Ohio sees record increase in gun violence, murder by firearms up 27%

DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) - The 'Summer of Strong' held a a series of talks about gun violence. The final presentation by the Whitney/Strong Organization was moderated by Whitney Austin, the co-founder and a survivor of gun violence. Friday's presentation brought together panelists Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, Oregon District Shooting Survivor Dion Green and Andy Wilson from Governor Mike DeWine's Office.'

Wilson explained that he is a senior advisor for criminal justice policy in the governor's offices. He said he has spent 16 years as a prosecutor, with eight of them in Clark County. He said he specialized in prosecuting violent crimes.

He said that in 2020 there has been a record increase in violent crimes with firearms, calling it, "Astronomical." He explained that he's been looking at statistics that come from the Office of Criminal Justice in the Department of Public Safety. The numbers he used were pulled from the Ohio Incident Based Reporting System, which compiles data from law enforcement agencies across Ohio.

He said the most up to date information provided compares the first 6 months of 2020 to the first 6 months of 2019. He shared that all major metro areas in Ohio have seen increases. He stated that the eight largest cities in Ohio with populations over 40,000 have all seen gun violence crimes go up by 17% compared to last year.

He said Cleveland is up 31%, Columbus is 7% up and as of Oct. 20 is 11 homicides away from surpassing the previous record. Wilson said,

There's an explosion of gun violence in our cities.

The eight largest cities are:

• Columbus
• Cleveland
• Cincinnati
• Toledo
• Akron
• Dayton
• Parma
• Canton

He said that murder with a firearm has increased by 27% for the first 6 months of 2020. In looking at other violent crimes that involved firearms such as robbery or menace the eight cities have had a 17% increase. Smaller cities in the state have seen a 12% increase.

Non violent offenses such as illegal carry, transfer, theft and possession are similarly up. Wilson explained that he believes that many of these crimes are underreported due to COVID-19 closing courts and police departments pulling back from involved traffic stops to avoid exposing officers to potential disease.

Wilson also explained that legal purchases have gone up. He said that 2020 has had the highest recorded requests for background checks since 1998 when federally licensed dealers began tracking requests, "We know guns are being bought this year at a level they've never been bought before." There have been 28,826,449 checks this year as of Sept. He said June broke previous records, followed by July. Ohio ranked 11 in the country for background checks in 2019.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said that most mayors in Ohio have been meeting with Governor DeWine twice a week on the rising violence. She said that she doesn't think the uptick in gun violence isn't only related to COVID-19.

In 2019, 13,577 people died to gun violence in Ohio. Over 60% of them were African American. Wilson also shared that the majority of the victims this year were 18 to 24 year old males. Whaley said that many young people are turning to suicide and other violent solutions during the pandemic, "We have taken away those safety nets from young people."

Whaley said that Dayton has seen violent crime spike and fall this year. She shared, "I think we have really antiquated gun laws." An example she shared was the struggle ahead of the November elections to keep firearms away from polling places. She said that in Churches hand guns aren't allowed but long rifles are, causing difficulties for law enforcement and legislators.

Dion Green lost his father in 2019's Oregon District Shooting. Since then he has used his story to share the impact of trauma, "I went to dark places at times." He said that as part of his process he decided to help others, "That's the deal me and god made."

Green said that he's worked with victims of gun violence, "I am bringing survivors together." He shared that he's recently worked with a family in Cincinnati where a man shot his partner and killed himself. There were children in the house during the incident, he consoled family members at the time, "Sit back and grieve." He recalled, saying he remembered his own father's passing leaving him with no time to process.

In the wake of 2019's Oregon District shooting the STRONG OHIO, or Senate Bill 221 was drafted as a starting point for dealing with gun violence in Ohio. It has not yet made it through the Ohio Senate, Wilson explained it as a 17 point plan for improving gun violence in Ohio.