NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Should gun violence in Nashville be treated like a public health crisis?
A group with Metro Public Health tackled the issue Monday, as we approach six months since the Covenant School Shooting.
Mothers Over Murder founder Clemmie Greenlee spoke for many in the room about how long Nashville has grappled with gun violence.
"The last time I had this conversation I was talking to Mayor Karl Dean," Greenlee said. "Now I'm talking to Mayor Freddie. You all tell me how long that's been."
A covenant school parent tried to answer the question from his perspective: what does violence cost?
"It costs us all our humanity," David Teague said. "We're built for connection and intimacy with one another. We're tearing ourselves apart with violence."
But what if, Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville) said, gun violence is treated as a public health crisis?
"Why not think of gun violence the same way, how can we reduce and mitigate the factors that cause more violence in our communities?" Love said.
There were no concrete answers this evening, but a resolve to look at the root causes.
"Make sure people are housed, make sure they have support, make sure they have skills to get employed and stay employed," Love said.
Family members of gun violence victims say there might not be a better way to look at the problem than as the disease that folks at the meeting say it is.
