SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - In an effort to bring down gun deaths in the city of Springfield, city leaders came together to form the Gun Safety Violence Reduction Collaborative in 2024.

So far, the collaborative is working, with shots-fired calls steadily dropping in the past two years.

Part of that initiative isn’t just about getting violent criminals off the streets; it’s also about preventing suicide by guns.

“We're not trying to take a gun,” said co-chair of the collaborative, Francine Pratt. “We just want to keep it safe. We talked about how it takes four seconds to change your mind from using a firearm and to take your life.”

Pratt says Community Partnership of the Ozarks has given out hundreds of lock boxes so gun owners can safely store their firearms.

“If you have that locked up, thos

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