Stafford panel tackles topic of gun violence: ‘We are all so numb’

STAFFORD COUNTY — Behind the doors of a conference room in Howell Library, formerly England Run, Moms Demand Action held a panel discussion on gun violence.

Fourteen people attended and voiced their insights and concerns regarding gun violence in the community. There were three panelists at the event: “community mom” Eunice Haigler, Captain Lee Peters from the Sheriff Office, and Joshua Cole, assistant pastor and local NAACP chapter president for Stafford County.

The panel opened with a discussion on the perception and assumptions involved with “black crime.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘black crime,’” Haigler said. “There is gun violence everywhere, and I don’t think it’s fair to us to just say black crime. The worst thing is that it’s not just Caucasians saying it. We [the African American community] are also saying it of ourselves.”

In his argument, Cole referenced a study by the FBI where, in 2011, data show 91 percent of homicide cases where victims were black, the offenders were black, and 83 percent of white homicide victims were shot by white people.

“It’s more of a crime issue than a black or white issue,” Cole said. “There’s always going to be problems, but we need to figure out how to address them together. The more we talk about black on black crime or the high rise of crime in the black areas, the more we have separated and divided.”

The discussion then shifted to the media coverage of gun violence, and the audience pitched in their opinions on the desensitization to gun violence.

“We are all so numb,” spectator Maia Conrad said. “In small numbers, we are numb to the violence.”

Peters, who has worked for the sheriff’s office for 15 years, responded to Conrad’s comment.

“From a law enforcements perceptive, we never get numb to it because e experience those gun deaths and violence,” Peters said. “I can see every young person who has ever committed suicide by gun in my head replaying like videos every day. It’s something we take very personally.”

During the panel, Borzi brought up the case of Bobby Perkins Jr. Perkins was arrested in March 2018 for drug trafficking and dealing 224 firearms. He bought and resold semi-automatic pistols to D.C., Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

“There is nothing that tracks that gun, anymore, after it is bought,” Peters said. “There are loopholes in the system.”

Panelists also discussed their opinions on how dangerous assault weapons are compared to handguns or other weapons.

“A weapon is a weapon,” Peters said. “I could do more damage with my sidearm than I could with an assault weapon.”

The panel finished with an emphasis on the role the community plays in preventing gun violence.

“We promote the neighborhood watch,” Peters said. “We want people to be involved, and we want people to trust and contact us, but there is a natural distrust between some of the minority neighborhoods and police. There has been a generational teaching that people can’t trust the police. In Stafford, we’ve built a great relationship with our communities and we are trying to keep that going.”

There were community police in Haigler’s old neighborhood: Mayfield, in Fredericksburg.

“I totally believe in the neighborhood policeman,” Haigler said.” “The children get to see the police in action. Everything is about relationships.”

The issue of community policing led to debate about the overall relationships among neighbors

“Community policing doesn’t do any good if people don’t know their neighbors,” Conrad said. “For the cops to know us is one thing, but we have to know each other.”

Cole also shared his opinions on community policing.

“Many of us are transient because you have moved here or are preparing to move away,” Cole said. “It is hard to build a sense of community. In order for us to take down that crime rate, I am in full agreement with community policing. The NAACP will go and talk to the Sheriff to see if we can get that model pushed.”

Organizers of the discussion panel, Moms Demand Action, is a nationwide organization that focuses grassroots efforts on campaigning for stronger gun laws. The local Moms Demand Action chapter focuses on Stafford, King George, and Spotsylvania.

“We are nonpartisan,” said Samatha Borzi, event organizer and local lead for the Rappahannock chapter. “We welcome everybody.”