St. Louis Urban League Urges Safe Gun Ownership Practices

ST. LOUIS – With the news of a third child shot and killed in St. Louis City, community leaders are urging area residents to practice gun safety.

Vice President of Public Safety and Community Response with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis (St. Louis, MO), James Clark, said, “The influx of guns into the African American community has been well documented. So, we have to be able to begin to deal with the mentality around gun ownership. We have to begin to address the mentality of lawlessness around gun usage. So, it’s an uphill climb.”

The deaths of 12-year old LaFrance Johnson, 12-year old Paris Harvey, and 14-year old Kuaron Harvey, have kickstarted a campaign for community leaders urging residents to handle their guns more responsibly. While police investigators are still investigating the deaths of PJ and Kuaron Harvey, leaders like Clark are advocating for residents to handle gun safely.

One of the ways that residents can practice gun safety is how they store their guns – they are urging resident gun owners to get a gun lock, which are available via The Lock It For Love program, which can hands out free gun locks in firehouses, library branches, and SLPD police stations.

“We do want to see fewer guns in our neighborhoods. We do want to see more efforts to look at how guns make it into north St. Louis. Why are we swimming in guns right now,” said Clark.

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