AACC is helping Anne Arundel County’s Gun Violence Intervention Task Force raise awareness about the issue.
The college’s representative on the task force, whose mission is to reduce gun-related injuries and deaths, is Sara Meinsler, a professor of human services.
“We have students that live in these neighborhoods [who] are impacted by gun violence,” Meinsler, a former social worker, said. “So I guess that would probably be one of the big connections … between my role serving [on the task force] and representing AACC … how it’s impacting our student body.”
Isabella Young, the task force’s program coordinator, said the college’s involvement is a chance for the county to hear what students have to say about the issue.
“We want to hear from our younger people,” Young said, to learn “their perceptions … about gun violence.”
Meinsler said the biggest thing AACC students can do to help prevent gun violence is to learn about how to keep the emotional well-being of others in mind.
To do this, Meinsler urged students to “look for signs … be mindful of somebody and know what to do if somebody is in a mental health crisis.”
The county created the task force in 2020 after another group, the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, recommended that the county executive declare gun violence as a public health crisis.