Never say never: Cincinnati Breaks ground on ‘the gun range’

ContributedCincinnati bought an existing gun range in Evendale in 1947 to train Cincinnati police officers. Lincoln Heights, next to Evendale, was officially incorporated in 1947. Lincoln Heights and nearby Woodlawn were not densely populated at the time, but both grew. By the 1960s, Lincoln Heights was a City with about 8,000 residents.For the last three or more decades, various political leaders discussed the need to move the gun range to a more remote location. There was no progress made.And then came Lincoln Heights Councilmember Daronce Daniels and the Heights Movement — Celeste Treece, Carlton Collins and others. They sought the help of Sen. Sherrod Brown, who reached out to Renee Mahaffey Harris, president & CEO of the Center for Closing the Health Gap, and then to Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney who had only been on Cincinnati City Council for a few months at the time. Kearney asked Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld to hold a hearing on Oct. 6, 2020 in his Environment Committee to share the negative impact that the gun range was having on surrounding communities, per the request of Alea Brown from Sen. Brown’s office, Daniels, and Mahaffey-Harris. The session included compelling testimony from Dr. Brian Earl, a UC audiologist,...