Summit reveals complex challenges of gun violence

“Our babies, our babies, our babies! They are burying our children! What are we going to do about it?” pleaded an emotional Kelly Gunnels, whose brother Reco Gunnels was killed by gun violence in Avondale in August 2017.  Christ Church Cathedral addressed that concern voiced at its third Anti-Gun Violence Summit on June 1 at the Urban League’s Holloman Center for Social Justice in the Avondale Town Center on Reading Road. The daylong summit took a comprehensive look at gun violence, featuring remarks by Mayor Aftab Pureval, a keynote speech by DeVone Boggan, founder of Advance Peace (the successful anti-violence program now operating in 16 cities), gun violence data locally presented by Carole Womeldorf, Ph.D, of Community Peace Builders, personal stories by victims of gun violence, youth speaking out about gun violence, and Panel discussions about what it will take to reduce gun violence in Cincinnati moderated by Councilman Scotty Johnson, a Cincinnati Police Department veteran. Bishop Ennis Tait concluded the day with a panel discussion about what’s next. The take away is complicated, with no easy, quick fix. Everything from generational poverty, unemployment, disparities in education and health, lack of investments in underserved neighborhoods, and other root causes of...