Homes, vehicles and now stores are all hotspots for thieves looking to steal guns, according to Cincinnati Police.
Community leaders and organizations like Street Rescue and The Baptist Ministries Association are coming together to host an event they hope can get some of those guns off the streets.
“It ain’t time to be playing, it’s time to get serious about what is going on in our streets, in our communities … make our communities safe,” said Stephen A. Scott, pastor and president of the Baptist Ministry Conference.
Scott and fellow organizers said they hope this event will provide a safe space for community members to turn in stolen and unwanted guns. For him, this effort is personal.
“My biggest nightmare was when my son got killed,” Scott said. “He had two little boys and I’m just so happy that when those kids were with him he got them to safety before he got killed.”
Scott said it feels like gun violence and the use of guns have become all-consuming — from shootings near schools to firearms stolen right out of gun stores in the area.