A Message from WAVE


More than 400 people in our state are killed each year by guns. With annual firearm deaths exceeding 30,000 nationwide, families and neighborhoods everywhere are devastated daily by this violence. An appalling number of the victims are children.

Through research, education and advocacy, WAVE Educational Fund raises awareness about firearm violence throughout the state, provides up to date information to the public and to policy makers, and promotes common sense measures that will bring our state to the forefront of gun violence prevention.

The stories below provide up-to-date information about what WAVE is doing to stop gun violence, and the links above will help provide context and awareness about our campaigns. Thank you for taking an interest in our mission to end gun violence in Wisconsin.

latest updates

Milwaukee Anti-Violence Effort Pushing Gun Purchasing Legislation

WAVE Executive Director Jeri Bonavia interviewed on WISN.

Watch the video here.

Milwaukee Officials Ask Public To Help Curb Domestic Violence

May 26, 2009

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police are investigating a round of shootings that happened over the holiday weekend. Four of those shootings were fatal. Police said these are not random crimes.

Police made arrests quickly in several of these cases because the victim knew the suspect. One group just wants an end to the gun violence. Read More » »

WAVE on Wisconsin Public Radio

Executive Director Jeri Bonavia comments on a movement to repeal a law prohibiting guns in school zones.

Listen to WPR interview with Jeri Bonavia using Real Player

Shoot First Introduced in Wisconsin

Proposed law changes the “use of deadly force” guidelines.

AT ISSUE: Should the use of deadly force in the home get more protection?

Jeri Bonavia, executive director of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, said the bills are “a solution in search of a problem.”

Read the article here. Read More » »

Peace Through Music 2009

Please Join Us!

Join us at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn to listen to great music and to help prevent gun violence.
Sunday, May 24, 2009

Read More » »

WAVE’s Statewide Tour Displays 450 Shirts, the Number of Wisconsin Residents Killed By Gun Violence Annually


Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Credit Benny Sier, April 22nd, 2009. Onlookers contemplate some of the 450 shirts on display Wednesday and Milwaukee City Hall, part of an attempt by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort to raise awareness of gun violence. The 450 shirts represent the average number of gun violence victims in Wisconsin each year. The organization is seeking legislation to require background checks on all gun sales.

Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort’s statewide media tour, “A Journey for Justice: Preventing Gun Violence Across Wisconsin,” was immensely successful. WAVE visited five media markets in three days: Appleton, Stevens Point, LaCrosse, Madison, and Milwaukee, beginning on April 20th, the 10-year anniversary of the Columbine massacre.

Madison CBS 3

Appleton / Green Bay, WI: WBAY Action 2 News airs two reports on WAVE’s statewide media tour:



Appleton / Green Bay, WI: Fox Ch. 11



(Chauncey Martina hugs his sisters, Cassandra Martina (left) and Arlene Wilson, at a traveling exhibit about gun violence Wednesday at Milwaukee City Hall. Credit: Benny Sieu).

WAVE Educational Fund Executive Director comments on a state appeals court ruling this week.

The court threw out a plea agreement made by a man who thought he was protecting his right to buy a gun by pleading no contest to a disorderly conduct charge. Gil Halsted explains…
Listen to this story now using RealPlayer
4/13/09

WAVE’s Spring 2009 Newsletter

WAVE and Public Allies Milwaukee invite you to take a stand and support us as we travel 450 miles on a Journey for Justice.
The Journey – featuring a traveling exhibit of 450 shirts representing the victims – will raise awareness and lay the groundwork for life-saving prevention strategies.
For the Journey to have a lasting impact, your involvement now and in the coming months is essential.

Click here to download WAVE’s Spring 2009 Newsletter

A Journey for Justice: Preventing Gun Violence Across Wisconsin

Approximately 450 people in our state are killed by guns each year, and more than 30,000 are killed nationwide. Families and neighborhoods are devastated daily by these tragic, violent deaths. Lives lost
to gun violence are an ultimate injustice, because we know gun violence is preventable
when policy makers and the public make the right choices.

Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort and Public Allies Milwaukee/UWM School of Continuing Education invite you to take a stand and support us as we travel a mile in memory of each victim on a Journey for Justice. A traveling exhibit featuring 450 shirts representing the victims of gun violence will highlight this 450-mile statewide tour.

Gun violence deaths are not normal and must no longer be tolerated. The Journey for Justice will raise awareness and help us come together as a state to end this crisis, which affects every county in Wisconsin.

- April 20-22, 2009 -

The traveling exhibit remembering the victims will visit
Appleton, Stevens Point, LaCrosse, Madison and Milwaukee.
For the Journey to have a lasting impact, your involvement is essential. Read more

Growing Coalition Endorses Statement Supporting Background Checks

Anyone who buys a gun should be required to undergo a criminal background check. That’s the opinion of 84% of likely voters in Wisconsin, but it’s not yet the law in our state.

Nearly half of all guns purchased in Wisconsin are sold at gun shows, on the street, in homes, through classified ads or over the Internet by unlicensed, private sellers who are not required to conduct background checks.

WAVE Educational Fund is working to change that deadly reality, in partnership with a growing number of organizations that are showing support for a simple commonsense statement:


We believe that the dangerous and unfair “secondary sales” loophole should be closed. Just like when buying a gun from a licensed gun dealer, a person buying a gun from an unlicensed dealer or private seller should be required to show identification and undergo a criminal background check.

This Growing Coalition of Organizations and Individuals have Already Endorsed the Statement of Support: Read More » »

What the Gun Industry and the NRA Don’t Want You To Know

For too long, the gun industry has prevented us from passing common sense legislation that would save lives.

Read this article, What the Gun Industry and the NRA Don’t Want You To Know, by Tom Diaz to learn more.

Mr Diaz was our guest at the event we held this month. Thank you to all of you who joined us.