Kelly Cameron is one of the founders of the Columbus Chapter of “One Million Moms For Gun Control,” a national group supporting restrictions on gun ownership. Cameron says for her, the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month were “a wake-up call.”

She says members have posted e-mail addresses and phone numbers for politicians in Ohio on the group’s Facebook page.

Cameron says “One Million Moms For Gun Control” is planning a march on Washington on January 26th. And she says the group plans a rally on the New York City Hall steps to reinforce non-violence next Monday, Martin Luther King Day.

The Columbus chapter plans a rally in February to show support for what they call common sense gun laws.

Click here to hear from Central Ohio gun owners who are concerned the President’s actions are eroding their Second Amendment rights.

School administrator say a routine request to use a school gymnasium just got out of hand. The district, as it often does, lent the space to the North Central Ohio Tea Party, which invited Usama Dakdok, a controversial author and public speaker who preaches against radical Islam and tries to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Mansfield City Schools superintendant Dan Freund says he canceled the event after hearing some demonstrators were planning a protest outside the school.

“My goal as a superintendant is to protect students and to provide a safe environment. We have students in the building into the evening hours and not too many staff there,” Freund says.

But the ACLU says those perceived threats were too vague. The executive director of the ALCU’s Ohio office, Chris Link, says the district should have let Dakdok speak.

“The duty of the government – law enforcement and school officials – is not to suppress the speaker, but to keep the speak safe if indeed there are threats of violence,” Link says.

The North Central Ohio Tea Party did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but on a voicemail greeting says it will reschedule the event.

21 year old Rachel Barezinsky slowly places chips inside the Connect 4 game. She manages to hold the chip with her left hand even though it was severely damaged from the shooting. When she was 17 Barezinsky was shot in the back of her head on the right side and the bullet crossed her brain and lodged in the left frontal lobe.

“My greatest deficit would be my lack of short term memory because that part of the brain was also injured. But I’ve graduated from speech therapy which focused on teaching me memory strategies to help compensate for that,” said Barezinsky.

Five years ago a Worthington man fired shots at Barezinsky and her friends who were in a car near his property. He thought Rachel and her friends were trespassing and is serving 19 years behind bars. For Barezinsky it has been a long road in recovery from learning how to walk and talk again. Rachel first used a wheelchair when she left the hospital. She also had to wear a helmet during her senior year in high school. Doctors had to replace part of the right side of her skull with cranioplasty due to the extensive bullet damage. Chairman and Professor of Neurosurgery at OSU Medical Center Dr. Ennio Chiocca was one of Barezinsky’s physicians.

“We can only do so much as physicians and doctors and sometimes there’s an element of chance and luck and in this case the bullet crossed from side to side, but interesting enough did not hit any of the critical brain structures. If it had been off one millimeter this may have turned out to be a much worse event, explained Chiocca.

National statistics show that only 5 percent of people who sustain such gunshot wounds survive.

Barezinsky’ father Greg says a nurse at the hospital called Rachel a miracle.

“And she said you’ve got to understand Greg, Rachel’s a miracle and we don’t see miracles like this all the time and we need to see this,” said Barezinsky.

He says the recent shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who also has shown signs of recovery, brought back many unpleasant memories of the day his daughter was shot.

“I know what they’re going through, it’s devastating. You don’t know the future and the doctors can’t tell you the future. Every brain injury is different and when it’s a gunshot wound they just don’t know,” said Barezinsky.

Barezinsky wants her story to be an inspiration to Giffords.

“I thought wow, I need to reach out and help her and her family like so many reached out to me and my family when I was first injured,” explained Barezinsky.

Volunteers redesigned the first floor powder room in her father and stepmother’s home into a full bathroom that is wheel-chair accessible. And the dining room was converted into Rachel’s bedroom. Rachel’s mother also moved into a one story house to make it easier for her daughter to maneuver.

Since last October, Rachel works as a clerk four days a week at a dentist’s office. She also volunteers on Friday at her alma mater Thomas Worthington High School where she graduated with her class in 2007. “I like the fact that it allows me to be independent there. Because for the longest time especially when I was first injured I had an aide,” said Barezinsky. She hopes one day to make more of her dreams come true.

“After high school I always wanted to go to college to become a teacher an elementary school teacher and I always wanted to have a family of my own one day. I still would like to have a family of my own one day and I would like to go to college,” added Barezinsky.

Rachel says she is interested in becoming a motivational speaker.

As she exercises on her treadmill, Rachel Barezinsky will keep working toward making her dreams reality, one step at a time.

At Black Wing Shooting Center near Delaware, gun owners target-practice at the store’s indoor firing range. The floor is littered with empty shell casings as men fire round after round at paper targets.

Black Wing Shooting Center has a huge inventory of guns. But according to the store’s retail sales manager, Ron Messick, there has not been a spike in sales.

“We haven’t seen any increases in sales at all, I mean regular sales are going, we sell guns every day but we haven’t seen any crazy increase,” Messick says. “But it could happen anytime soon, the way the media throws out all the terror out there that always breeds sales.”

Several other central Ohio gun dealers said they had not experienced increased sales either. So what accounts for the reported 65 percent increase? Toby Hoover heads the group Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

“We immediately tried to track it down,” Hoover says. “From what we can tell there may have been a small inquiry done through the FBI by maybe one media outlet. Looks like it was maybe focused on Arizona. We can’t really tell.”

Hoover says that, so far, her group has been unsuccessful in finding the source of the statistic.

“We don’t know where this information came from,” Hoover says. “We were equally alarmed at this 65 percent supposedly in Ohio but we think that maybe it’s just something that people have exaggerated; we don’t know. Nobody can seem to find where the source is.”

The news article says the FBI is the source of the information. But Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman in Washington says the Bureau does not release such date-specific numbers. Rather the figures it releases are year-by-year comparisons. Still an officer in the Buckeye Firearms Association believes that stockpiling does occur when people become fearful that their guns will be taken away. Linda Walker is the group’s Central Ohio Chair.

“With the devastating massacre in Arizona, especially with the political climate that we’ve got right now people get real concerned about their 2nd Amendment rights,” Walker says. “So generally that’s when you see people going out and quickly purchasing whatever they feel could be potentially legislated against.”

Even though the reported spike in gun sales has not been corroborated, Linda Walker says it is feasible that gun purchases have actually increased. Toby Hoover of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence has a different take.

“It always concerns us when people are reacting in fear and running out to buy more guns because we don’t believe that guns are the answer to any of this,” Hoover says.

The availability of large capacity magazines – those are the clips that hold extra rounds of ammunition – are now a concern. That’s because the Arizona shooter had a clip that held more than 30 bullets for his nine millimeter handgun. Toby Hoover says such high capacity magazines should not be allowed.

“Nobody should be going around with the capability of shooting 20 people in a half a minute,” Hoover says. “To have a magazine that has that many rounds in it is totally uncalled for and I think the far majority of people in America agree with that.”

Ron Messick at Black Wing Shooting Center says there has been a slight increase in interest for the high capacity magazines.

“We’ve sold a couple of extra ones; you know we’ve had people calling. As far as magazines flying out of here and us not being able to get a hold of them, I don’t see that happening,” Messick says.

FBI statistics for the week after the Arizona shootings won’t be available until 2012.

So far this year there have been 77 murders. That’s up from 55 at this time last year. A rash of teen killings over the summer led Columbus police to start new measures like community response teams. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman announced today a new program he believes can be effective in getting illegal weapons off the street. It’s called Gun Stoppers.

“We will reward up to $1 thousand dollars for a tip that leads to an arrest and the recovery of a gun. We have to take these illegal guns off the streets,” said Coleman.

All calls will be anonymous. Coleman adds other efforts will be extended like the Community response teams. An additional 30 officers will be assigned year round to patrol high risk communities. Coleman says more community input can lead to more arrests. He says 60 percent of homicides have been solved this year.

North side resident Thealeta Jackson is becoming more concerned about teen violence.

“The less you see the police officers the more that goes on behind the scene,” said Jackson.

She says she has not seen as many police patrols since July when police redistricting took effect. Jackson who lives in the Linden area says the sounds of gunfire happen often on her street.

“It’s not uncommon to hear people shooting guns off. You just get to a place that you know you can put as many walls between you and where you hear the gunfire. I don’t run outside to see who’s firing the gun. I make sure I’m putting myself in a safe place,” explained Jackson.

An increase in teen violence this summer has left 5 teens dead since June. So far this year, 20 young people ages 20 and under have been killed. Columbus Police Sgt. Dean Worthington explains police patrols have not been reduced.

“We’re still maintaining our patrol levels that we’ve had in the past. You know her perception may be that there’s less crews out there but we haven’t reduced the number of cruisers that are in patrol,” said Worthington.

Worthington adds community response teams have been added to use bike patrols that target hot spots where crime occurs.

“It’s just that we can’t saturate the city with these teams all at once. Because what we want to do is focus on an area, go into that area, have a large police presence and then move on to the next hot spot area,” Worthington said. Worthington would not say how many bike patrols there are. A gun violence reduction team is also focusing on getting guns out of the hands of teenagers. That program started in the early part of this summer. Sgt. Worthington however, would not reveal the number of weapons taken off the streets since the program is ongoing. Pastor of Kingdom Life Church at the corner of Fifth and Cleveland Avenues, Mary Ellen Crutcher, supports police efforts to stop the violence. She blames a down economy and desperation for the bad choices teens make. “People need hope and people need to really know the love of God. They really need to know the love of community. They really need to know that there are people that genuinely care about them. And that there are ways they can be helped if they would open themselves up to the help,” explained Crutcher.

Crutcher is skeptical tougher gun laws would help since teens are currently not allowed to carry guns. Crutcher’s church has reached out to various community groups and other churches to find solutions on reaching troubled teens and give them hope for the future before they turn to violence.

Two teenagers hid inside of a church on the city’s southeast side after a shooting involving another teenager. 16 year old Darrick Dawson and 17 year old Jayme Eugene-Jamar Prince are charged with the murder of 16 year old Katrel Parker. In another incident, 16 year old Malcolm Brown faces charges for allegedly shooting and killing a man on the North side earlier this month. Teen violence appears to be spreading through Columbus streets. Mayor Michael Coleman is frustrated that young people are in the crossfire.

“You don’t need an AK 47 to shoot deer and the corner of Broad and High in Columbus,” stressed Coleman.

Coleman says that attempts made to curb the number of guns on city streets get shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court and by some Ohio lawmakers.

“Far too many guns are being made available. We’re a gun state. We allow concealed weapons by law. We allow the proliferation of guns in all of our communities,” explained Coleman.

City Councilwoman Priscilla Tyson says city leaders are fighting back as much as they can.

“Young people have access to weapons and they’re using those weapons and unfortunately we’ve tried a lot through the city. The mayor in the past, we’ve brought weapons in, we’ve had strike patrols, we’ve done many many things to try to remove them. But, as we’re constantly trying to do our work, there’s another element out there that is also doing their work and putting those guns on the street,” Tyson said.

Mayor Coleman says recent undercover police operations have been helpful in getting many weapons off the streets, but the battle continues. He also is working to encourage other Ohio mayors to join the Mayors Against guns effort to push for what Coleman says are common sense gun laws.

The measure targets situations where teens are being stalked or threatened by other teens. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen files this report.

Coalition founder Abigail Wexner says too many perpetrators of domestic violence escape justice. She says one of every four women in the U-S is physically abused at some point in their lives. So, the coalition developed what it calls a web-based response and instruction guide. Its designed to help police officers when they arrive on the scene of a domestic dispute.

“More effective work has to be done there in terms of making it easier for the victim to come forward and getting the prosecutions we need.” Says Wexner.

Columbus Deputy Police Chief John Rockwell demonstrated the software. The response guide can be brought up on a police cruiser’s computer monitor when he or she arrives on the scene of a domestic dispute.

“This kind of talks to them about, can I enhance this to a felony. Is there something that qualifies. Can this person carry a gun because they have a domestic violence conviction? Is this a protection order I can enforce or is it one I can’t enforce is it like a stay-away order? Virtually anything that’s out there that they have a question about is answered.” Says Rockwell.

Rockwell says the new electronic guide will also help in training. New recruits get three days of training on how to respond to domestic violence. But, Rockwell says this guide will help keep veteran officers current on practices and legal precedents.

“Where we have a concern is when you get to the in-service level, you know ten years, twenty years later are you getting quality training. And we don’t always have the time to bring them off the street for eight hours of training. Says Rockwell

Abigail Wexner founded the coalition against family violence in 1998. She says the Interactive guide will likely be expanded to business and health care communities.

“I think this is kind of breakthrough moment for us in terms of creating these types of tools because we’re already thinking about all the various applications it can have in terms of being more accessible, adapting it to other environments so businesses and the health care community and others. But focusing on the legal system first was just a priority.” Says Wexner.

Wexner says she hopes the new guide will be used by other police departments around the country.

Tom Borgerding WOSU News

Blackwell says those who immigrate to America at 17, 18, and 19 years old are just as much at risk as those who were born here or come here at a very young age. Blackwell says Somali youths join gangs for the same reasons as other young men.

“Obviously peer pressure is probably the first factor: the need to fit in, the need to belong, the need to be accepted. And quite frankly, in some of these neighborhoods, it’s very dangerous and unsafe, so they join gangs for safety, for protection. But then they also join gangs also as a means to make money,” says Blackwell.

Blackwell says that – while there are exclusively Somali gangs in Columbus – some Westernized Somali youths are joining more common street gangs, like the Bloods and the Crips. Blackwell says the Somali gang members have been involved in felony crimes such as drug dealing, weapons offenses, and robbery. He characterizes a lot of the crimes as common street violence.

“Home invasions, street robberies, street assaults, things like that. A lot of it is to just get credibility, but a lot of it now is to actually gain income. They’re becoming organized in an effort to make money,” says Blackwell.

Somali community leaders in Columbus admit gang violence IS on the rise, but they’re trying to reverse the trend.

At this classroom in the Somali Community Association of Ohio on Cleveland Avenue, seven students – six women and one young man – are learning English as a Second Language, or ESL.

The class is part of a program called the Somali Youth Venture. It’s geared to young people ages 16 to 21 who often have had little or no formal education. The Venture provides courses in E-S-L, mathematics, and computer science. The classes are free, and the goal of the program is help students pass the high school equivalency test.

Somali Community Association of Ohio President Hassan Omar created the program. Hassan says he knows gang violence is on the rise in the Somali community. He wants to create his own brand of peer pressure to encourage youths to educate and improve themselves.

“When we get a large number of kids who are out of school and become involved gang activity in the neighborhood, we tried to get a program that helps them, that educates them, and make their life better,” says Hassan.

One of the students in the class, 17-year-old Liban Ahmed, has only been in the United States for a year and a half. He’s one of many older Somali teenagers who spent time in refugee camps where there was little or no access to education. Ahmed says his English improved dramatically since he came to the US.

“The first time I came in America, I wasn’t speaking English. So I was zero at that time. Right now, I’m feeling good right now,” says Ahmed.

Ahmed says he’s taking advantage of the program because he wants to go on to Columbus State.

Other members of the Somali Community are stepping up to help as well. Abdulkadir Ali is the Chairman of the Somali-American Chamber of Commerce, based in Columbus. Ali founded a new organization called New Hope to help deal with the growing problem of gang violence – although the organization is still looking for funding. Ali says he wants to direct troubled youths towards something positive:

“A better life than just going gang-style. Whatever they’re doing now, it’s not actually something beneficial to our own communities, or their own families,” says Ali.

Columbus Police estimate 50 to 100 Somali youths are involved in gang violence.