Do alcohol and crime go hand in hand? Two organizations believe they can. Enough is Enough and Project Extra Mile are working together to reduce violence by reducing the number stores selling alcohol.

"It's ridiculous how many outlets are in North Omaha," said Pastor John Voner, president of Enough is Enough. "And I'm not talking about restaurants. I'm talking about little shops that sell alcohol. And some have been known to sell alcohol to minors and so forth and are breeding grounds for violence."

But Voner and Project Extra Mile say they aren't getting much help from the state liquor commission. They point to the BP gas station at 30th and Read Streets where one of the clerks was shot to death last December.

But last week, despite city and local opposition, the commission approved the liquor license for that business.

"It almost feels like the vote was made before one word of testimony was given," said Darryl Hutton with he Gifford Park Neighborhood Association. "And so we do really consider that the system itself is broken in it's current state."

So Project Extra Mile and Enough is Enough want to use local zoning laws to reduce the number of neighborhood alcohol outlets.

"The law is very clear in Nebraska," says Diane Riibe with Project Extra Mile. "If a local municipality has a local zoning ordinance, that business, regardless of the business, has to adhere to the zoning ordinance before they can be granted a liquor license."

So the two groups plan to present the city council with a proposed ordinance that would allow local neighborhoods to set zoning standards and help weed out problem businesses that sell alcohol.

Voner says, "It's a sad thing that's happening in our community. It even brings down the economic level of where we can be as a community. And we're hoping and choosing to believe that we can change some of those things."

The proposed zoning ordinance is still being developed.

Project Extra Mile and Enough is Enough will host a rally at 10 a.m. October 2nd at Memorial Park to campaign for the changes in zoning laws.