Survivors, activists join Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey for Downtown ceremony that calls to stem gun violence

It took Gina Pelusi’s mother, Ruthanne, a music teacher, at the front door of her home on Feb. 6, 2014.

On Aug. 5, 2008, it came for Vaughn Rivers’ brother, Anthony, on a Garfield Street after his basketball team had been crowned Connie Hawkins League champs.

In 1993, Geraldine Massey lost two sons to it, just two months apart.

Gun violence kills about 130 American every day — more than 48,000 people in 2022 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Firearms remain the most common cause of death for children and teens in the U.S.

“Gun violence is an epidemic — but hopelessness is also an epidemic,” Leon Ford said Wednesday.

Ford, a Larimer native, was paralyzed after Pittsburgh police officer David Derbish shot him during a 2012 traffic stop in Highland Park. Now a violence-prevention activist, Ford met with Derbish face-to-face two years ago.

“It was something I wanted to do,” Ford told TribLive. “You can’t talk about violence and reconciliation while harboring anger and hatred. You have to lead by example.”

Ford joined a crowd of about 100 survivors, family members of gun violence victims, and activists who filled the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh for a special ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Ed Gainey’s proclamation to mark Jan. 22 to 26 as National Gun Violence Survivors Week was the official reason for Wednesday’s ceremony. But, the hourlong event was driven by sometimes-emotional testimony from Pittsburghers whose lives have been shaped by gun violence.

Gainey, sometimes clutching the podium or shouting, became highly animated in his makeshift pulpit, closing the event with a raucous call to action.

“This community has said ‘Enough is enough,’” Gainey said. “Get up and let’s go get it!”

The ceremony started quietly with Pelusi, a member of Pittsburgh Moms Demand Action.

“I’m grateful to be here,” Pelusi said. “But, frankly, I’m very, very angry that we are.

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s when,” she added. “When will gun violence impact you?”

Nearly 60% percent of American adults — and 71% of Black Americans — or someone they love will experience gun violence in their lifetime, according to Gainey’s proclamation.

Massey, a therapist at the South Side-based Center for Victims, made the gun issue personal.

“Even though I lost two sons … I have 10 grandsons, (and) nobody but God can take two and give you 10,” Massey said. “Once you’ve lost a child, that hole never closes up.”

Pittsburgh Councilman Khari Mosley also related a personal account, recalling an Indiana University of Pennsylvania student pulling a gun on him after he broke up a fight.

“Three bullets whizzed past my head,” Mosley said. “I will never forget the sound of a bullet whizzing past my ear.

“This touches home in a real way.”

The public’s help requested

Speeches by Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt and Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto invited residents to help officials prevent gun-related crimes, instead of just responding to them.

Scirotto said these partnerships are working. Homicides in Pittsburgh plunged nearly 27% in 2023 — from 71 cases down to 52.

“I go to sleep every night thinking about how we reduce gun violence in this city,” Scirotto said. “I don’t think any neighborhood should get used to losing loved ones.”

Gainey invited mayors and council members from surrounding towns and cities to join him at the podium.

He then called for Congress to repeal a 2005 law, known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which he said shields gunmakers from lawsuits related to the criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.

“We can change the game, but it will take all of us,” he said.

Gainey also did something rare and publicly talked about his sister, Janese Talton-Jackson, who was fatally shot in Homewood on Jan. 22, 2016 by a man who followed her out of a bar.

“I had never seen someone put in a body bag before,” Gainey said. “It’s an image that don’t go away.”

Olga George, Gainey’s press secretary, offered comments between each speaker and echoed Ford’s refrain: “Gun violence is an epidemic.”

“When you hear stories such as these, I want you to understand that we are not here to re-live this violence,” George added at one point. “We’re here to put faces to gun violence.”