A new campaign in Spanish encourages Latino parents to store their firearms safely

During Gun Violence Awareness Month, the End Family Fire program has launched the first national public education campaign on safe firearm storage targeting Latino gun owners.

The campaign, titled "Da El Siguiente Paso" or "Take the Next Step," addresses the significant increase in Hispanic firearm ownership, by focusing on reaching Latino parents who own firearms and motivating them to store all of their firearms more securely.

The ad itself shows a gun owner reading a letter from a Latino mother to her child who lost his life because of a poorly stored gun.

As Produ 35 reports, "by expanding the audience focus and adding educational materials in Spanish, this work can reach one of the fastest-growing populations of gun owners in the US, especially as Hispanic individuals account for 19% of the 7.5M new gun owners between 2019-2021."

The campaign includes a new Spanish-language website, DaElSiguientePaso.org, featuring videos and resources tailored to Hispanic gun owners.

Ingrid Smart, president/CEO of Casanova//McCann, who were behind the campaign's execution, emphasized the importance of the message to Produ 35:

"We are so proud to bring this campaign to life with Brady and the Ad Council to help our community. While the data shows the need, we were floored by the lack of information available for Hispanic gun owners. As parents ourselves, it was very meaningful to have this opportunity and we are grateful to the End Family Fire team for trusting and supporting us. We hope this work reaches gun owners and will create lasting change."