Faith coalition calls for gun violence study and direction to curb the violence

By Chris Joseph for WISTV

Updated: May. 24, 2021 at 8:02 PM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Data from Richland County law enforcement agencies shows gun violence is on the rise, and a group of faith-based leaders is calling on those agencies to do more about it.

MORE Justice hosted a news conference at Reid Chapel AME Church in Columbia on Monday and called for a formal study of gun violence in the area.

It’s a coalition of 35 congregations in the Columbia area.

Co-President Rev. Carey Grady said law enforcement agencies are acting, but may not know the full picture.

“They tell us they are doing all the things that gun violence intervention says to do. And so our response was, if that was the case, possibly something is not going right. It’s not about not good leadership, it’s just about, let’s sit down and get a problem analysis from the experts, outside of the local community, and see if they can pinpoint what’s happening,” he said.

Data from CPD and RCSD show gun violence, particularly gun murders, have outpaced years past through mid-May.

…