‘It’s going to take all of us’: Survivors, officials convene for gun violence summit

It was a packed room of those impacted directly by gun violence.

“I tell the world, you are not going to end gun violence if you don’t include the survivors,” said Cathy Welsh.

Welsh is one of those survivors having lost her teenage son in 2017. She watched and listened as the people with boots on the ground told federal officials about the work happening in our region that cut gun violence by 44% in the last two years.

“I don’t know if all of us have sat in a room together, and I think really respecting that it’s going to take all of us and then some to end gun violence,” Welsh said.

It comes as federal leaders are tracking 400 million guns across the country and dedicating billions of dollars to communities. It’s something our law enforcement is dedicating resources to as it tries to get back to community policing.

“We are never satisfied because one is too many, our state of affairs and our focus is zero. We are working tirelessly to get there. We do recognize the in roads and impact we have made up to this point,” said Chief Larry Scirotto with Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.

That work comes on the heels of one of the highest years of homicides for the city in 2022. But last year, as the murder rate dropped, the closure rate went up as the department closed 76% of its homicides.

“That gave me a glimmer of hope as well because if they have cultivated something in the city, how can we as the city and county come together to be looked at as Allegheny County without these barriers and learn from each other,” Welsh said.

With the funding secured to tackle this epidemic, the takeaway for survivors and leaders is the continuous need for collaboration.

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