Columbus has been named among the top largest U.S. cities that saw the strongest decline in gun victimizations, according to an April report from the Center of American Progress.
Columbus came in at #5 in a ranking of large cities that saw strong decreases in gun victimizations between 2021 and 2025, according to the CAP’s April 7 report. The top four cities that ranked ahead of Columbus are all in California: San Jose, Bakersfield, Fresno, and San Diego.
“One act of gun violence is too many, but our commitment to our comprehensive community safety strategy and community engagement are yielding measurable and meaningful progress,” Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a statement along with the report. “We will continue to focus on sustaining reductions, expanding prevention and earning the affirmation we’ve received in this national report.”
The report notes that Columbus saw a “particularly strong decline” in gun violence, with gun victimizations decreasing by more than 63% between 2021 and 2025, and more than 56% since the city established the Office of Violence Prevention in 2023, according to the report.
“We are super honored to have the [Office of Violence Prevention] highlighted,” Rena Shak, the director of the OVP, told The Dispatch April 15.
Shak said that in many ways, Columbus is similar to the rest of the major cities listed in the report in that they address gun violence with a holistic approach of providing violence intervention services, collaborating with police departments that use advanced technology to address crime, and an ecosystem to address violence.
The ultimate goal, Shak said, is to bring gun violence victimizations in Columbus down to zero.
“The goal is to work [myself] out of a job,” she said.
The decline in gun violence in Columbus mirrors trends across the country, according to the CAP report. Authors of the report stated that some of the factors behind the overall decline include interventions by cities at the local level, both Congress and state governments improving gun laws while making “historic” investments in community programs. The report also touted work from the Biden administration to crack down on gun crimes and firearms trafficking, while prosecuting firearms dealers.
Columbus still seeing historic low homicides
Columbus is also still seeing a decline in the number of homicides. According to police data, the city peaked at 205 homicides in 2021. Since then, there have been steady declines. In 2025, the city set a record by finishing out the year with less than 100 homicides – a feat that hadn’t been achieved since 2015.
Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, a Columbus-based advocacy group, launched the milestone as part of its “Operation Under Triple Digits” campaign.
MOMCC also credited Columbus police and the division’s Nonfatal Shooting Team as well as the Homicide Unit for their team effort approach to solving both shootings and killings.
As of April 15, Columbus has recorded 13 homicides, according to city police data. More than half or eight of those homicides have been shootings, according to the data. Four of them were from stabbings, and the cause of one killing is labeled as “unknown.”
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus ranks among major cities with historic gun violence drops
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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