Activists and Allentown officials on Thursday called on Pennsylvania’s legislature to enact stricter gun control laws, and highlighted the need for community outreach to youth at risk of gun violence.
The calls to action came during a forum convened by Ceasefire PA, a statewide anti-gun violence organization, at Hayes Elementary School, in the wake of recent shootings in the city that left two teenagers dead.
The teens — identified by police as Ja’meer Roberts and Tymell Millan-Mason — were killed in separate incidents in Allentown just three weeks apart.
“When people hear the word ‘violence,’ they often think of statistics, crime reports or headlines. I think of faces, I think of families. I think of neighborhoods,” said Jose Rivera, community engagement coordinator for the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. “I think of choices that change lives forever. I’m standing here today as someone who experienced violence from both sides.”
State Rep. Ana Tiburcio urged her colleagues in the state legislature to support two bills that currently are up for consideration: One would impose stricter regulations on the sale of gun parts that allow people to assemble untraceable “ghost guns” without serial numbers; another would require safe storage of guns at home.
But in tandem with those laws — which currently do not have enough support from the Republican-controlled Senate to pass — local leaders should offer better programs, mental health support and engagement for young people in Allentown, activists said.
Braley Veras, Allentown’s violence prevention coordinator, speaks Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Allentown Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach speaks to attendees Thursday, July 16, 2026, of a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Andrene Brown-Nowell, founder and executive director of the Fine Feather Foundation, speaks about her experiences with gun violence Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. Brown-Nowell also is president of the Allentown School Board. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Attendees listen to panelists speak Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Jeani Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, speaks Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Panelists await the start of a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
State Rep. Michael Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, speaks Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
State Rep. Ana Tiburcio, D-Lehigh, speaks Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk speaks about what the city is doing to prevent gun violence Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
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Braley Veras, Allentown’s violence prevention coordinator, speaks Thursday, July 16, 2026, during a gun violence forum hosted by CeaseFirePA at Hays Elementary School in Allentown. Elected officials, community members and gun violence survivors discussed solutions for violence intervention and prevention in the city and throughout Pennsylvania. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
Adam Garber, executive director of Ceasefire PA, said that the state’s $62 million annual investment into violence intervention programs has helped save lives by funding community programs that stop gun violence before it even happens. Despite the recent local youth homicides, gun homicides statewide have fallen by 46.5% since 2022, according to a Ceasefire PA report.
“We need to recognize that that is both a fragile system that we have built, and that if we don’t continue those investments, we could lose lives,” Garber said. “The other piece is: We are still losing too many lives.”
Violence doesn’t occur in a vacuum, Promise Neighborhoods Executive Director Jeani Garcia said. Often, it is the result of other unmet needs in the perpetrators life. Garcia lost her 17-year-old son, Kareem Fedd, to gun violence in 2012, she told the audience.
Connecting families to resources like food banks, mental health counseling, conflict intervention specialists or after-school programs could help prevent young people from resorting to violence in the first place, she said. That needs to happen via collaboration between nonprofits, local governments and other health agencies.
“Every single person in this room has the same goal as we all do up here, and that is to keep our youth safe and our community safe,” Garcia said. “And a lot of the issue is, we think somebody else is handling this, they are handling that, and we’re all thinking the same thing, instead of coming together and coming up with these solutions from the youth.”
Passion for preventing gun violence spilled over into frustration for some of the members of the audience, who said that the city should do more to engage with residents of poor neighborhoods where violence is most common. Some pointed out that despite the panel’s purported focus on youth gun violence prevention, grown adults significantly outnumbered the amount of young people in the room.
“If you really want to have a conversation with the hood kids, you have got to get the hood people in here,” said community activist Milagros Canales. “The hood is not in here.”
She said that the kids in her neighborhood do not feel like city officials would listen to them. She called on more officials and police officers to come into center city neighborhoods and talk to residents about what they need.
Allentown police Chief Charles Roca asked for more members of the community to join or form neighborhood groups and attend the city’s monthly anti-gun violence strategy meetings and City Council meetings where leaders stand ready to hear what they have to say.
“We are a collaborative city,” Roca said. “I often talk about puzzles, and the police department is one piece of the puzzle. Each of you are responsible to be that other part. When we talk about providing for our youth, I also want to talk about parents. I also want to talk about the involvement of caretakers, in order to drive change at home.”
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.