Former CIA director David Petraeus and retired US army Gen Stanley McChrystal are part of a new veterans initiative to reduce gun violence.

The Veterans Coalition for Common Sense launched on Friday at an event in Washington DC. The group’s goal is to push lawmakers to enact more legislation to prevent gun tragedies while adhering to the gun ownership rights protected by the second amendment.

The coalition’s advisory committee includes 23 veterans from every branch of the military, including Petraeus, McChrystal and former NSA director Michael Hayden.

“This is a group of leaders who support the second amendment and who believe in the rights of responsible people, law-abiding people, to own guns,” said Mark Prentice, communications director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the parent group of the initiative.

Retired Nasa astronaut and navy veteran Capt Mark Kelly pioneered the initiative as co-founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions. His wife, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founded the advocacy group, which seeks to improve gun control laws, while respecting constitutionally protected rights.

Prentice said that veterans are the nation’s experts on firearms because of their military training and experience in combat. “But we also believe that we should be doing everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands and help address gun suicides as well,” Prentice said.

Approximately 22 veterans commit suicide each day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The department’s data also shows that nearly two-thirds of veteran suicides were carried out with guns.

Along with addressing that crisis, the initiative seeks to close background check loopholes, strengthen existing gun control laws and partner with other veterans groups. “Many of these veterans have seen the role guns play in the hands of trained responsible people but they also understand the consequences when they fall into the wrong hands,” said Prentice.

R Adm Jamie Barnett, a member of the advisory board, said in an emailed statement that his experience as a deputy commander of the navy showed him the extensive training sailors needed to use firearms.

“I saw first-hand the incredible power of firearms, and I know the precautions we taught to keep people safe,” Barnett said. “But I also know the dangers guns pose when they are in the hands of dangerous people.”

Another committee member, Brig Gen Stephen Cheney, said he believes in the second amendment protections, but that the country could be doing better to prevent gun violence. Cheney said in a statement: “Our laws don’t support responsible gun ownership and far too often guns fall into the hands of dangerous, irresponsible people.”