Gun violence remains the number one cause of death for youth in South Carolina, and yet legislators are pushing to make gun access easier. At-risk youth and young adults should have access to prevention programs rather than being villainized. We must also ensure transparency between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

• Closing the Charleston loophole and passing comprehensive legislation requiring universal background checks, secure storage, ghost gun regulation, and crime gun tracing to decrease suicides and homicides in South Carolina and nationwide. 

• Invest in preventive programs for at-risk youth who have been expelled from school to curb access to activities or behaviors that lead to the prison pipeline

• Develop comprehensive reentry programs that support the successful transition of formerly incarcerated youth back into their communities 

• Implement diversion programs that provide alternatives to incarceration for individuals with mental health or substance abuse issues.

• Pass legislation that increases accountability for law enforcement misconduct, enhances transparency and data collection, and establishes best practices and training requirements for police officers with a national non-voluntary database that is available to the public.

• Divest from and end the private-for-profit system, and invest in public jails and prisons to better serve the incarcerated population.