Live TV Killings Sparking New Calls For Gun Control Reform
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The horrific execution-style murder of two Virginia journalists along with a surge of killings in Baltimore and across the nation is sparking some new calls for gun control reform.
Marcus Washington explains the family of one of the slain journalists says they won't rest until change is made.
That change comes in how people obtain guns. Some people say there are laws in place to prevent bad things from happening, but others say those laws are just too lax.
The new faces of a push for gun control, Alison Parker and Adam Ward were gunned down live on TV.
Now parents Andy and Barbara Parker are pushing for change with gun laws.
"You always think there's a tipping point. I think this time it's going to be different," said Andy Parker, Alison's father.
"We cannot be intimidated. We cannot be pushed aside," Alison's mother, Barbara, added.
The Parkers say their mission to fight for laws that prevent what happened to their daughter from happening to others.
"If you are a parent, if you're a mother, if you have children, can you look your child in the eye and say, 'We are willing to lay you to be collateral damage in order to keep what some people perceive as their constitutional right,'" Barbara Parker said.
It's a fight Baltimore Bishop Douglas Miles continues to fight here in Maryland.
"We've pushed to ban assault weapons. We've pushed to require background checks for all persons who purchase guns. And if you check out Connecticut, you will find when that law was enacted in Connecticut, it reduced homicides by 40 percent," said Miles.
In Roanoke, Virginia, protestors are both mourning the loss of the two journalists and protesting outside a Roanoke gun show for stricter gun laws.
But organizers of the show say guns aren't the issue.
"You can't ignore why it happened. The why is not the gun. The why is a mental health issue," one woman said.
They say more gun laws won't stop the violence.
"One more law for more background checks... These people are still going to commit the crimes. We need to start looking at the mental health system," the woman continued.
For the Parkers--they know the fight will be long, rough and rugged, but they are in it to see change.
"I'm telling you--they messed with the wrong family," said Andy Parker.
The Parkers are reaching out to other gun control advocates to get more support.
