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COLUMBUS – The Ohio Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of mayors in Ohio’s largest cities, sent a letter to Governor Mike DeWine today making recommendations for how the administration might partner with Ohio cities to reduce gun crimes and better protect children and youth from accessing and using firearms.

“Our cities are doing everything they can to prevent and reduce crime, and, as a result, violent crime is down significantly in Ohio’s cities. However, a recent spasm of gun violence in some cities this summer has served as a grim reminder of how urgently we need to continue to work to address this issue,” said Keary McCarthy, Executive Director of the Ohio Mayors Alliance.

The letter makes five solution-oriented recommendations for immediate action:

• Establish a state-level research unit dedicated to supporting cities and law enforcement agencies with analysis, research, and data sharing focused on the prevention of firearm-related deaths in Ohio.
• Double down on state grants to cities and local law enforcement agencies for technology support and data-driven strategies to reduce violent crime.
• Reduce the number of stolen firearms being used in violent crimes by promoting awareness and enforcement of ORC 2923.20(A)(7), which requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm.
• Incentivize law enforcement agencies to input recovered gun information into the federal eTrace system and to share that tracing data across all jurisdictions.
• Re-engage legislative leaders on needed state law changes that will reduce gun violence and improve public safety in Ohio.

The full letter can be downloaded here.

The letter to the Governor is signed by the following bipartisan members of the OMA Board of Directors, bipartisan co-chairs of the group’s Mayors & Police Chiefs Leadership Committee, and member mayors whose cities have been affected by recent gun violence:

OMA Board of Directors:

• Mayor Justin Bibb, City of Cleveland
• Mayor Andrew Ginther, City of Columbus
• Mayor Mitch Rhodus, City of Fairfield
• Mayor Christina Muryn, City of Findlay
• Mayor Peggy Lehner, City of Kettering
• Mayor Tim DeGeeter, City of Parma
• Mayor Tito Brown, City of Youngstown

Co-Chairs of the OMA Mayors & Police Chiefs Leadership Committee:

• Mayor Mayor Don McDaniel, City of Lancaster
• Mayor Sharetta Smith, City of Lima

Member Mayors:

• Mayor Shammas Malik, City of Akron
• Mayor Aftab Pureval, City of Cincinnati
• Mayor Jeffrey Mims, City of Dayton

For more information about the Ohio Mayors Alliance, please visit OhioMayorsAlliance.org.  

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