Dayton Branch NAACP wants to rejuvenate gun buyback program as answer to violence

DAYTON — The Dayton Branch NAACP is rejuvenating a gun buyback program as residents, politicians and organizations continue searching for answers to the two-week stretch of deadly gun violence in the city.

Unit President Derrick Foward says the program will send the right message and be a part of the solution.

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“What I know is you got to start somewhere,” Foward told News Center 7 on Thursday, visibly upset that too many people, especially young people, are being injured and killed.

Everyone working the issue rejects silence as an answer.

“If you don’t start somewhere, you’re set up for failure,” he said.

Foward, the local branch NAACP and community leaders are among those who have grown tired of incidents such as the drive-by shooting at a pop-up party that left a 22-year-old mother and an 18-year-old man dead, as well as seven others injured.

Are people are on board about the return of a gun buyback program?

“A lot of people like to protect themselves and like to have that own power in their own hands,” said one, Marquise, who noted that more people than ever are exercising their second amendment rights in 2024.

“They gave people the free will to carry, you know what I’m saying, so now it’s just, I guess we’re dealing with the repercussions of it,” he said.

The Dayton Police Department offered this reaction to the idea of bringing back a gun buyback program: “An evaluation of whether this strategy is effective in reducing gun violence in the short/long term. Any decision regarding such a program would come from the City of Dayton.”

The local NAACP plans to ask the city and Montgomery County to support the program it believes can work on two levels -- removing firearms and, the Rev. David Fox, Dayton Branch NAACP criminal justice chairman said, “change the attitude and perception of citizens that black lives do matter.”

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Budgetary issues need to be worked out before a gun buyback program could be put into action, Foward and NAACP officials said, emphasizing that such a program is not the only potential answer local people, organizations and politicians are pursuing to reduce gun violence.

As News Center 7′s Mike Campbell reported last week, The Young Scholars program is working with young people, from pre-k through fifth grade, about finding ways to lean into putting out positive messaging to dissuade people from engaging in gun violence.

Also Thursday, Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr., in a statement about the city’s involvement in trying to turn the tide of gun violence, said, “It’s beyond evident that guns are flowing freely throughout our state and ending up in the wrong hands, juveniles included.

“We are reviewing multiple approaches to reduce gun violence in this community,” the mayor said. “While a gun buyback program is not off the table, we have to work with our police department to make sure this is an effective use of our limited resources.”

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