Teens testify as Jackson County looks to form office to prevent gun violence

KSHB 41 reporter Abby Dodge covers consumer issues about personal budgeting and everyday spending. You can email her story ideas at abby.dodge@kshb.com .

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During Monday afternoon’s Jackson County Legislature budget meeting, legislators held a resolution in committee to support the formation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Those opposed to bringing the resolution to the full committee wanted to include the county’s COMBAT program in discussions about a new office.

Others wanted the office’s name to include "gun safety" in its title.

Earlier Monday morning, the county’s Health and Environment Committee heard testimony for teens about their own experiences with gun violence in the metro.

16-year-old Justice Vance shared she went to dinner with her family after a track meet and was caught in the middle of two men who pulled guns on each other over a piece of trash.

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"I felt like really scared, because nothing like that had happened to me before, and it is kind of an eye opener to, 'This is kind of how it is sometimes,'" Vance said. "I felt very sad that reaching for your gun was the first thing people want to do sometimes.”

Vance and other young girls testified as part of the Nia Project’s focus on civic engagement.

Terri Barnes is the program’s president and founder.

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Girls participating in the program came to her, wanting to discuss gun violence.

"It tells us that we are in crisis," Barnes said.

The Jackson County Health Department says homicides are the number one cause of death for people ages 15-24.

Jackson County’s homicide rate is double that of the state of Missouri.

The Nia Project teens are adamant to lower those statistics.

"It was really clear to me that they have a lot to say, and I think that if we can marry what they are telling us with the things we know, it works," Barnes said. “We can get to a solution a lot sooner."

While the formation of an office of gun violence prevention did not move past committee Monday afternoon, Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca introduced another ordinance prohibiting people 21 years or younger from having a gun.

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Abarca’s ordinance was assigned to committee.

Legislators want conversations surrounding violence to continue outside of county chambers.

There is a scheduled community meeting on violence at Macedonia Baptist Church Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.

Anyone in the community is welcome to share their own experiences with violence at the meeting.

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