NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Metro Council passed a resolution Tuesday night that recognizes gun violence as a public health crisis.
Rafiah Muhammad-McCormick lost her son, 29-year-old Rodney Armstrong, to gunshots last summer. She says he was having a pool party with friends when the group dynamic took a turn.
“Totally did not expect something like this to happen,” Muhammad-McCormick said. “He and one of his friends got into an argument, and it ended in gun violence.”
Metro Council Member, Freddie O’Connell, is a sponsor for the resolution passed Tuesday. He said while some resolutions are required to accept grant money, this one is more for public comment.
The resolution comes after Nashville saw 109 homicides in 2020, the third-highest in the city’s history.
“One thing is already happening, and I’m glad you are interested in this, we are seeing some conversation about it,” O’Connell said.
Proponents of the resolution say this is a public health crisis because shootings often happen in public. And the targets of those who pull the trigger are not always the only victims.
“I talked with physicians at Vanderbilt on a regular basis about the impact of gun violence,” O’Connell says. “Anyone from trauma surgeons to pediatric neurologists who are helping kids from brain damage after they have been shot in the head.”
Thirty-eight thousand people died from gun violence each year in the United States, but another 85,000 are injured.
“The young people and the community that is affected by it are definitely going through a mental health crisis,” Muhammad-McCormick said. She added the resolution is one step in the right direction and another step toward justice for Rodney.