Cincinnati Mayor Blames Ohio’s ‘Crazy’ Gun Laws for Violent Crime

On paper, Cincinnati, Ohio isn’t much more violent or dangerous now than it was last year. As of July 7, there’ve been 12,633 offenses (both violent and property crimes) reported this year. At the same point last year there were 12,489 crimes, and in 2023 the number was substantially higher at 13,668. 

There’ve been a number of high-profile shootings over the past couple of months, however, and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Purevel has offered a number of reasons for the recent increase, including the state’s gun laws, which he’s called “crazy.” The mayor also pointed the finger at the city’s gun-owning segment of the population, claiming that they’re leaving scores of guns in their vehicles only to have them stolen by thieves. 

The biggest problem with Purevel’s attempt to blame Ohio’s gun laws for his Cincinnati’s crime is that other cities in the state are seeing substantial decreases in violence, including a 48% decline in homicides in Cleveland in the first quarter of 2025 compared to 2024. If Ohio’s gun laws were responsible for Cincinnati’s uptick in violent crime, why wouldn’t we be seeing that play out in other cities in the Buckeye State as well? 

It’s also worth noting that, at least as of May of this year, violent crime in Cincinnati was well below what it was during the same time last year. No new gun laws have taken effect in the state over the past two months, so what exactly does Purevel think has changed that makes the city more susceptible to criminal behavior? 

At the Cincinnati Inquirer, columnist Todd J. Zinser says that Purevel needs to simply look in the mirror if he wants to find the person responsible for the city’s public safety failures. 

Remarkably, the mayor said nothing about the city’s primary initiative to address gun violence, “Act for Cincy.” The program, officially launched in January 2025 with a budget of about $3 million, was sold as Cincinnati’s “holistic” solution to violence. 

In practice, Act for Cincy is a social justice and social services strategy, not a law enforcement one. Instead of putting more cops on the beat, it put “Boots on the Ground,” a city program that funds 41 external organizations, dividing more than $830,000. Grants ranged from $10,000 for hip-hop dance lessons to $25,000 to address senior loneliness.

Lastly, Act for Cincy includes $1.68 million for the “Human Services Violence Prevention Fund,” which awarded grants to 23 external organizations. The grants range from $25,000 for “Mentoring Youth Minds” to $127,000 to provide “vital social services” to at-risk residents in one of the city’s “most socio-economically challenged neighborhoods,” which means nothing specific. 

… Pureval also failed to mention the $275,000 sole-source contract that was awarded to the California nonprofit, Advance Peace. According to the IRS, Advance Peace was granted its 501c3 status in 2020. The IRS website shows only an employer identification number, and no other information, financial or otherwise, is available.

In 2021, “Urban Transformations,” a platform for publishing scholarly research related to urban studies, reported that “Advance Peace is a program that aims to reduce urban gun violence using formerly incarcerated community members as street outreach mentors and violence interrupters.” In 2017, the “Sacramento Bee” reported that the organization is controversial because it has been accused of essentially paying program participants thousands of dollars in stipends not to commit a crime. 

Cincinnatians are still waiting for a report on whether Advance Peace has had any impact on youth violence. The fact that the mayor didn’t highlight any of the program’s successes during his radio appearance speaks for itself.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a community violent intervention approach, and targeting the most likely and prolific offenders makes sense. My problem with the Advance Peace model, as opposed to efforts like Operation Ceasefire, is the lack of any stick to go along with the carrots that are offered. There’s some evidence that offering individuals opportunities to turn their lives around can pay off, but that tactic works even better when those who don’t take advantage of those opportunities are then punished to the maximum extend allowed by law the next time they’re arrested and prosecuted.  

Seeing politicians blame “lax” gun laws for their inability to combat violent crime is nothing new, of course. We saw something similar play out last year in Alabama, where Montgomery Mayor Randall Woodfin blamed the state’s permitless carry law for a record-setting increase in homicides. 

Murders have plunged dramatically in Montgomery this year with no real change to Alabama gun laws, and Woodfin’s lost his biggest talking point. Hopefully the same will soon happen in Cincinnati, where the police chief is rolling out a number of public safety strategies that don”t involve scapegoating residents who are lawfully exercising their Second Amendment rights.