Less talk, more action, say participants in St. Louis town hall on gun violence

May 31--ST. LOUIS -- Hundreds of people packed a town hall Wednesday night in north St. Louis and promised that there had been enough talk about combating gun violence -- it was time to come together and take action.

"I don't know what the answer is, but I know this is a start," said Sharon Crossland, one of several mothers at the event who have lost children to gun violence.

Crossland joined a wide-ranging group of residents, activists, clergy, politicians and some of the area's top brass in law enforcement at the event at Better Family Life Cultural Center. The event, hosted by U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, marked the start of National Gun Violence Awareness Month.

"We must understand we have a crisis on our hands and we must all come together and work together," said James Clark, vice president of outreach at Better Family Life.

Two panels of speakers, which included St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden, Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, members of the St. Louis Clergy Coalition, a trauma surgeon and a reformed gang member among others, emphasized the importance of community involvement in tackling gun violence, which they called a "public health emergency."

They tasked residents with safeguarding their communities and working with police to address crime, while calling on city leaders to focus resources in long-neglected neighborhoods.

"These disparities are not there by accident," the Rev. Linden Bowie of Mount Zion Baptist Church said. Referring to the lack of opportunities in some neighborhoods, he said, "We have to deal with systemic issues that create the environment that's plaguing our community."

Clark highlighted Better Family Life's outreach to families in impoverished neighborhoods, its project rehabbing hundreds of homes in the area, and its gun violence de-escalation centers, where outreach teams work directly with people invoked in a conflict to find a solution before it leads to violence.

Shootings account for a vast majority of homicides throughout the St. Louis region.

Last year, for the first time in more than 20 years, the city topped 200 homicides.

So far this year, St. Louis has had 67 homicides, which is one more than the same period in 2017. Meanwhile there have been 889 reported aggravated assaults with a gun this year, down from 917 by this time last year, according to police statistics.

In St. Louis County, there have been at least 15 homicides this year, not including data from police departments that don't report homicide data to St. Louis County Police. There were 53 total homicides handled by St. Louis County Police in 2017, 15 more than in 2016.

Clay, a gun owner, is a cosponsor of legislation to ban assault weapons. He said the bill would bring "common sense" reforms to gun laws and called on his colleagues in Congress to pass the bill or else be ousted by voters in coming elections.

Better Family Life and CrimeStoppers will also lead a "United in Orange" march against gun violence at 10 a.m. Saturday. Participants are asked to wear orange as a part of the national campaign to combat gun violence.

The mile-long march starts at St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church on North Grand Boulevard and ends at Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club with a rally and community resource fair that will continue until 2 p.m.

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