At local vigils, families of murder victims hope, pray the gun violence stops

Families and friends of murder victims joined state Assemblyman Mike Gipson on Friday night for prayer vigils and demonstrations against gun violence in South Los Angeles, Carson, Wilmington, Watts and Compton.

Gipson, who is seeking re-election Tuesday in the 64th Assembly District, organized the gatherings in response to an increase in recent shootings throughout the region, and to gain support for his proposed legislation designed to ban “ghost guns” — weapons without serial numbers that are not registered and caot be traced.

“There are those in Sacramento who feel any additional gun control laws are uecessary. They are wrong,” said Gipson, who authored Assembly Bill 1673 to make “ghost guns” illegal. The legislation passed the Assembly on Wednesday.

“We want to send a clear message to Sacramento of what we experience on almost a daily basis,” he said. The law would also require gun manufacturers to register gun parts with the Department of Justice so criminals can’t build their own weapons by purchasing unmarked gun parts.

Gipson held vigils at a South Los Angeles church, the Watts Civic Center, a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Compton, Carson’s Dolphin Park, and the Gang Alteative Program in Wilmington.

Joining Gipson were families of such victims as 16-year-old Elijah Galbreath, who was gued down while walking in Watts in September 2015; Carson resident Justin Uy, 18, who was shot and killed in April; and 1-year-old Autumn Johnson, who was killed by gunmen who fired into her Compton home while she slept in a crib in February.

They prayed, shared harrowing stories of violent attacks, and signed a baer that will be brought to the Legislature in Sacramento advocating tougher gun-control laws.

“The goveor and some of my colleagues have no idea of our level of pain and suffering,” Gipson said. “I was bo and raised in this district. There aren’t too many degrees of separation between the victims and myself. I go to the funerals. I comfort families and friends. I see the pain in the eyes of mothers.”

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