Posted on 02/08/2007 7:02:25 PM PST by Graybeard58
TUSCALOOSA | Members of a community action group are asking residents in west Tuscaloosa to turn in their guns.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, members of the recently formed All for One Tuscaloosa Standing Against Violence will gather at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School to receive guns that residents turn in, said the Rev. Clarence Sutton, president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Sutton and Maurice Muhammad, minister of the Nation of Islam Study Group in Tuscaloosa, organized All for One Tuscaloosa last fall after several homicides shook area neighborhoods.
Twenty-six homicides were reported by law enforcement agencies in Tuscaloosa County 2006.
“We will give a small incentive for people to turn in their guns, with no questions asked," Sutton said. He said that some youths hesitate to turn in weapons because they are afraid that others will keep theirs. But even if only one resident turned in a gun, the effort would be meaningful, Sutton and Muhammad said.
“It’s more about bringing a spiritual rite of passage," said Muhammad, noting that the purpose of the call to disarm is partly to open a dialogue with community members and listen to their concerns.
A planning meeting to discuss goals of the community action group will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the Benjamin-Barnes YMCA on 2939 18th St.
Sutton said that residents, municipal and county government officials and law enforcement officers attended a series of community meetings last fall and have offered help in the nonviolence effort. Muhammad said that more than 400 attended a series of meals that coalition hosted in October to encourage an end to violence.
He said the coalition wants to conduct outreach programs in schools, colleges and technical schools, especially at Shelton State Community College’s C.A. Fredd campus, to promote peaceful conflict resolution.
Another goal of the coalition is to teach job skills to young adults in west Tuscaloosa. Muhammad said a skills program recently started at the C.A. Fredd campus is promising.
A rally in October was followed by a series of dinners for residents to discuss their concerns. A third public awareness campaign, “21 Days of Awareness," was held to get more support for the community, Sutton said.
“We’re trying to cut down on the violence and help our community seek alternatives to it," he said.
Reach Lucinda Coulter at lucinda/s.coulter@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0206. .
Ya think?
And when you turn them in, please list where you live and what valuables you have there.
This is laughable.
I'd like to know what Maurice Muhammad plans on doing with these guns.
Said Muhammad to the future dhimmi: please give up your guns and convert to Islam immediately.
Since when does the Nation of Islam hold sway over anyone in the Christian Church. This minister should be ashamed of himself.
They should give out a bumper sicker with each turned in gun, it would read " Un-armed Driver feel free to Carjack Me at the next light "
Anti-truth, anti-freedom, anti-individual, anti-life collectivists are likely to merge.
Don't work, have a "rally" and then have dinner.
Good job when you can find it.
Dhimmi idiots
Dhimmi idiots
No questions asked! Good way to get rid of a gun used in a crime!
“We’re trying to cut down on the violence and help our community seek alternatives to it," he said"
Better idea is to turn in the bad guys. But that's just my NRA mind speaking.
That was worth posting twice.
People should be buying MORE guns or, at the very least, one gun and a crap-load of ammo.
Oh, wait; they want OTHER people to disarm.
Pound Holy Pedophile sand; if you can't find any to pound, then head about 4,500 miles east & a little south.
In the immortal words of Nancy Reagan - "Just Say No".
Never thought of that! Wow. This public disarming of willing dopes is scary. A father who doesn't have a firearm in his home is being irresponsible to himself and the community. Men protect their own.
That's gotta be the best post tonight!
Muzzies are trying to get the general populace to disarm?????
What the heck's with that?
No, wait. If we're unarmed, we can't shoot them when they go on a firebombing our cars and raping our girls rampage, just like in France.
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