ST. PAUL, Minn. – National and local leaders held a conference as a renewed effort to curb gun violence, speaking publicly about the need for change just hours after a homicide in Minneapolis.
The William Mitchell College of Law, along with the American Bar Association, hosted the conference.
It featured St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, Regions Hospital Trauma Surgeon Dr. Michael McGonigal and American Bar Association President James Silkenat. The group, with a range of legal experts, discussed the current Second Amendment law and other developments in the fight to reduce gun violence.
Coleman said his city has removed more than 1,100 guns from the streets in two and a half years but said more needs to be done. Choi said gun violence should be treated as a public health problem. He also said the epidemic needs deeper study on a national level.
"In how we actually prevent homicides from happening, in fact, right now there are prohibitions against getting information. We can't even come up with figures nationally of how many people are dying as a result of firearm deaths," said Choi. "What we see is guns enter the black market and enter into the hands of children and that is the part where we really need information and data and that is where we need the community to recognize that's a huge problem."
At the same hour in Minneapolis, a group of several dozen family and friends gathered at 33rd and Penn on the city's north side, tearfully calling for change.
Around 11 p.m. Monday night, Minneapolis police were called to the area to respond to a fight, but by the time officers arrived, a man had been shot. He died from gunshot wounds later at North Memorial Hospital.
Family members identified the victim as Steve "Junebug" Martin, 37, a beloved father and neighborhood peacemaker, who they said was caught in the crossfire while breaking up the fight.
"This is our first murder in our family. We don't know how to swallow this pill but we know God going to carry us," said Martin's aunt to a crowd.
His sobbing children released balloons in Martin's memory.
"Guns ain't the answer no more," cried an uncle.
Police do not have anyone in custody for Martin's murder.
