LYNCHBURG, Va. – A large group gathered in Lynchburg to tell the community to put the guns down.
The local chapter of Moms Demand Action hosted the event at the Jubilee Family Development Center in Lynchburg on Saturday morning. The event followed National Gun Awareness Day, which was on Friday.
Attendees wore orange in support of the cause, and family members of people killed by gun violence showed up to tell their stories. They included Shaquille Cook, the uncle of Dre'yon "Biggs" Browley, the 18-year-old E.C. Glass High School student killed last month shortly before his graduation.
"People need to hear," Cook said. "People need to hear from people who suffer from gun violence and they need to hear the pain you go through. It's very unnecessary. A lot of gun violence is very unnecessary, but unless people speak up about it, people won't know about it."