CINCINNATI — Homes, vehicles and now stores are all hotspots for thieves looking to steal guns, according to Cincinnati Police.
Community leaders and organizations like Street Rescue and The Baptist Ministries Association are coming together to host an event they hope can get some of those guns off the streets.
“It ain’t time to be playing, it's time to get serious about what is going on in our streets, in our communities ... make our communities safe,” said Stephen A. Scott, pastor and president of the Baptist Ministry Conference.
Scott and fellow organizers said they hope this event will provide a safe space for community members to turn in stolen and unwanted guns. For him, this effort is personal.
“My biggest nightmare was when my son got killed,” Scott said. “He had two little boys and I'm just so happy that when those kids were with him he got them to safety before he got killed.”
Scott said it feels like gun violence and the use of guns have become all-consuming — from shootings near schools to firearms stolen right out of gun stores in the area.
In August, four juveniles were arrested after crashing a vehicle into a Union Township gun store and stealing multiple firearms. The ATF is also searching for six people involved in burglaries at two separate Florence gun shops.
“Everywhere you go that’s all you hear about,” he said.
Charles Tassel, founder of Street Rescue, said the event is no questions asked and anyone is welcome. The only goal is to show get guns off the streets and away from the community — especially children.
“When you tuck your own 6-year-old in and there’s a 6-year-old fighting for life in someone’s hospital because someone grabbed an illegal gun and sprayed it,” Tassel said. “A bullet doesn’t care and that’s what we have to prevent.”
This is the first year Street Rescue and a pastor's organization have come together for an event like this. Both tell WCPO this will not be the last and their work has just begun. The event is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Progressive Baptist Church in Avondale.
