Since the start of 2018, there have been 64 individual mass shootings and a total of over 4,100 gun-related deaths across the United States. Aiming to spread facts on gun violence and initiate necessary conversations, Hillel at Binghamton’s Committee for Social Justice, with participation from the College Democrats, hosted the Gun Violence Prevention Forum in the University Union on Monday.

The open discussion focused on finding solutions to gun violence and addressed how students could use their voices to be heard. Roughly a dozen students and three members of the Binghamton area chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a nonpartisan, single-issue organization that promotes the legislation, corporate policies and individual behavior that keep families safe from gun violence, attended the event.

Kathy Baker, a member of Moms Demand Action, said the organization is meant to ignite a dialogue surrounding gun control.

“Moms Demand Action is all about having a conversation,” Baker said. “In 2012, after Sandy Hook, a stay-at-home mom, Shannon Watts, started the group on Facebook. She started asking questions that a lot of us are asking, like, ‘How are we allowing this to happen?’ There are now over 4 million Americans a part of it.”

Sarah Pincus, director of Hillel’s Committee for Social Justice and a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said she helped plan the forum to give students an opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns regarding gun violence and have their voices heard within a group of like-minded individuals.

“After the last mass shooting, I was really upset and I was kind of expecting a forum to happen that I could latch myself onto and support,” Pincus said. “But when that didn’t happen, I felt at a loss.”

Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, which resulted in the death of 17 people, there has been an increase in student-led activism throughout the country. On March 24, hundreds of March for Our Lives protests were held throughout the nation, including a protest in the city of Binghamton. Through this movement, survivors of the Parkland shooting have become advocates for stricter gun regulations to better guarantee student safety.

Kelsey Ostrander, a member of Moms Demand Action and Vestal resident, said she is in support of the survivors.

“After Parkland, these students stepped up and all they are doing is asking to go and learn without being shot or attacked,” Ostrander said. “Everyone has the right to go to school without the fear of being a victim of violence. That’s not something that’s crazy to ask for.”

At the forum, the conversation revolved primarily around how young adults, whether they are students in high school, college or beyond, can use their voices to influence gun violence prevention. Students at the forum, such as Jason Flatt, a second-year graduate student studying public administration, discussed their hopes of making a difference.

“Something my grandmother always tells me is that there’s a sense of responsibility: ‘You came into the world for a reason, so do something with it,’” Flatt said. “That still speaks to me.”

The discussion is continuing outside the forum. On June 2, Binghamton’s Moms Demand Action chapter is hosting a “Wear Orange” event for National Gun Violence Awareness Day. According to the event’s website, it is intended to foster community collaboration and encourage, support and work toward solutions to save lives from gun violence.

“We have to get more people involved in the conversation, not just us moms or the students that are already on the same page,” Baker said.