CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's not just lawmakers debating gun control. The faith community is sounding off too.
"The voice of the church who speaks for God should be heard and should weigh on just about every social issue that exists including this one," said Pastor Dwayne Walker of Little Rock AME.
Gun control. It's a big point of debate and controversy for lawmakers across the country.
Evangelist Franklin Graham recently weighed in on the topic of gun violence on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's website, stating "the scripture says we need a new heart, not new legislation or regulations."
It seems Graham is in the minority among evangelicals.
A January poll by the National Association of Evangelicals found 73 percent of its leaders were in favor of increased government gun regulations, while 27 percent felt that other methods like mental health reform and better enforcement of current gun laws were a better solution.
Eyewitness News asked gun owner Charles Snow what he thought.
"I'm personally a hunter myself, but I believe there should be a lot more control of weapons," he said.
Walker has hosted several local rallies aimed at stopping violence and says the scenes playing out nationally are also very disturbing.
"The Newtown, Conn. event and other event across the country has caused me and others to be very alarmed and certainly stand with President (Barack) Obama and his desire to see more regulations," Walker said.
From a spiritual standpoint, Walker agrees with Graham that in order to change the violent behavior the country is seeing, there has to be a change in the hearts of people.
"We believe that the core of all evil of course is sin and our job is to address sin and offer salvation and just another way to deal with conflict," Walker said.
Graham said the gun proposals floating around don't address what he feels is the more important: The violence put forth by the entertainment industry in films, music and video games.