Dayton, Ohio – A group of twelve Ohio city mayors has sent a petition to Governor Mike DeWine asking for quick response to stop the flow of gun violence sweeping the state. All of the signatories—including well-known personalities like Lancaster Mayor Don McDaniel and Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther—are members of the Ohio Mayors Alliance, an organization dedicated to tackling urban issues via cooperative means.
Delivered in a letter earlier this week, the appeal from the mayors highlights a set of suggestions meant to improve the state’s gun control strategy. Among these are the demand for a thorough statewide research program. This initiative would compile and examine statistics on several facets of gun violence, including accidental fatalities, suicides, and murders, therefore arming communities with the essential data required to create appropriate public safety plans.
The letter also calls for additional state support of community grants. These money would help to establish data-driven initiatives meant especially to reduce violent crimes. It also emphasizes the need of increased awareness among gun owners about their obligation to report lost or stolen weapons, therefore helping significantly decrease the illegal gun use.
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The mayors are also urging Governor DeWine to support legislative action meant to result in significant lowering the gun violence. They suggest rewarding police agencies throughout Ohio to actively engage in a state-run gun-tracing database, a tool that might be very important for crime investigation and prevention.
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A heartbreaking statistic in the letter highlights the urgency of their demand: among Ohio’s children and young people, guns now rank first among causes of death. The mayors stress the need of strict prosecution of offenders to the utmost extent of the law in order to restore peace and order, even if they admit that weapons are not the only cause of the increase of violence.
Governor DeWine’s office has not yet responded to the mayors’ explicit demand for action or their proactive recommendations. This coincides with Ohio communities reporting declining gun-related deaths resulting from large public safety investments and efficient local law enforcement practices. But once summer arrived, a concerning rise in gun violence events—including several mass shootings and many young victims—has given the mayors’ demands more urgency.
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The collective voice of these Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, and Youngstown city leaders—among others—represents a vital force toward legislative and strategic interventions that might possibly save lives and restore safety in communities all around Ohio as the state works on this complex problem.
