To: The New York State House, The New York State Senate, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Prioritize legislation that provides stricter controls on gun trafficking: Remembering Tysean
Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.
Each year, over 30,000 Americans are killed as a result of gun violence and each year, thousands of illegally purchased guns make their way into the hands of criminals through "straw purchasers" and corrupt dealers. Prioritize legislation that provides stricter controls on gun trafficking. Let's stop this trend. It might save a life.
Why is this important?
On November 6th 2013, 15 year-old Tysean Williams was shot multiple times by two armed men shortly after coming to his grandmother's aide in his home in Rochester, New York. As a result, Tysean died from his injuries a short while later despite being rushed to hospital. These assailants were armed with guns they likely obtained illegally. He was an honor roll student in his sophmore year of high school. He was also a neighbor that grew up with my brothers and was like another brother to me. He was a quiet, bright young man with his whole future ahead of him but his life was cut short as a result of preventable gun violence. Stronger gun trafficking laws need to be enforced! It's important to let our elected officials know where we stand on this issue because too many of our youth are dying as a result. We need to figure out what WE can we do to stop this alarming trend.
-Sign this petition and share it with your family & friends
-Reaching out to your local & state legislators and representatives
-Come together as a community and organize rallies and round table discussions to discuss how to stop the violence in the community and how to get illegally obtained weapons off the street
-Encourage & advocate partnership between community businesses and organizations and local schools; better education is a key piece of the puzzle
-Speak out about the need for improved community involvement whether it be block by block or neighborhood by neighborhood. Maybe this can be done neighborhood watch initiatives, neighborhood clean-up programs, adopt-a-block programs, weapon drop off events or larger scale initiatives such as the creation of a city-wide anti-violence coalition
Let's start caring about each other and our youth. We can change the outcome but we need to see ourselves as the solution!
Read more about this story here:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2013/11/12/not-guilty-pleas-entered-in-shooting-death-of-tysean-williams/3505381/
And here:
http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/remembering-tysean-williams/d/story/ZYdSnfrNTU2cTednHWUqtQ
Tysean's grandmother talks about his bravery & last moments here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmfXSSIzxi4
A Facebook page has been created in Tysean's memory:
https://www.facebook.com/RememberingTyseanWilliam