Buffalo City Councilwoman Proposes Gun Violence Prevention Office

Buffalo, New York (WBEN) – As gun violence continues to plague Buffalo’s streets, City Councilwoman Zeneta Everhart is seeking to establish a new city office that will connect violent families to a network of resources and target federal and state funding to local community organizations that educate and provide programs designed to end violence.

“We need to protect our community from daily shootings,” Masten District Councilwoman said outside City Hall Monday.

“Last weekend, five people were shot and injured. The week before, we lost a three-year-old. Two weeks before that, we lost a 14-year-old. On the Fourth of July, a holiday, my neighbors alerted me that someone was walking down my street with a gun. We need a Gun Violence Prevention and Response Office in the City of Buffalo. It’s time. I’m exhausted, tired of hearing people talk about gun violence. Our community deserves better, and it has to start with government.”

With Councilwoman Zaire Goodman’s son shot and wounded in the racially motivated Tops mass shooting on May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, the councilwoman has worked regularly with federal elected officials and the White House. In September 2023, the White House created its first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention, similar to what the councilwoman is proposing for a new office at City Hall.

“There will be people working on gun violence issues, but they will be there to support these community organizations, making sure they have access to the different types of training that people need in the community,” Everhart says.

“There will also be programs. We need community gun violence programs, we need to have these conversations in our neighborhoods, in our communities. They will also be responsible for writing grants. There are millions and millions of dollars right now available to organizations that can help, money to help them prevent gun violence in their neighborhoods and in their communities. We need someone to write those grants to get those federal dollars.”

For a new position to be created, the councilwoman will need to pass a resolution at City Council. Council President Chris Scanlon, Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope and Fillmore District Councilor Mitch Nowakowski were all on hand for her announcement Monday to show their support for the new position.

“She has my 100 percent support in this endeavor, and I’m willing to commit and do whatever I need to do to make this a reality,” Councilor Scanlon said.