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More than half of U.S. adults have witnessed gun violence, study says
She lost her fiancé to a bullet and now Aaliyah Strong is fighting to end gun violence. This as a new study outlines the dramatic and disproportional impact gun violence has on U.S. adults.
ATLANTA - One in five Americas have either been directly touched by or had a family member harmed by gun violence, according to a new survey by Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health policy research group. The study states more than half of U.S. adults have witnessed gun violence.
"If you haven’t been impacted, you may not understand the effect gun violence really has," said Aaliyah Strong, who lost her fiancé in a shooting. "You would just never imagine that you go to work to try to provide for your family, and just really make an honest living, and you wouldn’t make at home."
Ty Ross, a security guard at the Encore Hookah Bar and Bistro on Luckie Street, was shot and killed on Feb. 2, 2022. (FOX 5)
Her fiancé, Ty Ross, was working as a security guard at a Downtown Atlanta hookah bar when the 28-year-old was shot and killed last year. Strong has turned her pain into action. She launched Tyme to Thrive Beyond Grief, an Atlanta-area non-profit that aims to help put an end to gun violence and help those already impacted by it.
"If I could save one person a day, I’ve done my job, you know. It is my hope to inspire change across the world," Strong said.
The Kaiser Family Foundation outlines the need for such a nonprofit with its new study. It states the 19% of those surveyed say a family member was killed, murder or suicide using a gun. The survey states 17% of respondents saw someone personally being shot. Four percent say they have been shot.
The report goes on to explain that people of color are disproportionately affected. Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to have witnessed a shooting: 31% and 22% respectively. Compare that to the 14% of white adults. Black adults are twice as likely to have had a family member killed by a gun.
"The numbers are at an alarming rate right now. And so, I feel like it’s my job to kind of step in and be the voice right now," Strong said.
Tyme to Thrive Beyond Grief (FOX 5)
After a tragic loss, her mission now is to use her grief to do good work and strive to end gun violence.
"It’s really heartbreaking, honestly, that this is something that we’re having to deal with," Strong said.
Another interesting stat from that survey, 84 percent of adults say they have taken precautions to protect themselves or their families from gun violence. That includes talking to their children about the dangers of gun violence.
To read the full study, click here.