Louisville group to host conversation about how guns play a role in suicide, domestic abuse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Moms Demand Action is active throughout the Louisville community. But this weekend, they'll be at the Shawnee Library discussing how guns can play a role in suicide and domestic abuse.

"There's a larger infrastructure at play when you think about depression and anxiety, social and emotional skills. There's a lot that needs to be done," Kristin Williams said.

Williams lives in the Shawnee neighborhood with her husband and two boys.

"There's a lot of disinvestment or money spent in the wrong areas. And it's a shame that mothers have to take on the brunt of that pain," she said.

She said she knows several parents who have struggled with losing a child to gun violence.

"Children are suffering. And it's not just our children, but there's just a larger systemic issue. And it's not just west Louisville," she said. "Suicide impacts the very wealthy. It impacts the very poor. It impacts Black people and white people. And we have to think about the society that we're living in that would cause that sort of epidemic."

This Sunday, Sep. 10, at 2 p.m., you'll find an even larger conversation with Moms Demand Action at the Shawnee Library at West Broadway and 39th Street .

"It is so important that we do something about guns in this country. I think we need to elect representatives who will stand up, you know, to fight against the easy availability of guns," Joy Henry, who is a Moms Demand Action member, said. "I would like in some way to be doing what I can to make a difference, to be educated and to take action."

At issue, gun education, gun laws, gun ownership and more.

"At some point, we got to find common ground," Will Pitts said.

Pitts has lived in west Louisville for the majority of his life and said it's important to support events like this.

"Come out to these type events that might better help you understand the Black community and the things that this community needs, not what you think this community needs, but what we actually need," he said.

You don't have to be a mom or involved in the organization to participate in Sunday's discussion.

"A child picking up a gun is just one of those issues as parents yes, it's on this to be careful to have gun locks to keep our guns away," said Williams. "But, we also need to be thoughtful about how are these guns are getting into our communities? Who is writing policy?"

For more information about Moms Demand Action, click here.

The group is also collecting items for The Center for Women and Families in Louisville. They can't accept monetary donations, so they made a wishlist that has been compiled on Amazon. Click here for the list.

Williams also works at Play Cousins Collective, an organization that helps vulnerable children and families in west Louisville through juvenile justice, mental health and community development projects. For more information about Play Cousins Collective, click here.

Pitts is also the founder of Willenium Enterprise Foundation, Inc., a non-profit that offers mental health services and more. For more information about the Willenium Enterprise Foundation, Inc., click here.

Related Stories: