(WBTW) – The community gathered for a town hall meeting to discuss gun safety, after recent gun violence across the country.

The meeting was held on Saturday at the North Strand Recreation Center in Little River. Congressional candidate Mal Hyman hosted the event to address concerns. 

One of the biggest concerns people shared was the accessibility of firearms, with many people pushing for universal background checks and “common sense” gun laws.

Attendees also questioned what it would take for lawmakers to ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons, and high capacity magazines.

Hyman also argued the National Institute for Health has not been given the resources to thoroughly study the need for mandatory mental health evaluations for anyone looking to buy a gun.

“We’ve had more Americans die from gun violence than all the wars we’ve fought in in American history. This issue divides the country. We have to find where there’s common ground to make progress,” Hyman said.