COLUMBIA, S.C. — The community is coming together to end gun violence. That is the goal for Building Better Communities (BBC).
They held a round-table discussion on Thursday night, where more than 70 people gathered to voice their concerns and solutions.
"Everybody in here has one common ground and that is, we need to figure out a way to fight gun violence," says Perry Bradley, CEO of BBC.
In Columbia, homicides have gone up 88 percent from this time last year and in Richland County, two people died Thursday morning, after a man shot into a bar on bush river road.
Bradley says its time for action.
"Everybody is tired of talk, everybody wants action," says Bradley. "They're tired of having meeting after meeting after meeting and not doing anything. That's the biggest thing I got out of everything. Everybody is tired of talk and we need to engage our younger people in our conversations."
The discussion was set up to work on the next steps. Bradley invited other community groups like YNotU2 and Mom's Demand Action, to speak out about what they believe needs to be done.
"Awareness and get involved," says Roberta McKelvin. "Come out to community events like this and in your community get involved. If you know something, say something."
McKelvin lost her son to gun violence in 2013 and has been fighting for change in the community ever since.
"Awareness is the main thing and actions speak louder than words," says McKelvin.
Law enforcement officials who were present were also receptive to the concerns raised during the meeting.
The plan is to meet again, next time as one voice, building on what was discussed Thursday.
"Right now, we're going to take on the fight against gun violence," says Bradley. "We're not going to leave it up to legislation. We're going to do it ourselves, communities helping communities."