Advocates against gun violence gathered in Wilmington Tuesday afternoon.
“There's no neighborliness, no compassion, no solidarity, no love," says Bishop George Gibson from the Interdenominational Ministers Action Council of Delaware. "The asphalt jungles have become a war zone. Trauma is everywhere. Mayhem and death fills our streets.”
At the corner of 24th and Jessup, members of Group Violence Intervention, the Center for Structural Equity, the Wilmington Hope Commission, Churches Take A Corner and more rallied seeking support from the community and local government to address gun violence.
City Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver organized the event to discuss recent incidents of gun violence and how to bring neighborhoods back together.
“We can sure enough let them know, some of the parents, we have the resources," Oliver says. "Last month I had 15 to 20 parents who lost their kids and was able to have a grieving counselor just to start so that's part of why some people were here today. They need grieving counselors, nobody's even talked to them about letting go, they never even talked to victims comp.”
Oliver recently expressed disappointment in Wilmington’s end-of-year crime report, saying there is always more to be done. She points to several recent shootings, including one on Jessup Street Dec. 30 that left a 34-year-old man shot in critical condition.
Oliver says it comes down to individual outreach – knocking on doors and seeing who needs help. She hopes Tuesday’s event will forge new connections and initiatives to help victims of gun violence, and prevent more.
Many - like Executive Director of the Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence Traci Murphy - point to legislation they feel needs to pass to help keep guns off the streets.
“We have got to do a licensing system or a permitting system, which is the only way we will stop the guns from flowing into the streets," Murphy says. "Every gun that is involved in these crimes here starts as illegal gun purchase, so we have to do a better job of figuring out who we're going to sell these guns to.”
Group Violence Intervention Director John Cook adds there is a need for solidarity among community partners.
He says as an intervention and trauma based rehabilitative program, GVI often partners with other programs for housing and mental health – and it’s one of the top 3 programs in the country proven to reduce gun violence.
