'There's a lot of hate going on right now'

After the recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde the Henrico and Greater Richmond Chapters of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy decided enough is enough and began a monthly discussion to explore the roots of gun violence.

The first discussion took place Wednesday morning at the Corinth United Methodist Church in Sandston, although there also was a Zoom option for those who preferred to attend virtually. Several community members attended the first discussion, led by Pastor Teresa Smith, that was focused on learning as much as possible about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Corinth’s major focus is showing love to thy neighbor,” Smith said. “It’s good to know we are here and aware because that’s the first step.”

Kimberly Brock, a recent graduate of Varina High School and recipient of a scholarship to study gun violence in college, was invited to share her perspective about the issue.

“There's a lot of hate going on right now,” Brock said. “As a whole we need to respect each other’s values and beliefs and we need to learn to love.”

Participants also held a dialogue exploring how mental health, isolation and accessibility of automatic guns in the United States play a role in gun violence. (To respect the group’s wishes of keeping personal experiences private, those quoted will remain anonymous.)

“If you took away all mental illness, violence would go down by 4%. There's much more going on there than mental illness” one participant said. “We have to make sure that guns that are out there will not abuse them, abuse their rights, and use them for harm.”

Others shared how medications meant to treat mental illness could contribute to gun violence. For example, if someone is deeply depressed and takes an anti-depressant, he or she may feel a surge of energy before they feel better. This effect can create a vulnerable period during which someone might become more violent toward others or themselves.

Another participant stressed the need to help children deal with emotions that may come from the rise of media and glorification of gun violence.

“Media saturates youths with feelings but no one teaches kids how to deal with feelings,” another participant said. “It only takes one person to change our lives.”

The next meeting will take place on Aug. 3 at 11 a.m. on zoom and at the Corinth UMC with the focus of creating individual and community action plans for addressing gun violence. Those interested in attending can use this link for more details and the zoom link.