CINCINNATI — Across the Buckeye State, teens are dying from gun violence at alarming rates, which is why an Ohio man is taking action to help prevent the senseless deaths.

The guns may not be real in the course, but what Teon Harris learned could be a real lifesaver. The eighth-grade student is one of a dozen middle school students at the Dance, Art, Music and Physical Education Community School in Cincinnati who paticipated in Real Truth's gun safety program led by Rufus Johnson.

“With Officer Rufus controlling and going around to different schools and stuff and doing a gun safety class, he’s teaching you how to control a weapon, how to be safe around a weapon and how to report a weapon if it’s lost,” said Harris. 

Controlling firearms and how to store and use them are just some of the things students learn in the 10-week class.

Harris said the program was important to him, because he’s been a first-hand witness to people losing their life to gun violence.

“It’s always good for someone to take a class, knowing that I’m a young kid that’s born and raised in a hood where people die every day,” he said.

According to 2021 data from the Cincinnati Police Department, 20 victims, aged 19 years and younger, lost their lives to gun violence in Cincinnati as of Dec. 9.

“If they have a sense of education, that could become a prevention measure and a deterrent to help cut down a lot of the gun violence that’s happening in the Black community,” said Johnson.

After 10 weeks of hands-on classes, Harris graduated the gun safety program. He said he feels more confident and ready to tackle the gun violence issue in his community.

“It makes me feel like I overcame something," said Harris. 

Johnson will be offering more gun safety courses to elementary and high school students at the beginning of next year.

For more information visit the Real Truth Facebook page.