African-American Task Force discusses gun safety in Delaware

February 21, 2021

Kara Hart,

Delaware – The African American task force sub committee in Delaware is calling attention in the state to gun safety and its affects on the African American community.

On Friday, members of the task force said one of their priorities during this session is pushing for common sense gun laws.

The task force points to reasons like the fact that in Delaware Black people are 11 times more likely to die by a firearm homicide than their white peers.

To combat those realities, the sub-committee discussed solutions to present to the full task force and eventually the general assembly such as gun purchase permits, limits on household guns, and prohibiting law enforcement from shooting at moving vehicles.

But even with those solutions, the Chair of the sub-committee, Rep. Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha, says this will be a long fight to protect people of color and they may even need to look at specific areas.

“We are looking at issues like gun violence, but there is no easy solution.,” said Chukwuocha. “You can’t just say I’m going to do this or I’m going to lock individuals up because everything is all interconnected so we just have to provide a balance and a way in which, I believe, we provide city specific or community specific issues relating to the gun violence.”

Chukwuocha says they are working now to have listening sessions in the community to hear the concerns of Delawareans.

Also, the African-American Task Force and the Police Accountability Task Force will work closely together to draft more suggestions and policies to further protect African-Americans and Delawareans in the state.