New Orleans, Louisiana, has been plagued by gun violence for decades. Murders in the city have trended downward in recent years, with 2019 seeing the fewest murders since 1971 (lowest per capita since 1986), but 2020 has seen an uptick in shootings. Summer usually correlates with increased violence in American cities, and the unprecedented stressors of 2020—a pandemic, economic crisis, and social unrest happening all at once—are further adding to summertime shootings around the country.
Louisiana is frequently near the top (or the #1 state) for gun violence in America, with Orleans Parish registering the most firearm deaths in the state. Local efforts are working to reduce those statistics, including the Generational Gun Violence Reduction Plan introduced by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. And now there’s a new grassroots effort to get guns off the streets of New Orleans.
Shamarr Allen (photo by Joshua Lee) 
New Orleans, Louisiana (photo by Valerie Champagne)
The Trumpet is My Weapon (Gun Exchange Program)
Like so many New Orleanians, trumpeter Shamarr Allen was disturbed by the murder of 9-year-old Devante Bryant in a New Orleans triple shooting on July 13, 2020. The following day, Allen posted on his Instagram @shamarrallen: “To all the youth in New Orleans, Bring me a gun and I’ll give you a trumpet no questions asked. I’m doing this until I run out of trumpets.”
Allen’s offer to exchange trumpets for guns has been a success, and he started a GoFundMe to raise additional funds to purchase instruments to exchange for the guns. The original goal was $6,500, and so far more than $41,000 has been raised to support the initiative. Other musicians have also donated instruments and are offering free virtual lessons to kids who receive trumpets through the program.
Shamarr Allen grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, a high-crime neighborhood in New Orleans that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and has said he feels a connection with kids who have been “dealt into bad circumstances”. And as the father of a 9-year-old, he felt compelled to give kids a chance to redirect their lives in the same way the trumpet transformed his own life.
Within hours of initiating the program, Allen received responses from five kids, including a young girl, and he quickly ran out of his own trumpets to trade before he launched the GoFundMe to purchase more. Allen coordinated with Mayor Cantrell and NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson to make sure he could deliver the guns to the New Orleans Police Department without question, so he could make good on “no questions asked”. The police agreed, since the most important thing is to get guns off the street.
“The Trumpet Is My Weapon is a mantra that I have used over the years. I began using that mantra because the trumpet really became my weapon and tool for my success. It has opened doors and sent me places that as a kid from the Lower 9th Ward, statistics say I should have never been. The goal of The Trumpet Is My Weapon Campaign and Gun Exchange Program is to put trumpets, and eventually other instruments, in the hands of our kids so that they can use it as their weapon and tool for success while taking guns off the street at the same time.
With a communal effort we can make a difference in the lives of others. Even one life saved is a step in the right direction.”
Shamarr Allen, GoFundMe
- Follow Shamarr Allen on Instagram and visit his website.
- Donate to The Trumpet is My Weapon on GoFundMe.
- Buy a T-shirt to help offset program costs on True Orleans.
National Organizations Working to Reduce Gun Violence:
- The Brady Plan fights the epidemic of gun violence with 45 years of research and real world experience.
- The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action.
- The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence develops and advocates for evidence-based solutions to reduce gun injury and death in all its forms.
- EveryTown for Gun Safety is the largest gun violence prevention organization in America.
- Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has legal experts research, write, and defend the laws, policies, and programs proven to save lives from gun violence.
- Moms Demand Action is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.
- Stop Handgun Violence is a non-profit organization committed to the prevention of gun violence through education, public awareness, effective law enforcement and common sense gun laws.
- The Trace is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to shining a light on America’s gun violence crisis.