Before Parkland, Renuka Soll had never touched a gun.
Moved by the February 2017 high school massacre in Florida, Soll decided it was time to get Chapel Hill to take action against acts of gun violence.
On September 14, Soll held Orange County’s first “Gun Give Back” at the Community Church of Chapel Hill. The event encouraged citizens to bring in firearms that could potentially be hazardous and get rid of them in a safe way.
“I wanted to have a Gun Give Back event to help reduce gun violence. Many people feel unsafe having a gun in their homes,” Soll said. “It just scares me.”
The event led to the collection of six firearms.
Soll, a mother of two Chapel Hill High School graduates, is also one of seven candidates running for the four open Chapel Hill Town Council seats in November’s election. Even though Soll does not have anything on her Town Council platform addressing gun control, she plans to address the issue if elected.
“There is no way to get rid of firearms safely and without them being sold back to the gun industry,” she said. “I felt that whatever number we could take back would be helpful because you never know which gun could be used in an accidental shooting or in any other way.”
Soll said she hopes to make the Gun Give Back an annual event, noting that Community Church has expressed “an interest in doing it again.”
“It would be great if we could make it a yearly event. We are discussing the possibilities,” Soll said.
Police were on hand for the event, handling the destruction of the firearms and providing safety checks, ensuring the returned guns were not stolen or used for crime.
Soll said she is encouraged by the efforts students have made to reduce firearms sales and advocate for gun reform.
“Students are starting to use their voices to talk about gun safety and the environment,” she said. “They should get involved because this has to do with their future.”
