At a time when shootings are the topic of a contentious national conversation after the horrific killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, a new analysis from Oakland North gives insight into gun violence in Oakland.
According to Oakland North’s analysis, the city has seen 117 homicides as of early December, 14 more than last year's total. And of the nearly 1,600 reported shootings in Oakland last year, 143 of the victims were 17 years old or younger. In addition, six of the 91 people who died in gunfire-related incidents were younger than 17.
Community members and youth advocates cited a variety of reasons for gun violence in the city: the ease of access to guns, romantic relationships, the absence of strong family structure or lack of education.
So what’s being done to stem the city’s gun violence, especially shootings involving young people? One attempt is Measure Y, a $19 million, voter-approved initiative aimed at violence prevention, which allocates $5 million each year to youth programs, some of which are geared specifically for youth violence prevention. The city’s recently rejuvenated Ceasefire initiative is another attempt to target local violent offenders.
Following the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., last Friday, Oakland got an unexpected boost in reducing the number of guns on the streets. Organizers of two gun buyback events in Oakland and San Francisco – both planned before Adam Lanza gunned down 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary – collected nearly 600 firearms.
An opinion piece in this week’s Washington Post touts creating a national, debt-financed gun buyback program as a way to curb gun violence, looking to Australia as an example of what could be accomplished.
