Hundreds Attend Gun Safety Town Hall In Naperville

NAPERVILLE, IL -- A town hall about ways to prevent gun violence in Naperville drew hundreds of people Sunday, according to a post from Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL 14), one of the event's speakers. The pre-planned town hall, organized by Our Safety USA, a group of Naperville-area high school students, came on the heels of back-to-back deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend.

The event featured a number of public figures in addition to Underwood. State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-84), State Sen. Laura Ellman (D-21), Will County Board member Mimi Cowan (D-Naperville), Naperville City Council Member Kevin Coyne, and members of local law enforcement were also in attendance.

The goal of the town hall was to foster a non-partisan discussion on how to encourage gun safety, according to its Facebook event page. Event organizers explicitly asked participants not to discuss whether or not to amend gun laws, but how to work with the existing laws.

I thank the members of Our Safety for the opportunity to participate in this very good policy discussion on gun violence and how we protect our community from it. https://t.co/5nPt0wxRbb
— Kevin Coyne (@coyne4council) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/coyne4coun... 5, 2019

This allowed residents on both sides of the gun rights discussion to voice their suggestions and ask questions. Participant and gun owner Tim Ball told NCTV 17, "I had fabulous conversations with the other side and I think they saw a rational man in me. Honesty must be honored. And that means both sides."

Our Safety USA was founded in 2018 and is helmed by Rahul Aggarwal, a student at Waubonsie Valley High School.