SPRINGFIELD, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Sometimes, life needs a “pause” button.

That’s the thinking of a new joint awareness campaign between the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Ad Council, and Brady: United against Gun Violence. Pause to Heal went live Tuesday.

State Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-Batavia) is a major booster of the campaign, which allows people to ask local law enforcement for a “firearm restraining order” against someone else. It’s not permanent.

“It is a pause, and it gives folks time to address the crisis they are facing; then, when they are healthy, be reunited with their firearms and go about their lives,” said Hirschauer.

How would the program stop the next, say, Highland Park massacre?

“I think education is key,” Hirschauer responded. “If folks understand how a firearm restraining order works, they’re more likely to see a person in crisis and utilize that tool.”

Hirschauer, calling the problem “the intersection of violence and people in crisis,” said it’s a matter of public health.

She discussed the program with IDPH director Dr. Sameer Vohra during a committee hearing, asking him about the manpower his agency devotes to violence prevention.

“I think it’s a place where, even with this Pause to Heal campaign, we wanted to make this unique partnership with Brady, with the Ad Council,” the director responded, “a great testament for not-profit / government partnership to do something unique.”

In addition to Pause to Heal, Hirschauer and other lawmakers are optimistic about a “safe storage” campaign, designed for law-abiding gun owners to keep their weapons away from the wrong people.