{"id":17359,"date":"2019-02-14T17:05:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T22:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/?p=17359"},"modified":"2019-02-15T13:22:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T18:22:20","slug":"coalition-takes-aim-at-gun-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/coalition-takes-aim-at-gun-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition takes aim at gun reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One year after the horrific Parkland, Florida, school shooting, members of the South Carolina Coalition Against Gun Violence came to the \u00a0South Carolina State House Thursday to advocate for gun reform.<\/p>\n

Rep. Wendy Brawley, D-Richland, \u00a0who is the driving force behind two bills against gun violence, \u00a0pushed for passage of the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not wait in South Carolina for this horror to happen,\u201d Brawley said, referring to the shooting at Margary Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 that left 17 dead. \u201cWith every right comes a responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, over 30 children died as a result of gun violence in South Carolina, she said.<\/p>\n

Brawley proposed two bills last year to ban the sale of high capacity magazines and bump stocks, with the exclusion of law enforcement and military officers, and add a one-time 7 percent fee for every gun sale in the state\u00a0to fund training for certified resource officers within public schools.<\/p>\n

Michelle Edgar, cofounder of the nonprofit South Carolina Coalition Against Gun Violence, helped organize the event Thursday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Because of our families, our children\u2026We don\u2019t want to have another episode in South Carolina where groups are gathering in peace and learning and celebration and end up being murdered. We want to protect the community from that,\u201d Edgar said.<\/p>\n

Roberta McKelvin lost her son, Nathaniel McKelvin III, to gun violence. She\u00a0showed her support at the event as she held her son\u2019s senior photo and wore a pin of her son\u2019s face close to her heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me this bill being passed will mean we\u2019re progressing, we\u2019re raising awareness and we\u2019re increasing the safety for all of us because gun violence is everywhere,\u201d McKelvin said.<\/p>\n

McKelvin\u2019s 21-year-old son was killed on Nov. 15, 2013 while sitting on the front porch of his best friend\u2019s house. McKelvin continues to mourn her son while advocating for gun reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love him and I miss him. My heart is broken but I\u2019m here in memory of my son and for my grandchildren,\u201d McKelvin said.<\/p>\n

Brawley was joined by children at the press conference. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are what we are fighting for,\u201d Brawley said.<\/p>\n

Following the press conference, the South Carolina Coalition Against Gun Violence held a memorial \u00a0at Washington Street\u00a0\u00a0United Methodist Church to honor those killed in the Parkland massacre.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Rep. Wendy Brawley D-Richland, right, is the driving force behind two legislative bills that will help to shape gun laws in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

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As the cofounder of the South Carolina Coalition Against Gun Violence, Michelle Edgar, center, hopes that the new bills will\u00a0<\/span>provide a safer environment for South Carolina\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

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Roberta McKelvin, mother of Nathaniel McKelvin III, is advocating for gun reform in memory of her son who was a victim of gun violence on Novemeber 15, 2013.<\/p>\n

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Several organizations within the South Carolina Coalition Against Gun Violence were among the crowd who rallied for gun reform at the State House thursday.<\/p>\n

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Advocates for gun reform gathered at the state capitol Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":17472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67,62,39,1],"tags":[553,550,151,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17359"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17373,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359\/revisions\/17373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}