Grand Rapids community members, city leaders talk safe gun ownership

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — There is a renewed effort toward gun safety in Grand Rapids as organizations, community leaders and community members gathered Wednesday to discuss gun violence and how to prevent it.

Grand Rapids Public Schools will resume class in fewer three weeks, and community leaders do not want a repeat of the 2022-2023 school year when several students were caught with firearms inside GRPS buildings.

"God forbid something happened in your house. You pop it and ready right, and you're ready to protect your family," My Brother's Keeper Rev. Willie Anderson said.

On Wednesday, Anderson and a few dozen others were inside Baxter Community Center to discuss the work toward gun safety.

"If you know anybody who's 16 and under, we do free education, giving free education to our kids. I truly believe our people perish because of the lack of knowledge, especially our kids," Rev. Anderson said. "We want you to be able to lock your weapon off safely. Put it away safely. And God forbid if your kid does find it because of curiosity— kids are curious— they're going into that drawer that they have no business going into and they find it, and they can't hurt themselves."

Parents in the community say seeing action is important, especially after the last academic year for Grand Rapids Public Schools, where four weapons were brought to school— forcing a backpack ban for the remainder of the school year.

READ MORE: Backpacks banned from GRPS after loaded gun found on 3rd grader

"I came out here because I wanted to be informed regarding what's going on within the community and our community leaders, what the plan is going to be moving forward to ensure that students are safe in our school system," Edward Riley said. "And just to see what I can do to kind of help, you know, and do my part to ensure not only safety but just to make sure people are informed and aware of what's going on."

Edward Riley has two three-year-olds at home, and says he has a gun in the home for protection.

"So I want to be prepared to be able to say when the time comes, hey, this is how I'm going to address it or approach my, my kids so that they'll understand, you know, just the value in the safety of, you know, guns and gun ownership and what that looks like, and how they can protect themselves and help others with the knowledge that they obtain," Riley said.

Grand Rapids city commissioners, Police Chief Eric Winstrom and a U.S. Concealed Carry Association instructor from Smart Shooters are working together to better address the issue of gun safety.

"I'm here to advocate for education. And, as I told several people in the community who want to come here, it doesn't matter if they're pro-gun or anti-gun, and everybody should have education," Smart Shooters Founder Daryle Rostic said.

Smart Shooters has a book on when and how to talk to kids about guns, and it's free to download here.

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