Saturday stop the violence event planned in downtown Albany

ALBANY — Area residents are being encouraged to wear orange and participate in a Saturday call to action for National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The event will be held at noon at Ray Charles Plaza, 112 N. Front St.

“This is an opportunity to raise awareness about gun violence, just an opportunity to heal,” said Sherrell Byrd, co-chair of SOWEGA Rising, which organized the event. “It’s really hard for people to process and visualize what’s been happening. It’s the whole weekend. Starting on Friday, people can wear orange on their jobs, particularly someone who‘s lost a loved one or is a victim of gun violence.”

While recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, have led to a national conservation, gun violence also is a local issue, she said.

“Unfortunately, you see higher rates of violence in minority communities, our marginalized communities and now you’re seeing it more in rural communities,” Byrd said.

Some of the potential solutions, she said, include background checks, “red-flag laws,” age limits and secure storage of guns.

“We know in Georgia they just relaxed (regulations) on guns,” she said. “We’d like for this to be reversed. It does not mean taking away guns from responsible owners. Gun control is making sure it’s not easy for people who are not responsible to get guns. It’s not taking away people’s Second Amendment rights.”

Participants also will have the opportunity to get in touch with elected officials to give their opinions on the issue.

“The biggest thing is people have the opportunity to (contact) their local leaders through a text they can send for immediate action to their senators telling them we have to stop the violence,” Byrd said. “We urge leaders to act and see this as a public health issue so we don’t see things like (what) happened in Uvalde and Buffalo in Albany, Georgia.”

File Photo