Nancy Lee

This post is part two of a five-part series by Nancy Lee exploring how social marketing strategies can reduce gun violence in America. Nancy Lee is a strategic advisor to C+C and one of the world’s leading authorities on social marketing.

It was on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, the day of the mass school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that I decided it was time for social marketers to “rise” and contribute more to reducing gun deaths and injuries. I not only heard that 19 children and two teachers were killed during the shooting, I also read that the shooter had sent text messages to a friend sharing that “Ima go shoot up a elementary school rn (right now).” Then I read on the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation website that “93% of school shooters planned the attack in advance, and that in 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it.” The next day I learned that almost half of school shooters stole the gun from a family member. It was clear to me that two behaviors could have helped prevent this shooting, as well as future ones: “Say Something If See Something”, and “Store Guns Safely.”