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On Tuesday, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced his latest effort to address historic gun violence in the city with the formation of a 19-member advisory commission tasked with developing strategies to reduce homicides.
The initiative comes three weeks after a mass shooting in Birmingham’s Five Points South nightlife district injured 17 people and killed four. However, Woodfin stressed in his announcement that gun violence is not a new problem in the city.
“My sense of urgency and resolve has been clear since the first mass shooting this year, the quadruple homicide in February in Smithfield. I don’t think it was even an hour before the double homicide that included my little cousin. Six people, six people were killed that day who we don’t talk about anymore,” Woodfin said.
“Fast forward, and we had a triple homicide; there were 14 people shot, seven killed that day. My resolve, whether it’s one shooting, or the quadruple killing, or the 17 people shot and seven killed, including a five-year-old, I’m pissed about it. I’m angry about it,” the mayor continued. “So, my resolve is crystal clear, and it’s been crystal clear all year—to literally do everything we can to find out who did it and remove killers off our streets.”
2024 is on pace to becoming one of the most violent years in Birmingham’s modern history. The city has already seen 130 violent deaths this year, nearing 1933’s record 148 homicides.
Mayor Woodfin’s commission will include leaders from local government, business, law enforcement, and the Birmingham community. Ralph Williams Jr., vice president of Alabama Power’s Birmingham Division, and Lee Styslinger III, Co-chairman of Altec Inc., will co-chair the commission. Former Birmingham Police Chief and retired Lt. General A.C. Roper, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, chair of CrimeStoppers of Metro Alabama Frank Barefield, and the Hon. Shanta Owens of the 10th Judicial Circuit are among the other members on the commission.
Employing a group of community leaders to address violent crime in the city is not without precedent. A similar commission was created in Birmingham in the 1990s by then-Mayor Richard Arrington, which went on to effectively reduce violent crime. According to AL.com, the Woodfin commission will be privately funded, with additional resources provided by the Birmingham Police Foundation.
The mayor has also looked elsewhere in the country for guidance on how to address gun violence in Birmingham. In addition to the new commission, he has also proposed a program called “OneHood” modeled after the Newark Community Street Team program that reduced gun violence in the New Jersey city by 60 percent.
Additionally, Mayor Woodfin announced his intentions to expand the UAB Trauma unit’s violence intervention program and to partner with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform in developing a strategy to reduce gun violence. And earlier this year, his $15.8 million plan to recruit and retain officers for the understaffed Birmingham Police Department was approved by City Council.
Woodfin is not the only politician concerned about gun violence in the state. Multiple bills have been pre-filed for the state legislature’s 2025 session which seek to alter Alabama’s gun laws in an attempt to reduce violent crime.
In August, HB-26 was pre-filed by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery. The bill looks to ban trigger activator Glock switches, devices that turn semi-automatic handguns into automatic weapons, or machine guns. And earlier this month, Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, pre-filed HB-58, which would create a criminal penalty for individuals who fail to properly disclose their possession of a concealed firearm to law enforcement when asked. England previously proposed the bill in 2023 after the state legislature ended the permit requirement for the concealed carry of pistols.
Community groups have also been active in efforts to fight rising gun violence in Alabama, with Central Alabama Crimestoppers holding a gun buyback event in Montgomery in September to promote community safety.
As of 2024, Alabama has the fourth-highest gun death rate in the United States.
