PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Travelling down Interstate 95, Josh Horwitz took time from his regular day-to-day responsibilities at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to share gun violence prevention strategies with elected and community leaders in the city of Portsmouth.

Horwitz, co-director of the school's Center for Gun Violence Prevention, was requested to speak by Rev. Dr. Mark Hayes on behalf of the Virginia Center for Public Safety.

Recently, gun homicide rates increased from 2019 to 2022, but declined in 2023 when measured per 100,000 people.

According to Portsmouth's open portal on gun violence, there have been 101 total victims according to a year-to-date analysis, which is one more than the department saw over the same window of time in 2024.

However, there are 16 fewer deadly shooti

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