CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis, representatives from Charlottesville and Albemarle schools, State Senator Creigh Deeds, and representatives from the BUCK Squad, and Pastor Alvin Edwards were part of a community forum last night at Buford Middle School arranged by the Charlottesville Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. Recurring themes of the evening included the only way to solve the gun violence problems in our area is our communities working together. Another was being a parent to your children, not a friend. Albemarle schools’ coordinator of student safety, Carl Murray, urged parents to know where your child is.

“When I see children out at 2 or 3 in the morning, something’s wrong somewhere”, he said.

Senator Deeds said education is key, noting a lot of young people don’t realize the damage some firearms can cause.

Unlike the last forum put together by Chief Kochis, this forum was actually arranged by the gun violence prevention group and has been about a year in the making.