COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 7,000 gun violence incidents in 2024. 

In September 2018, Whitney Austin walked into a Fifth Third Bank headquarters, in Cincinnati, and was shot 12 times upon entering the revolving doors. She was one of the only ones to survive that day. Austin founded the Whitney Strong organization as a way to bring awareness to the issue.

Whitney Strong doesn’t just tackle the issue of gun violence but focuses on the importance of gun safety. The best way to keep your gun safe is to store and lock it—unloaded—separate from where you store your ammunition.

The organization works in both urban communities, where there are higher rates of homicide, and smaller counties like Gallia County that have high rates of suicide. The organization provides various trainings on gun safety and warning signs of suicide. The trainings also inform communities about the importance of locking up your weapons as a way to prevent suicide or accidental deaths among kids and teens.

“We're in the middle of a youth mental health crisis, and that doesn't even begin to touch on the suicide crisis that is also impacting adult Americans and Ohioans,” Austin said. “When someone is struggling with a suicidal crisis and they're thinking about harming themselves, one of the most important things we can do is to make sure that they don't have access to a firearm in that crisis moment.”

Whitney Strong reports an 800% increase of participants’ knowledge of the warning signs of suicide after taking their training. The organization also reports a significant increase of families either purchasing locks or getting rid of guns in the home altogether after going through their training.

Gun violence deaths in both Columbus and Cleveland dropped in 2022 after seeing some record breaking numbers in 2020 and 2021.