By Sidney Spencer, CBS 42
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–Surrounded by 145 firearms taken off the street by Birmingham police, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin spoke out against gun violence in a 30-minute-long video Tuesday.
Woodfin said the city is seeing the worst of the gun violence epidemic.
“I care about decreasing gun violence in our city. I care about decreasing crime. I care about saving lives, but it’s going to take more than one man,” said Mayor Woodfin. “We’re coming up on an unfortunate milestone this year in 2024 of having homicides at a rate not seen since 1933.”
Mayor Woodfin started the video off reflecting on his own experiencing with gun violence, losing a brother and witnessing his sister shot a young age, as well as losing two cousins and a classmate this year alone.
“Each of these guns you see took somebody’s life,” said Woodfin. “These are victims who will not get a chance to see their family members on Thanksgiving.”
With help from Birmingham Police Officer Skinner, a demonstration was shown in the video of how the firearms were often used.
According to Officer Skinner, most were bought from pawn shops or across the state line in Georgia and sold to criminals on the street.
Mayor Woodfin said he is calling on both state and country legislatures, as well as the community to make a change.
“This is a solvable problem in our city. This is a solvable problem in our state. This is a solvable problem in our country, but it’s going to take all of us,” said Mayor Woodfin.
Mayor Woodfin said the city will continue to use tax dollars to make conflict resolution resources available to youth in the community and recruit officers as the department faces a shortage.
