Gov. Matt Meyer established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Thursday with an executive order.
Firearms are the second leading cause of death for children and teens in the First State, according to a 2024 report from the Center for Gun Violence Solutions. The report also finds about half of domestic violence-related homicides in Delaware were committed with a firearm.
Meyer said his administration is committed to strengthening and expanding community-based efforts to address gun violence.
“This includes using this office to amplify the work that our community organizations are already doing, even in the face of extreme budget cuts and the most challenging time with respect to the federal government,” Meyer said. “Let me be clear, this executive order is more than just a policy directive. It's a commitment to our communities, to people everywhere across this state, that we will not stand idly by as gun violence persists.”
End Community Violence Now executive director Lauren Footman said her organization will help support the Office.
“We stand ready to offer technical assistance, align funding and ensure that those closest to the work are closest to the resources and are continued to be heard together,” Footman said. “We have the opportunity to show the nation how public-private partnerships can truly drive safety, healing and equity for all of our communities.”
This new office will serve as Delaware’s central coordinating body to combat gun violence in Delaware and operate under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
The Office’s goal is to facilitate communication between agencies working against gun violence in the First State, which includes the Coalition for a Safer Delaware.
Its executive director Traci Murphy said the Office will uplift a variety of voices, from advocates to researchers and domestic violence survivors.
“When our federal government is rolling back progress, Delaware is rolling forward,” Murphy said. “And that's really important. This is an opportunity to elevate the shared goals and the shared vision of the movement.”
The Community Legal Aid Society’s deputy director and Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council vice chair Laura Graham voiced her support of the new office in a statement.
“As domestic violence advocates, we know that DV fatalities and near fatalities have spiked in the recent past, and that firearms are a contributing factor. It is a public health issue, and we support the Governor addressing the root of gun violence in our state that claims lives, including the lives of our domestic violence clients.”
Homicide and suicide are the number one cause of maternal death in the U.S., according to a 2025 study from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. 55 percent of violent deaths – or 1,261 deaths – involved firearms.
Gun violence also disproportionately affects people of color, according to KFF.
DVCC’s Fatal Incident Review Team Annual Report found Delaware had 25 DV-related deaths in 2024. DVCC executive director Angela Seguin said Delaware sees a staggering volume of domestic violence incidents.
“In the past five years or more, firearms are the leading cause of domestic violence fatalities as well as domestic violence near-death incidents,” Seguin said.
But gun violence prevention is not just a domestic violence issue, Seguin added.
“Domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, as well as mass violence, shootings – all of these kinds of incidents have some links in that people who are willing to engage in domestic violence are also engaging in these other types of violence. And often firearms are the method being used,” Seguin explained.
The SMFM report concludes that the passage of firearm legislation results in a 20-30 percent reduction in firearm deaths.
Murphy with the Coalition for a Safer Delaware said the Office will help organizations and constituents accomplish more when it comes to gun violence prevention.
“We are grateful to have a seat at the table being built. We're grateful to make sure that all of the people necessary have that seat, and we're eager to help continue building a safer Delaware together,” Murphy said.
Seguin said she thinks the Office has the potential to help encourage collaboration and better organize advocates in the First State.
“We know that having better gun control laws and an office looking at the prevention of gun violence could be incredibly impactful in reducing fatalities and other violent incidents in our state,” Seguin said.
Meyer said his administration will continue to treat gun violence as an ongoing public health crisis and assist organizations tackling the issue.
