Akron City Council unanimously passed a Monday night condemning the mass shooting in Buffalo over the weekend in which 10 people were killed.
The resolution, sponsored by Mayor Dan Horrigan and Council Vice President Jeff Fusco, called the shooting a white supremacist terrorist attack and expressed condolences.
During council's regular meeting Monday night, council members called on state and federal lawmakers to pass tighter gun laws.
鈥淲henever it comes to something being done, reasonably, in terms of gun control, nothing鈥檚 done. There鈥檚 no courage in the statehouse or at the federal level,鈥� Fusco said. 鈥淪omething reasonable, that can maybe save some lives 鈥� it鈥檚 just not done.鈥�
The document will be sent to Gov. Mike DeWine and Akron's elected officials in the state and federal legislatures to show the city's support for gun restrictions, according to the resolution.
Ward 4 Councilman Russ Neal added that more work needs to be done to prevent what he calls senseless gun violence at the local level in Akron. He called on council members to come up with a plan to address gun violence going into the summer.
鈥淩ight here in the city, we have [American Rescue Plan Act] dollars that have come in, and we have gun violence every week,鈥� Neal said. 鈥淚n the past week, I鈥檝e had a young man shot and killed in my ward; two other folks shot on the street. We鈥檝e been talking about gun violence down here for the longest, but we do not have a collective plan.鈥�
Neal, who represents Akron鈥檚 west side, said crime increases during the summer when kids are out of school. He wants council to use ARPA funds to support community organizations that provide enrichment activities for youth.
鈥淲e can be proactive by providing opportunities for our youth so that they don鈥檛 get caught up in it,鈥� Neal said.
Council President Margo Sommerville, who represents Ward 3, wants council members to meet with the city鈥檚 violence prevention coordinator, who is tasked with developing a strategy to address gun violence particularly with the city鈥檚 youth.
鈥淲hat we are going to do 鈥� is to have him come, so this body can be intentional in terms of working and supporting him and the work that he is working hard to do,鈥� Sommerville said.
At-Large Councilwoman Linda Omobien said council also needs to focus on condemning and preventing hate speech and racism. Authorities in Buffalo have said the 18-year-old shooter was motivated by racial hatred.
鈥淚t鈥檚 true that we need to do something about the guns, because there鈥檚 still too many on the streets, and no one needs the kind of gun that child had, but when we talk about an 18-year-old kid who had the audacity to go to another community 200 miles away from his neighborhood to do something like this, there鈥檚 something wrong with a picture like that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e all have to take responsibility to make sure this doesn鈥檛 happen in our respective communities.鈥�
