{"id":16746,"date":"2025-12-30T09:43:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T14:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=16746"},"modified":"2025-12-30T09:43:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T14:43:32","slug":"countdown-to-safety-rhhd-provides-essential-firearm-tips-for-an-injury-free-new-years-eve","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/countdown-to-safety-rhhd-provides-essential-firearm-tips-for-an-injury-free-new-years-eve\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>December 30, 2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, <a href=\"mailto:bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov\">bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Richmond, Va. \u2013 <\/strong>The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) remind community members to celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve safely by avoiding celebratory gunfire and ensuring firearms are securely stored. As the holiday approaches, we urge families to review basic firearm-safety practices to help keep our community safe.<\/p>\n<p>Firearm injuries are a public health issue that can affect anyone, regardless of their sex, age, race, ethnicity, or place of residence. The Virginia Department of Health reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/firearm-injury\/\">2,488 firearm injury emergency department (ED) visits<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve is a time to gather with friends and family and celebrate the promise of the year ahead,\u201d said Richmond and Henrico Deputy Director Melissa Viray, M.D. \u201cWe encourage our communities to celebrate responsibly, keep firearms safely stored, and avoid celebratory gunfire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Safe alternatives for celebrating include using noisemakers, making music together, or preparing traditional New Year\u2019s Day foods.<\/p>\n<p>If you hear or witness celebratory gunfire, call 911 immediately and do not confront the person responsible.<\/p>\n<p>RHHD urges community members to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Store all firearms unloaded, locked, and keep ammunition separate.<\/li>\n<li>Use lockable firearm cases, firearm safes, or cable locks to prevent access.<\/li>\n<li>Remove firearms from the home if you or a loved one is struggling.<\/li>\n<li>If you are a parent or caregiver, ask about firearm storage practices before you send your child to someone else\u2019s home to play.<\/li>\n<li>Teach your children about the dangers of firearms and the importance of safe storage.<\/li>\n<li>Review your own firearm safety practices and make sure they are up to date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the holidays can spark joy and celebration, they can also create stress or bring up difficult emotions. If you or a loved one is going through a tough time, call or text <a href=\"https:\/\/988lifeline.org\/get-help\/\">988<\/a> for help and support.<\/p>\n<p>RHHD serves as the operating agent for the Trauma Healing Response Network (THRN) and coordinates the THRN as part of an overall gun violence prevention program. THRN coordinates, tracks, and monitors community-based, culturally responsive, resident-led programs to facilitate healing and respond to acts of gun violence through an evidence-based, trauma-informed lens. Community members can learn more about the THRN by visiting their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/accounts\/login\/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fthrn_rva_%2F&amp;is_from_rle\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/p\/Trauma-Healing-Response-Network-61557833980400\/\">Facebook<\/a> pages. For more information on the RHHD Youth Violence Prevention Program, contact Lorraine Wright at <a href=\"mailto:lorraine.wright@vdh.virginia.gov\">lorraine.wright@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a> or call 804-482-8016.<\/p>\n<p>RHHD\u2019s goal is to keep Virginians injury-free this New Year\u2019s Eve and into the New Year. RHHD wishes you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/rhhd.gov\/\">rhhd.gov<\/a> for more health and safety information. Follow RHHD on Instagram (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/richmondcity_hd\">@richmondcity_hd<\/a>) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RichmondHenricoHealthDistricts\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 30, 2025 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve Richmond, Va. \u2013 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) remind community members to celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve safely by avoiding celebratory gunfire and ensuring firearms are securely stored. As the holiday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1432,1429,769,958,1431,682,1430],"class_list":["post-16746","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-firearm-injury-emergency-department","tag-firearm-tips","tag-m-d","tag-melissa-viray","tag-rhhd-youth-violence-prevention-program","tag-richmond-and-henrico-health-districts","tag-trauma-healing-response-network"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/countdown-to-safety-rhhd-provides-essential-firearm-tips-for-an-injury-free-new-years-eve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 30, 2025 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov Countdown to Safety: RHHD Provides Essential Firearm Tips for an Injury-Free New Year\u2019s Eve Richmond, Va. \u2013 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) remind community members to celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve safely by avoiding celebratory gunfire and ensuring firearms are securely stored. 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