![]() Read more: Gun Violence Is Killing More Kids in the U.S. “We are being inundated with guns from states that have virtually no gun control, no background checks, no ban on assault weapons.” “Our gun problem is related to the fact that we have too many illegal guns in our streets - 60% of which come from states outside of Illinois,” Lightfoot said. (The governor’s office in Virginia did not return TIME’s request for comment.)ĭuring a CNN interview on Sunday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot echoed Bowser’s point. “If I had one thing to ask our federal partners, it is ‘how do we prevent the free flow of illegal guns into urban areas?’” Mayor Bowser said. This means it is often all too easy for weapons to find their way into the nation’s capital across porous state borders. Under Mayor Bowser’s public safety agenda, the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) approaches community safety in a similar fashion to Cure Violence, using “nonviolent interrupters” to curtail and de-escalate risk factors in the communities.īut Bowser also notes that the District - which requires background checks along with a licensing process for firearm sales, and imposes strict regulations and rules on gun dealers - is surrounded by states with far less stringent gun laws. We have to address public safety in our community in a few ways.” “Somebody intent on getting a gun is going to get one. “It’s too easy to get a gun,” Mayor Bowser told TIME in January. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she believes getting illegal weapons off the streets is important, but that it can’t be the only way to address gun violence and public safety. are calling for social work and community-led programs that use “violence interrupters” to be properly funded in a city’s budget and supported as an example of successful de-escalation and de-policing.ĭ.C. But while many gun violence experts agree that inner-city shootings often come from unregistered firearms, community leaders and experts question the value of confiscations in the grander scheme of gun violence prevention.Īctivists across the U.S. In 2019, Chicago police seized more than 10,000 illegal weapons from the streets. One common law enforcement strategy to counter such violence is the seizure of illegal weapons, through police raids, individual and vehicle searches, buyback or amnesty programs as well as the collection of discarded weapons at crime scenes. Read more: 6 Real Ways We Can Reduce Gun Violence in America “When you add the easy access to firearms, that’s when you have this grinding daily gun violence.” “In inner-city communities, you often see high levels of poverty a lack of economic opportunity for people who have been systematically disenfranchised by the criminal justice system,” says Josh Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. In the last month, at least nine children have been killed across the city. And as of July 24, Chicago has had 414 murders this year and 1,637 shooting incidents, up from 275 murders and 1,110 shooting incidents year-on-year. Philadelphia has seen a 33% increase in shooting incidents this year, with more than 990 people shot. New York City has had over 800 shooting victims in 2020, compared to 481 in the same period last year. Since Memorial Day - the day Floyd was killed - more than 113 people have been shot in Minneapolis. “We should have a handle on this by now.” We’ve been pressing the snooze button on this issue for too long and we’re at the point where we can’t press it anymore,” Pastor Price says. Buoyed by the groundswell of support for some high-profile victims of police violence, and for larger societal reforms, they say now is the time for action. Pastor Price and community activists in cities across America that are currently facing high levels of gun violence say the issue has been ignored - and stigmatized - for too long. “He had to have dribbled his little basketball right past my church,” Price says. The park from where Tyshawn was lured by his assailants is also down the street. The Pastor’s church was across the street from the grammar school that Tyshawn attended, he tells TIME. Pastor Price began his outreach work after the 2015 death of Tyshawn Lee, a 9-year-old who was killed in a targeted shooting that drew national attention to gun violence in Chicago. Burris did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment. ![]()
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