by Lisa Fielding
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Cherie Animashaun, 20, says her first memory of the danger of guns was when her mother wouldn’t let her go to her favorite park anymore.
“I remember in kindergarten, I used to go to the park behind my house in Evanston, and, one day, my mom told me we couldn’t go to the park anymore. She said it wasn’t safe,” says Animashaun.
The Cornell University student and Evanston Township High School graduate didn’t even know what a gun was, but she remembers being afraid.
“In first grade, you don’t know the depth of the issue, but you can feel it,” Animashaun tells WBBM. “ I remember being terrified. For the most people I know, seeing guns growing up is almost a prerequisite to this generation.”
For her and her peers, guns and gun violence have become the norm, something Nina Vinik soon realized.