Four people were killed in Mississippi during a hostage situation on Sunday. Six people died last week after a mass shooting at an industrial plant in Illinois. This all happened a few days after the one-year anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida where 17 students were killed. MPB's Jasmine Ellis reports on efforts in Mississippi to stop gun violence.
In the U.S. every day, 47 children and teens between the ages of zero and 19 are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, and suicide attempts. That's according to the gun violence prevention organization, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Mary Helen Abel is a mother and a gun owner. She's with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The organization fights for common sense gun reform. Abel says there are an average of 18 unintentional gun deaths in Mississippi per year.
"Anytime that a society consistently experiences traumautic events it changes a society," said Abel. "And there are communities in Mississippi where gun violence is a regular occurrence. And so these children are walking around in fear not knowing what is going to happen."
Tamara Ware of Jackson lost her sister, Callie Marie Ware, to gun violence in 2013. Ware says her nephew, Keigon, witnessed the death of his mother when he was 4-years-old. She also says her nephew is in counseling to process the loss of his mother.
"He cannot even stand for people to get loud," said Ware. "If they get loud I guess it triggers something in him. He has an emotional breakdown and then we can't bring him out of it for about an hour or so. It don't even have to be pertaining to him. We could be in a grocery store and somebody else is arguing or somebody else is raising their voice. He just can't take it."
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are traveling the state educating people about guns and gun violence to help stop it from happening in Mississippi.
Photo Credit: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
