TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Just a day after the One year anniversary of the Saint Francis hospital shooting, Tulsa mayor, G.T. Bynum, has declared June 2nd as National Gun Violence Awareness Day in Tulsa.
“For me, its not just a dot on the map, its not just a statistic. We see that number of gun violence. It happens every single year and we hear people talk about it. When one of those numbers is something that you connect to its really different,” said Joshua Harris-Till, Communications Director for Mom’s demand action.
And different, has been Joshua’s story since he was very young.
“I was shot at for the first time when I was six years old,” said Harris-Till.
The violence didn’t stop there.
“I unfortunately lost my siblings to gun violence. In 2013, there was a mass shooting that effected my family. This man, he killed four people at one house. Two women and two children, and he came to my sibling’s house and killed two women and shot two children,” says Harris-Till.
Joshua is a part of Mom’s demand action, who is hosting an event tomorrow here in Tulsa.
They want to honor survivors and victims to senseless gun violence.
“Gun violence is really an issue, and we have to be doing something about it, and unfortunately in the state of Oklahoma. We are not doing nearly enough,” said Harris-Till.
More Oklahomans that have been affected by gun violence and want legislations to change swiftly.
“It’s common sense. I mean we are not asking for a whole lot. We understand the constitution of America. We understand the second amendment rights, but at the same time there has to be some measure in place to ensure that these guns are getting into the hands of educated gun owners. And right now, these guns are getting into the hands who maybe suffering with mental illness,” said Dr. Tiffany Crutcher.
Rogers County Sheriff, Scott Walton, acknowledges that America does have a mental health problem, but also wants to keep Americans safe from harm as well.
“Let’s put the teeth back in the laws and deal with the health problem that are in front of us. I’ll be more proppant for good people to be armed than I ever was in my life, because we see these outbreaks and we see these mass shootings. In every community in every size across this country,” said Rogers County Sheriff, Scott Walton.
Walton went on to say mental health is a huge problem in America and we have to fix it.
You can also check out the Wear Orange Organization event tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Tulsa.
