City of Birmingham Seeks Solutions to Reduce Gun Violence. Here Are Few That’s Worked

By Carla Lewandowski and John A. Shjarback | theconversation.com Gun-related homicides have dropped 40 percent in 2024 in the Philadelphia region, saving countless lives in the area. Meanwhile, gun-related homicides have soared in Birmingham. At last count, homicides in Birmingham were up more that 15 percent compared to the same time in 2023 and that was before a deadly September that included a mass shooting in Five Points South left four people dead, and 17 others wounded in the month. There have been five additional homicides since that mass shooting. Birmingham ended 2023 with 135 homicides. There have been 130 homicides so far this year in Birmingham. Of those incidents, nine have been ruled justified. The city’s modern record for homicides is 148 in 1933. (On Tuesday Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced a commission to seek solutions to Birmingham crime). Philadelphia experienced a surge in shootings and homicides during the COVID-19 years that disproportionately affected young Black and Latino men in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with drug markets. In 2020, Philadelphia had 499 homicides — nearly 150 more than the previous year. Gun violence worsened in 2021 — with 562 homicides that year — and then dropped slightly in 2022. In...