There were 93 shootings in Newport News in 2021, 30 of them fatal. There were also two school shootings in Newport News within a span of just a few months – a shooting at Heritage High School in Sept. 2021, and a fatal shooting outside of a Menchville High School basketball game in Dec. 2021. Gun violence is a major issue in our city, and our elected officials must take urgent and substantial action to protect our citizens and especially our young people from senseless gun violence.

Newport News City Council should significantly increase funding for gun violence prevention BEYOND the $300,000 that the Office of the Attorney General allocated to each of the cities Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Petersburg, and Roanoke for this purpose (https://www.nbc12.com/2022/01/16/six-cities-receive-300000-each-gun-violence-prevention-efforts/ This funding is an important step, but alone it is not adequate to address gun violence. Data supports the effectiveness of grassroots, community-based programs (https://everytownresearch.org/report/community-led-public-safety-strategies/?fbclid=IwAR3ZE3ukRruSU2uifcRHWkPGLN4W_3CEeA8vKot0eHoY2Bb4_kArckN7Tyc but unfortunately, the $300,000 funding would not necessarily go toward community-based gun violence prevention programs.

Newport News has received nearly $66.7M total in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, and the federal government has explicitly stated that this funding can be used for gun violence prevention (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0240). The Newport News city manager is currently proposing no additional ARPA dollars for gun violence prevention beyond the $300,000 already allocated to select Virginia cities. In contrast, the City of Richmond is spending an additional $1.5M of its ARPA funding on gun violence prevention (https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/how-richmond-leaders-plan-to-take-action-amid-spike-in-violent-crime and the City of Roanoke is spending an additional $2M of their ARPA funding on gun violence prevention (https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/roanoke-valley-news/roanokes-gun-violence-prevention-commission-to-hold-public-hearing-community-forum-at-berglund-center-tuesday/

Newport News should follow Richmond and Roanoke’s lead by allocating $1.5M-$2M in additional ARPA funding to address senseless gun violence, as those cities are doing. Our city leaders must step up to address senseless gun violence in our city.

Sadly, the City of Newport News has not solicited input from the community on how its $66.7M in ARPA funds should be spent. No public hearings were held about how to spend the ARPA funding, and ARPA funding has not appeared on a Council agenda since Oct. 26. Why is a vote on how to spend $66.7M in federal funds being rushed, without input from the community? There should be opportunities for public input before decisions are made about how to spend this massive amount of money for the city.