Project Unloaded aims to reset gun message among young

TOM DEF | UNSPLASH

Project Unload uses social media to send a message to teens that communities are safer without using guns.

Project Unloaded utilizes social media to help teens understand neighborhoods are safer without guns.

Taylor Maxwell, the initiative’s director of marketing and communications, says teens are more likely to hear their message than older adults who already have their own firm set of beliefs.

“We started a little over two years ago,” Maxwell said, “and we started because of a simple myth that is that most people believe that having a gun makes them safer, when in reality places with guns are less safe and neighborhoods with guns tend to have more gun violence. We know that adults are not likely to change their views on things, but teenagers are different. They are used to getting facts and often changing their minds as a result.”

According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police data, juvenile suspects were responsible for 21 shootings in the first quarter of 2024, including 17 shootings into occupied property which is up 42% with 74 victims impacted. The report revealed a 1% decrease in violent crime year-to-date, including a 4% increase in property crime and 3% increase in overall crime.

Since starting in 2022, Project Unloaded has launched a pilot campaign called SNUG, which means “Safer Not Using Guns.” In 2024, the campaign reached nearly 60,000 Charlotte area teens and 15% moved away from interest of getting a gun after seeing the posts and content, Maxwell reported.

“SNUG operates through a lot of social media platforms,” she said. “We’re on Snapchat, we’re on Instagram, we’re on TikTok through influencer content, and I’m working on perhaps more platforms this summer as well.”
While Maxwell thinks Project Unloaded could help spark legislation, she doesn’t foresee it happening, at least anytime soon.

“I’m born and raised in North Carolina,” she said. “I have very little hope that our lawmakers are going to help make us safer when it comes to guns. We will keep trying and keep pushing in the right direction, but we can’t put all our hope in lawmakers. So, that is why our work is really focused on teens and going straight to them to help shift the culture and the ideas around guns and gun culture.”

Snapchat has been the most popular outlet to date according to Maxwell, with other outlets growing viewership as well.

“Snapchat is where we are able to reach the most teens and see some of our strongest video completion rates,” she said. “It is really key when you’re talking about this type of campaign. On TikTok though, we’ve had great experiences with content creators who have strong 13-to-17-year-old audiences. We’ve had more than 2.7 million views on our native content on TikTok.”

Project Unloaded has reached more than 3 million teens nationally to this point and that number continues to grow.

“The great thing about social media is that you can start to make an immediate impact,” Maxwell said. “We are excited to see where it goes. We have a really strong youth council that helps drive our work and gives us a lot of ideas about what campaigns we should run and where to go next. But this work is continuing to grow and we don’t have to wait on any state legislature to do that.”

While Charlotte isn’t the only city that the project focuses on, it was one of their main focuses from inception. The hope is to continue to make an impact in the cities where the project already has a foothold and expand to other cities where gun violence is common.

“Charlotte is one of about a dozen cities where we have a presence,” Maxwell said. “So, it’s not our only city, but one of our priorities since we started. We hope to continue to grow and expand our work into new cities as well as stay in the cities we are already in. When it comes to changing attitudes about guns, you can’t just say the message one time. People need to hear the facts about guns year after year to hopefully change behaviors down the line and hopefully inspire a generational shift.”

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