Community leaders in Mount Vernon are taking steps to keep guns out of the hands of teens and young adults as the nation battles with how to handle the influx of shootings.

The city highlighted the programs it offers to teens and young adults in hopes the resources will keep kids away from guns particularly this summer once school lets out and shootings tend to increase.

The goal is to tackle the root causes of youth gun violence, including poverty, under-resourced public services and substance-use treatment.

SNUG, which is guns spelled backward, is one of these programs which works to reduce gun violence through conflict mediation.

"When you put the resources in place that the city needs then there's less influence that the negativity has on the community itself," says Henry Terry, of Mount Vernon SNUG. 

Tuesday's event comes days after a murder-suicide at a home on South 14th Avenue in Mount Vernon on Sunday.

Officials have been tight-lipped about the situation but tell News 12 police are still investigating, and the city's focus is on providing resources to the three kids who survived the tragedy.