COLUMBIA, S.C. — Several location organizations and members of the community gathered inside a local church on Thursday to discuss solutions to gun violence in the community.
Solutions for gun violence in that state is an ongoing question for the congregation at McGregor Presbyterian Church PC (U.S.A.) in Columbia. Interim Pastor Robyn Garrison says months ago the church began conversations on what they were seeing in their community.
"We had twenty to thirty church members gather for probably seven sessions to talk about this issue and out of that came a 'So, what can we do beyond these walls,'" Garrison said. "It's an epidemic in our country, and we're aware of that so what can we do that's meaningful, a meaningful response to help do something to deter gun violence."
Part of that solution was the creation of a four-part workshop series hosted by the church in collaboration with local gun violence prevention groups.
According to the SLED 2022 crime report, weapons violations in the state increased 11% in 2022 totaling over 11,000 violations, with 2,000 of those being committed by minors.
"Issues in society are important to this congregation. We believe our faith speaks to social issues and so we want to see how does our faith intersects with those issues," Garrison said.
On Thursday, the church hosted a workshop in collaboration with Moms Demand Action and Midlands Be SMART.
Angela Vandelay is a co-lead with Be SMART and says they're working on solutions to end unintentional deaths and violence.
"We know that it's the access gun especially when children are in the home or even teens that can be fatal and we want to prevent gun violence and gun deaths," she said.
Presentations were given along with frequent conversations and a Q&A portion. Most of the attendees were curious about ways they could keep unintentional deaths from happening.
"The best thing, if you have a gun in your home or in your vehicle, is to lock it. We recommend you lock the ammunition separately. Just putting it out of reach does not mean that it's secured. Children find Christmas presents. They find lots of things that parents hide, so they can find a gun, so it's super important for them to secure their guns with a lock," Vandelay said.
The church scheduled two other workshops in April on the 18th and 25th. If you're interested in those, Garrison says you can reach out to the church or visit their Facebook page.