Senator Samuel Carrión, a longtime advocate for peace, is urging the Governor to move forward with implementation of the new Office of Gun Violence Prevention, established under Act 8423 in January.
“What local law enforcement has been doing is clearly not working,” Senator Carrión said. “This means it is time to try a different approach. I believe the new Office of Gun Violence should be utilized to bring our public, private, and non-profit sectors, as well as our clergy, together to develop more innovative strategies for addressing violence in our communities with an emphasis on deterrence and conflict prevention.”
Senator Carrión, was not a member of the 33rd Legislature, which approved the Office of Gun Violence Prevention on December 30th, 2020. Act 8423 calls for the new entity to be established under the Office of the Governor.
“It’s on the books now and provides what I believe is the necessary framework for a more collaborative and wholistic approach to addressing violent crime,” Senator Carrión said. “This is a bill that former Senator Myron Jackson worked on for quite a while and I supported.”
In his letter to Governor Bryan, the St. Croix Senator urged swift action and committed to working on solutions.
“While I know it has been less than two months since you signed this measure into law, it could not come at a more critical juncture and we must move ahead,” wrote Senator Carrión “The violence experienced on St. Croix over the past few days marks this period as one of the most tragic in our recent history. Every life lost represents dozens of grieving loved ones and an increased level of fear and sadness for us all. These senseless killings are literally tearing our families and our community apart…In requesting your immediate action, I also pledge my involvement and direct support as both a legislator and citizen.”