VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A night of violence and chaos in Virginia Beach has reignited the conversation for better gun safety in the Commonwealth.
At a special called City Council meeting Tuesday, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said more than a dozen guns were recovered at the scene of last Friday's first shooting near Atlantic and 20th Streets.
Three men, all under the age of 20, were initially charged with weapons offenses in connection to the shooting. Since then, Virginia Beach Police announced the arrest of three additional people, all of whom face at least one charge of selling a firearm to a convicted felon.
“A precipitous increase in gun violence since early of 2020," Chief Neudigate said in front of Virginia Beach City Council. "If I had the bodies available, we would have a dedicated violence reduction unit that would look at everything from the city and regional perspective.”
Last week's Oceanfront shootings come within weeks of mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder.
“It says gun violence in this country is an epidemic, it’s an emergency, it’s happening day in and day out. There are too many circumstances and types of gun violence, homicides, suicides," Lori Haas, Senior Director of Advocacy for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,000 Virginians died by firearm in 2019. The firearm mortality rate per 100,000 is 11.7.
Haas personally knows the impact gun violence can bring to a family. Her daughter was shot and injured during the Virginia Tech mass shooting in 2007. Since then, Haas has worked on advocating for better gun reform and better gun protection legislation.
“We know because of the data, a history of violence is the biggest predictor of future violence. We’re leaving guns available to too many people in too many circumstances," Haas said.
"It's a national crisis. It's fundamentally a national crisis that we need to face now," Joy McManus, Chapter Leader of Moms Demand Action in Virginia, a national organization advocating for safer and sensible gun legislation.
"We need more than thoughts and prayers, we need action."