Community organizers hope the murder of a man at a Flint church will convince more people to turn out for a meeting tonight on gun violence.
Flint mayor Dayne Walling describes Saturday’s murder as “shocking." The murder occurred while the funeral for another murder victim was taking place at the church.
Walling says city and religious leaders have been trying to reduce Flint’s violent crime rate by working directly with city residents.
“Every person’s life that we can turn around is one less perpetrator of violence on our streets,” says Walling.
Flint has been trying this violence prevention program for the past few years.
In that time, more than one hundred people have been murdered in Flint.
Flint’s mayor joined other local government officials in Lansing Monday to urge the federal government adopt new gun control laws. The group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, wants background checks for all gun purchases, a ban on military style assault weapons and expanded federal gun trafficking laws.
