Hampton Roads leaders address gun violence with ideas to reduce it, including legislation, programs and more funding

HAMPTON — Financial support for violence interruption groups, mentorship programs, and a focus on root causes of violence are among the solutions local leaders said they’ve used to reduce gun violence in Hampton Roads.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner met with local elected officials, first responders and activists at a community center Friday to discuss solutions to the deadly problem, which he called “a cancer.” He noted 76 homicides in the region so far in 2024. The region reported 205 killings last year — 189 of them by gun .

Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell said a few years ago, the city’s crime rate was “pretty high” and that the city developed a strategic plan to reduce gun violence by addressing root causes.

“We first discovered that the crime that was taking place, for the most part, were committed by a limited number of actors,” Bell said. “And the crime took place in pockets within our city. And as a result of that, we addressed the root issues that created criminality, such as poverty, such as things that go on in the home, the type of issues that are not spoken of.”

He said if these root causes are “not addressed in the home,” violence will erupt “in the streets.”

Bell said Hampton has seen a 71% decrease in homicides over the past year and that shootings have gone down 56% over the last five years.

Latiesha Handie, the executive director for Hampton’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Opportunities, shared the success of the city’s Hopeful Hampton initiative — which aims to reduce gun violence among teens and young adults by pairing them with mentors. She spoke of one young man, a former gang member who managed to turn his life around after he received help in unaddressed trauma, conflict resolution and mental health support.

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Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones said the city has invested about $5 million in 36 violence-interrupting organizations over the past three years. Jones said his goal is to reduce gun violence by 15% annually. To accomplish that, the city will continue to invest in programs and individuals “doing the work” to prevent gun violence and soon launch a new office whose main purpose is to prevent gun violence.

Various speakers highlighted the need for sustained financial commitment toward gun violence prevention groups and nonprofits, stricter gun control laws, mental health resources, and investments in youth and local nonprofits.

Warner used the roundtable as an opportunity to highlight his Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence , which would enact several of Virginia’s gun safety laws at the federal level. He also condemned political violence following last week’s assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

“This is the worst failure from Secret Service, probably since the attempted assassination of President Reagan,” Warner said after the roundtable.

Warner said the situation “may again be a case of someone having access to a weapon of war that had mental health issues.”

Warner, who has supported the banning of assault weapons, also said that if the shooter “had a knife instead of an AR-15,” the near-assassination “wouldn’t have happened.”

“How much more of this kind of violence do we have to see before we say ‘This doesn’t happen in other nations, and it shouldn’t in America,’” Warner said.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com