Congressional Black Caucus legislative conference panel addresses ways to eradicate gun violence

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) moderates a panel Thursday on addressing gun violence at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s legislative conference. Panelists from left to right are Roger Mitchell, Armani White, Maciah King-Brooks, Mariah Cooley and Angela Ferrell-Zabala. Photo by William J. Ford

The U.S. Surgeon General’s declaration this summer that gun violence is a public health crisis is a positive step toward addressing the problem, says 15-year-old Maciah King-Brooks.

However, the Washington, D.C., high school student said more needs to be done.

“People have easy access to guns. At this point, it’s uncontrollable. I mean, people younger than me walking around with guns,” Kings-Brooks said Thursday during a session on gun violence at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference in D.C.

The teen’s remarks to a standing-room-only crowd earned him an invitation from U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) to sit on stage during a discussion entitled, “Youth on Fire: Addressing Gun Violence in Our Communities.”

Warnock hosted the discussion a week after a shooting at a Georgia high school left two students and two teachers dead, and then two days later another shooting at a Maryland high school. He said he’s given speeches on the Senate floor each year for three years about a mass shooting in his state.

“We have to underscore that we also have to deal with this everyday violence that goes on in Black communities,” he said to the standing-room-only crowd inside a room at the Washington E. Convention Center. “We have to ask the hard questions of politicians who show up and this happens, and they send their thoughts and their prayers. To say that you’re sending thoughts and prayers while refusing to act makes a mockery of faith.”

Warnock said a Fox News poll from last year found 87% of voters surveyed supported universal background checks as a requirement for gun ownership.

“But yet we can’t even have a debate in the Senate,” he said. “But the good news public opinion has shifted.”

Panelists called for politicians to pass policies to make the gun industry accountable.

Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, said the industry generates $9 billion annually.

Ferrell-Zabala said the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Glock Inc. over semiautomatic weapons that can be easily modified. She said the gun industry should focus on safety versus marketing, especially to youth.

“They make them like Barbie now. They make them really pretty and cute and pink,” she said.

Some states enacted legislation on tougher gun laws such as Maryland. The state’s Gun Industry Accountability Act, which went into effect in June, allows the state’s attorney general, county attorneys and the Baltimore City solicitor to file civil suits against members of the firearm industry that “knowingly” create public harm.

But some teens said they just want to be heard.

“Just have an ear for us as young men,” Rashad Starke, 18, a high school senior in D.C., said after the discussion. “Build bonds up. Build trust up. That’s what I’m looking for.”

The session also encouraged young people such as Starke who are eligible to vote to do so. He will vote for the first time in the Nov. 5 general election.

The conference also held a National Town Hall that focused on advancing democracy and Black economic opportunity.

NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said capitalism and democracy are two separate issues. But when democracy is strong, then prosperity grows for all Americans, he said.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has said the economy remains one of the biggest issues currently hurting the nation.

“It’s the capital class that will put a clown on the ticket, separate them [capitalism and democracy] to get him elected so they can maintain public policy, regardless of what happens with the democracy,” Johnson said. “They only care about protecting their capital.”

Thursday’s discussion on gun violence continued a theme from Wednesday that called for young people to become part of the political process.

Zyahna Bryant, Deyona Burton, Derrick Lewis II and Mantryll Williams and all under the age of 30 – offered recommendations Wednesday for elected officials to meet people where they are. They said officials should accept young people who don’t wear business attire, aren’t enrolled in higher education and don’t have a college degree.

Bryant, 23, said social media can promote social change, but must be done to help others.

“Unfortunately in this world, a lot of people are not craving community. They’re craving fans,” said Bryant, a graduate student at the University of Virginia and program lead for Youth Mentoring Action Network. “If they want fans, let’s at least hope that they’re giving the proper information to their fans and getting their fans to move to action.”

Nicarra Campbell Wallace, who moderated the discussion, asked how can Black men stay engaged in the political process.

Williams, a 24-year-old youth policy consultant with the Children’s Defense Fund, said one way is to help them with basic needs such as learning about credit and access to housing that “connects to their personal deficits in their life.” Then bring them into the political process that will help others, he said.

“It will bring a lot more Black men to the movement,” said Williams, a North Carolina native.