overall optimistic about the conversation and hopes it’ll prove to be effective for the county in the future.

“I just pray that there is a solution to the problems, not just us talking about it,” she told The Informer. “But I’m feeling very hopeful.”