welcome to beyond the headlines, i'm cheryl jennings. every week we focus on different topic that affect people that live in the bay area. and today we start off with gun

violence. first of all it is legal to own a gun in our society. let's take a look at the second amendment. it reads a well regulated any shish sha is necessary for a state and the keeping of arms will not be infringed. the gun debate is back in the spotlight because of the shooting of gabrielle giffords. the congresswoman was shot in the head during a meet-and-greet appearance in her home district. six people were murdered and 14 others were injured. john hendron takes us back to that day. >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords was making a public appearance outside a supermarket when a man ran up and opened fire. she was shot in the head and rushed to the university medical center. >> she is in serious condition. i can tell you at the current time i'm very optimistic about recovery. >> at least ten others, including some of her staff

members were also shot. some were airlifted to the hospital by helicopter. a gunman was tackled by a bystander and taken into custody as police swarmed the scene. >> president obama is among those condemning the bloodshed. >> our hearts go out to the family members of those who have been affected. we're going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to get through this. >> the representative was elected to a third term in november. she was sworn in on wednesday. the most recent tweets says for people to stop by and tell her what is on their mind. >> congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion.... >> she is married to captain mark kelly that is expected to command the last space flight of the shuttle. >> the gunman has been identified as 22-year-old jared loughner, among several that was

hit as with a a nine-year-old child and a federal judge named john roll. and gabrielle giffords is undergoing treatment in houston where her friends say she continues to defy the odds. joining us to talk about gun violence is oakland's new mayor jean quan. >> thank you for inviting me. >> the perception i hate to say about oakland is a violent city? >> becoming the mayor, i think people are taking a fresh look at the city. there are few people that realize that crime has been down four years in a row now. this particular issue that you are talking about has broader national significant. it's not a question whether they can own guns but do we really need to let anyone to own a

weapon of war and to be on the streets of your hometown. >> there was a ban of some of these assault weapons? >> because of the 101 california massacre, dianne feinstein was able to get a assault weapons ban through congress. unfortunately because of the balance in congress, she never been able to get a renewal on the floor of congress since then. >> assault weapon issue, you bring that up do you see more on the street? >> i bring it up, i go to police line-ups. i'm going to one at 9:00. i go to them, we had 28 line-ups. what i heard from police, the real concern we had four years of reduced crime and particular murders but at the beginning of the year we had a big spike.

many of the weapons that were used in that spike were these automatic weapons that they say young people can buy across the border with very little i.d. and accountability. >> reporter: what can be done? >> i think the country has to get behind some of these registration and check-in period. the feinstein bill is very simple. you check for criminal record, mental health. to let people basically around like that with families on the street with weapons that were made for wars in the middle east and other places is ridiculous. >> reporter: so this is not something you would see imposing some law right now? >> i think we have to balance with the federal law on this one. >> reporter: so do you think it's a gang issue involved, gang violence? >> no. i think who uses automatic assault weapons, it's usually in the hands of young people, drug

dealers. unfortunately most of the domestic violence are done with handguns and quite a few of them are accidentally because people don't put gun locks on guns. my husband used to work at highland hospital and he would tell me about young peopting eah shooting each other thinking its sport. >> i lived in oakland for a long time. i never have been a victim of crime but in my very middle neighborhood, inside a safeway store, it goes back to the perception of crime you are lucky if you are not a victim of crime. we were mugged in san ramone so it happened everywhere. clearly crime is higher in areas like oakland where there is such high unemployment and not enough jobs. quite frankly for some of our

young pe enough h not enough ho. >> i want to talk about some of the programs that need to be implemented. we need to take break right now. in just a moment we'll hear more from the mayor and about breaking the vicious [ female announcer ] most women in america aren't getting the calcium they need. but yoplait wants to change that. only yoplait original has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value ♪ so pass on the news and we can help close this calcium gap together. to get you started, we're giving away a million free cups at yoplait dot com. the yoplait you love, now in a 4-pack. try it today.

a throne for the tv... room for movies... your workout gear... non-stop football... it's a man cave! the boys next door will never leave. who says we want them to? >> reporter: welcome back to beyond the headlines. today we are talking about gun violence and according to the

federal bureau of statistics, guns play a big role. in 2008, robberies 22,000 were committed using a firearm. 18% of the assaults of the state involved a firearm. back with us in the studio talking about gun violence is oakland's new mayor jean quan. i want to turn our attention to preventing violence in the community which is what the goal is even walking the streets. what is going on? deal withnk wh the problem right now. oakland, we call in with people on probation and check to see if they don't have guns in their home. that is p but in a city you have to look e young people. so i called for 2,000 mentors for oakland's toughest kids. 500 kids who get arrested for

something each year. about 300 kids out of foster care, many of girls that are recruited into child prostitution are in foster care. they become homeless and they have an opportunity to stay in school or job program. about 1200 kids miss more than 20 days of school. if you miss 20 days of school you are less likely to keep up with your grades, therefore you are more likely to drop out. kids who drop out are more likely to be involved in crime. what i'm trying to restore that, go upstream and stop throwing kids into the river. what we've been doing in east oakland, we've been organized neighborhoods. every weekend in january i was on the toughest streets, high crime and high unemployment. we knocked on every door because this neighborhood hadn't had a

neighborhood consul for a long time. by knocking on everybody's door we had 80 people show up at the police station last week. in addition to that we had about 200 people show up for martin luther king, literally clean up the neighborhood. we took garbage out of that neighborhood and last saturday we opened a brand-new library. what it tends to do is build the community.them introduce them to each other, historically a black working class neighborhood. before -- it used to be a more of a white and japanese american and today latinos are moving in. so the neighborhoods are changing and we're trying to bring them together and take more responsibility for their

kids. >> reporter: what is interesting to say, you have the community engaged now. it can't just be police. you are strapped with the budget and strapped with the bunt of the police force. so police can't arrest everybody. >> community involvement. we need the police. you asked me earlier, i'm perceived as being anti-cop. i wasn't the police officer's union candidate but cops should be assigned to neighborhoods so the neighborhood can get to meet them and hire a bunch of different programs to support community go policing. we have gang outreach workers and that is important. we give them a lot of credit for bringing down the murder rate to below hundred for the first time in five years. when jerry brown was mayor there were 134 murders.

we hit 90 and i want to bring it down lower. >> and bringing back more police officers. we have 80 officers and bring them back as soon as possible? >> we were hoping the police officer's unions to do what every other force has done to pay their 9% and they declined to bring it to their membership. i want them to re-look at that. i think because of that there has been a split in the community about the support for the police. we need to unify and need to work together. i think yesterday, based on projections and based on the police department has been within budget for the firste tie since i've been in city government. i it this i can stay within budget. in addition to that organized resources in the technology to give them a little more

dedicated help. when whether i was on the line, cops said they want better computers and better cars. >> please come back and update us to. >> once again we have to take a break. and then we'll near harry from jeff rosen, how his office is dealing with gun violence in the south bay. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] when sean was looking at mba programs, he wanted a curriculum designed to meet market needs, with faculty who brought real-world perspective on where the business world was headed and the practical experience to help him make an impact. my name is sean blankenship, i'm making the electric car more accessible,

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>> reporter: with us right now is santa clara county district attorney jeff rosen. thank you for being here. you are ran for reason because san jose wants to improve its record. >> thank you for having me. i did run for reasons about restoring integrity to the district attorney's office and about pursuing justice aggressively but fairly in a way that treats everyone equally and with respect. >> last we have been talking about gun violence. san jose has done a good job. but this year it is off to a terrible start. >> last year there was 20 murders in san jose and that was low number. while any murder is too many, relatively low number. i think that speaks to the pro-active nature of our police department, it's wreap with the

community. it's true this year we had six murders in january. i think it's too early to tell whether it's an aberration or a trend. three were from one particular case of those six. >> you talked about gun control. what are your thoughts about it? >> i think that my job as district attorney is to strictly enforce the gun laws that we have. strictly enforce them to prevent criminals and mentally unstable people from getting guns. also strictly enforcing the kinds of weapons that people can have, no assault weapons or extended magazine clips, those kinds of things. >> do you.. >> what my role as district attorney is to enforce the law.

we have a second amendment in this country which gives people the right to carry firearms. certainly that is what the law is. >> tell me about the gun problem in santa clara county? >> we have a number of different gangs in santa clara county. latino gangs, we have krips and some different asian gangs. its problem. we are certainly working hard to address it, but its problem. i think that to think about the gang problem, it's sort of like a cancer. the kind of things we try to do in law enforcement and in society are to treat that cancer. so we try to use prevention and suppression and we try to provide kids with opportunities to do things other than be in gangs. we suppress gang activity when it arises.

when necessary, we have to remove certain individuals from the society and incarcerate them when they are terrifying communities. >> do you think it's contributed to gun violence in the city or domestic violence? >> i think gangs certainly often use firearms. domestic violence sometimes firearms are used, sometimes they are not. but gang activity is a problem in san jose. we're certainly doing what we can do address, it, but its problem. it's been entrenched for a long time and it's not going to be fixed over the short term. it's going to take a long time. >> how about community involvement? i know you are talking about other issues but you can't punish people for committing crimes. you have to start with the beginning? >> i agree with you. we can't arrest our way out of this problem. i'm very pleased to be involved with make chuck reed's gang

prevention task force which brings people within the community as well as law enforcement to try to provide alternatives for kids so they don't join gangs. one fact that is very striking is if we increase graduations b% drop in murders and aggravated assaults. that is based on findings from the california state attorney's office. in santa clara county that would mean we would have seven fewer murders and 700 less aggravated assaults if we would increase graduation rate by 10%. >> i appreciate you coming there. i hope you accomplish those goals. we do have to take a break. coming up in just a moment. we're going to talk about the courage of one mother who suffered one of worst

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>> reporter: welcome back. our topic is gun violence. we've heard from oakland's new mayor jean quan and her battle to stop senseless killings. you also heard from santa clara's new district attorney jeff rosen. right now we're going to see how it can profoundly affect a february. on february 8th, two people were gunned down while working on a car car while working on a street. joining us right now is the boys' mother. it's hard for you to get there. but going back to that day so people understand why you want to talk about why you are here today? >> on february 9th i got a call from my son, greg, mom i want you to stop what what you are doing.

i sat on my knees and said a prayers. ten minutes later, he said mom, we lost him. i couldn't believe my ears. both of them had been murdered in the city of oakland. >> just going about their business. >> 22 years old, in college, working. his car broke down and he called his brother to come and help him fix it. what beyond comprehension how he was available to help him but according to the police while they were working on the car a guy came up with an assault rifle. >> nobody knows why? >> no. it's just a random. >> i think they have a guy in jail but not on the murder charge that killed my sons. but we found out he murdered two other people before they were able to arrest that.

>> reporter: i can't imagine how you as a mother, what you have to do to get through this. you still have one son that is still alive? >> yes, i got him out of oakland as fast as i. could he is in houston, texas running a bookstore. i'm very proud of him. getting through it has not been easy. i suffered severe depression, led me to lose my job. i was not able to function on a job anymore. it's very difficult. it's been 11 years and have to prepare myself. january 1st, i start a fast and fast until 3:00 every day because for many years every day i will have my tears. >> are you a little better now? >> only a little better. i'm a little better because i found ways to direct my grief and my hurt and my pain.

one of the ways is through preventing violence true families and friends of homicide victims. we provide special programs. one is monthly support group. we are doing another, a walk. >> that is coming up? >> that is coming up on may 7th. >> even though as one thousand mothers we reach out to families and friends until our our whole community, we want everyone to be part of this. >> reporter: how do people reach you? >> we have a website. it's 1000 mothers.org and they can call us any time. >> when you were talking on the break at one point you were so angry you wanted to get -- >> i wanted to get my son out of here and all of his friends.

we were able to work through a program that is called "you can too." filled out the application and 15 people graduated from texas southern university. >> so you have channeled your grief in something very positive? >> yes. i absolutely love people. i hate violence. i hate witness a passion. >> absolutely. it appears that no one cared at the time. this is in the year 2000. so i joined a nonprofit organization where we actually push for gun laws and legislation because if they don't do something, that means they are doing nothing. if you are just standing by, it's more than anything else. actions speak louder than words. >> we only have 30 seconds left. what do you want people to remember about your

organizations? >> we are here to help you, what i do, don't isolate yourself. come and join us and be a part of 1,000 mothers to prevent violence. we will definitely support you. our goal is to educate and empower and help our community heal. >> i hope you'll be okay for the next anniversary. >> we are out of time. i want to say a special thank you for all of our guests. information about the show is available on our website atabc7m www.abc7.com. just click on the community page. if you are looking for resources in your neighborhood, dial 211 for help. i'm cheryl jennings. thanks so much for joining us. bye-bye for you now.