As lawmakers return to work in Dover today, a student organization is offering its plan to reduce gun violence in Delaware.
March For Our Lives Delaware introduced, “A Peace Plan for a Safer Delaware” which seeks to cut the rate of gun deaths in half within 10 years.
The plan calls for the General Assembly to pass a package of bills introduced last year including magazine capacity limitations, establishing permits to purchase firearms and regulation of assault weapons.
March For Our Lives Delaware state director Wyatt Patterson says there is momentum outside of Dover to pass anti-gun violence legislation.
"The call for gun violence prevention legislation is stronger than it's ever been," said Patterson. "We work in partnership with multiple organizations who are all calling for these pieces of legislation."
The plan also includes community mobilization and specifying methods of violence intervention successful elsewhere.
Patterson says preventing gun violence takes more than one approach.
"We believe that gun violence is a multi-faceted issue and just requires a multi-faceted approach, so passing legislation is something we're definitely keeping an eye on but at the same time we have to resolve the systemic issues that result in people resorting to violence in the first place and that's what our group violence intervention plan will hopefully help us do," Patterson said.
The plan also calls for the governor to declare a State of Emergency around gun violence, providing a way for victims and their families to sue gun retailers and for a gun violence prevention task force to be formed.
