PETERSBURG, (WRIC) – A casket and hearse can be seen outside Tabernacle Baptist Church on Halifax Street in Petersburg, serving as a dark reminder of the outcomes of gun violence.
“One of the quickest ways to die in this city, in this area, that we’ve seen in a very long time,” said Dr. George W. Lyons, Pastor at Gillfield Baptist Church. “Every week, it seems that another young person in particular has lost their life in a shooting over nonsense.”
In efforts to help stop gun violence, the church will hold a gun buyback event on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in collaboration with the Petersburg Bureau of Police, the Community Transformation Foundation and a number of other area churches.
“We’ve partnered with people who are willing to take guns out of the hands of irresponsible, reckless individuals and exchange that for something that says, ‘Here’s what life has to offer. These are some opportunities for you to enjoy life.’”
Though this initiative has been in the works for a while, according to Pastor Lyons, it was vital to take action in light of recent tragedies, like the death of 10-year-old K’Von Morgan, who was shot and killed in his bedroom in June.
“The death of any young person, particularly innocent and a child, it moves us,” said Pastor Lyons.
Also, just a month after Virginia State University Student Adrionna West was shot and killed in a Petersburg neighborhood, neighbor Jewel Williams said the presence of crime is all too familiar on High Street.
“And it’s not just here. It’s everywhere, but being on this street, as long as I have to see what’s going on, it’s not doing well, said Williams. “We really, really need to start educating our kids because it seems more so. It’s the younger generation.”
And young adults are exactly who the gun buyback event is targeting.
“So the opportunity is to get young people, people who love young people, people who realize, ‘Hey, I’ve got a short temper and I’ve got quick access to a weapon,’” said Pastor Lyons. “I want to bury guns, not people.”
Lyons told 8 News that he and the partners are hoping this event will be a success and that it will be repeated in the future.
“It will create conversations and it will let people know that Petersburg isn’t the place where you want to carry out gun violence,” said Pastor Lyons. “We have got to say ‘Enough is enough.’”
