It’s time to get serious about gun violence in Nassau County

As the news of another senseless shooting death in my community broke, so did my heart. The incident that took the life of a 22-year-old student from my alma mater reminds me of the lives lost due to gun violence.

Last Friday’s shooting — in which Hofstra University student Andrea Rebello, the victim of a home invasion by an armed intruder who held a loaded gun to her head, was caught in the gunfire during a standoff with police — occurred on the border of Uniondale and Hempstead, communities I have called home my entire life. Her death quickly reminded me of tragedies I have witnessed since my teens.

I was 17-years-old when I lost a close friend to a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Nine months later, a second friend was shot and killed, and a third friend sentenced to 12 years in prison for a crime involving a shotgun purchased at a now defunct Kmart on Hempstead Turnpike. The only requirement for purchasing the firearm was a New York state I.D. by an 18-year-old and $180. The transaction took 30 minutes.

I live in a community where gunshots are so common that residents are no longer startled. Parents fear hot summer months because they know high-degree temperatures bring a higher degree of gun activity. We strategically place our children’s bedroom furniture away from windows and walls to avoid stray bullets. Deaths of young people are common, as are metal detectors and armed police patrolling schools. Kids as young as 12 learn to line up, get patted down and place their bags on metal detectors. Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year are spent on a “Shot Spotter System” that initiates an automatic 911 call that could pinpoint a shooting within seconds. Millions are spent on incarcerating youth in detention centers, jails and prisons. At the same time, funding for after-school, summer programs, violence prevention and mental health and drug counseling are cut by Nassau County.