If someone were to do a web search for “shootings in Ohio,” thousands of reports of gun violence would immediately appear – some dating back decades – describing accounts of death and despair. This tragic and persistent pattern reveals a deeper issue: the imbalance of power between state and local governments, and the limits of federalism in protecting public safety.
Regardless of the current legal framework, individualized gun restrictions are a necessity in cities that experience large-scale gun violence, such as Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. In 2024 alone, there were 228 people shot in Cincinnati and 247 in Columbus, with similar numbers in Cleveland. That equates to approximately 0.62 people shot per day across just these two cities, or more than one person shot every two days.
Shootings are not isolated incidents; they leave behind deep psychological scars and ripple effects that traumatize entire communities. As noted by Julie Collins and Emily Swoveland in Children’s Voice, these events cause long-term psychiatric stress. When state leadership refuses to respond with adequate reform, the duty to act falls on local governments…