Public program takes place at Commonwealth Club World Affairs in San Francisco August 18
SAN FRANCISCO (Monday, August 11, 2025) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta will moderate a panel of leading advocates for public safety as they address ways to replicate successful policies and programs that reduce firearm violence, including the applicability of the model pioneered in California.
In the wake of the Parkland shooting in 2018, David Hogg and his classmates' rallying cry, #NeverAgain, echoed across the nation. Unfortunately, since that tragic event, countless other locations—the Tree of Life Synagogue, El Paso, Uvalde, Half Moon Bay and many more—have joined the heartbreaking list of mass shootings. For each of the past five years, the number of mass shootings in the United States has exceeded the number of days in the year. These tragic events have upended workplaces, schools, places of worship, communities and daily life nationwide, resulting in thousands of lives lost. In response to this epidemic, many politicians have provided little more than clichéd thoughts and prayers.
In August 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a report on gun violence that revealed the stunning statistic that 140,000 gun deaths in the United States could have been prevented over the last 10 years had the rest of the country matched California’s firearm death rate. Leading the California Department of Justice for the last three years, Bonta has pioneered the "California model of gun violence prevention." Building on his work as a state legislator, he has defended California’s leading firearms safety laws, championed robust use of the wide array of gun-prevention tools available to Californians, and established the first-of-its-kind Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Join Parkland shooting survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg, along with other prominent gun violence prevention leaders, for a discussion on the future of gun safety in California and the nation, moderated by Attorney General Bonta.
How has the California model succeeded, and can it be replicated across the country? Can we hold the firearm industry accountable for putting profits over people? How should we address different types of firearm violence—including community violence, mass shootings, domestic violence and suicide? What do the twin crises of violence and political gridlock reveal about our society? And where can we find hope?
The panelists include moderator Rob Bonta, attorney general for the state of California; David Hogg, co-founder of March for Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve; Kris Brown, president of Brady United; Joe Griffin, executive director of Youth Alive; Monisha Henley, senior vice president for government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety; and Julia Weber, gun violence prevention consultant.
This program is open to the public, for in-person and live-stream video. Tickets are available at: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-08-18/future-gun-violence-prevention-rob-bonta-david-hogg-and-leaders-fight-safety
About Commonwealth Club World Affairs
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is the nation's oldest, largest and most active public forum. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, founded in 1903, produces hundreds of live programs each year on politics, business, the environment, international affairs, personal growth, education, arts, social issues, and more. Speakers have included presidents and scientists, activists and artists, business leaders and celebrities. The Club produces two nationally syndicated weekly radio programs, its videos have received tens of millions of views on YouTube, and its podcasts have been downloaded nearly 28 million times. Commonwealth Club World Affairs was formed in 2023 from a merger between The Commonwealth Club of California and World Affairs of Northern California. Additional information available at commonwealthclub.org.
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Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 | commonwealthclub.org
In the wake of the Parkland shooting in 2018, David Hogg and his classmates' rallying cry, #NeverAgain, echoed across the nation. Unfortunately, since that tragic event, countless other locations—the Tree of Life Synagogue, El Paso, Uvalde, Half Moon Bay and many more—have joined the heartbreaking list of mass shootings. For each of the past five years, the number of mass shootings in the United States has exceeded the number of days in the year. These tragic events have upended workplaces, schools, places of worship, communities and daily life nationwide, resulting in thousands of lives lost. In response to this epidemic, many politicians have provided little more than clichéd thoughts and prayers.
In August 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a report on gun violence that revealed the stunning statistic that 140,000 gun deaths in the United States could have been prevented over the last 10 years had the rest of the country matched California’s firearm death rate. Leading the California Department of Justice for the last three years, Bonta has pioneered the "California model of gun violence prevention." Building on his work as a state legislator, he has defended California’s leading firearms safety laws, championed robust use of the wide array of gun-prevention tools available to Californians, and established the first-of-its-kind Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Join Parkland shooting survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg, along with other prominent gun violence prevention leaders, for a discussion on the future of gun safety in California and the nation, moderated by Attorney General Bonta.
How has the California model succeeded, and can it be replicated across the country? Can we hold the firearm industry accountable for putting profits over people? How should we address different types of firearm violence—including community violence, mass shootings, domestic violence and suicide? What do the twin crises of violence and political gridlock reveal about our society? And where can we find hope?
The panelists include moderator Rob Bonta, attorney general for the state of California; David Hogg, co-founder of March for Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve; Kris Brown, president of Brady United; Joe Griffin, executive director of Youth Alive; Monisha Henley, senior vice president for government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety; and Julia Weber, gun violence prevention consultant.
This program is open to the public, for in-person and live-stream video. Tickets are available at: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-08-18/future-gun-violence-prevention-rob-bonta-david-hogg-and-leaders-fight-safety
About Commonwealth Club World Affairs
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is the nation's oldest, largest and most active public forum. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, founded in 1903, produces hundreds of live programs each year on politics, business, the environment, international affairs, personal growth, education, arts, social issues, and more. Speakers have included presidents and scientists, activists and artists, business leaders and celebrities. The Club produces two nationally syndicated weekly radio programs, its videos have received tens of millions of views on YouTube, and its podcasts have been downloaded nearly 28 million times. Commonwealth Club World Affairs was formed in 2023 from a merger between The Commonwealth Club of California and World Affairs of Northern California. Additional information available at commonwealthclub.org.
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Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 | commonwealthclub.org
