Later this week a 15-year-old girl will stand up in a school assembly and pay tribute to her brother in an event that will both highlight the courage of one individual and hold up a mirror to the violent side of society.

Arzoo Rehman is the sister of university student Skander, 20, who died from a single gunshot. Trying to come to terms with the horror of a brother's death would be almost too much for most people to cope with, especially at such a young age.

Yet she and others touched by the killing wanted to use this tragedy to commemorate his life and make a statement about gun crime.

Everyone connected with the event, and there are too many to name here, deserves praise for speaking out at such a difficult time and on such an important issue.

For firearms have the potential to turn people into killers and rob others of their lives in a matter of seconds. In many cases they create tragedy where, had guns not been present, the outcome would have been so different, so less serious.

Sadly, it is likely that many of those who need to be convinced of this - the young men bolstering their image and criminal activities with the deadly kudos of carrying a gun - are beyond help.

This is not to say we should not try but the next generation are a different matter and that is why this important event at Nab Wood School offers both comfort and hope.