Brian Higgins: “The Buffalo-Niagara region faces a serious and tragic rise in gun violence, as does the entire country. It has…”

“The Buffalo-Niagara region faces a serious and tragic rise in gun violence, as does the entire country. It has devastated neighborhoods and torn families apart. Crime data released this week confirms that this is a local problem and a national problem as well. In 2020, the number of murders in our country spiked by 30 percent, a record increase. This year, the Department of Justice created the Violence Prevention and Elimination Response Task Force, called VIPER. Its aim is getting illegal guns off our streets and stopping violent criminals. VIPER has been remarkably successful at stemming gun violence and saving lives. Buffalo has seen a 50 percent decrease in homicides since the program started. Each person lost to gun violence is another human denied a lifetime of opportunity and a family left behind. VIPER is continuing through October, but the Department of Justice needs to make this a permanent program to stop gun violence in Buffalo and throughout the Nation. ____________________”