Mayor Fahey and other city officials say gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in Omaha. Fahey made the comments Friday during a legislative committee hearing to address the ongoing shootings.

Fahey said shootings in Omaha are making residents fearful and threatening the appeal of the city. He pointed to an April incident in which an Omaha eighth-grader was struck by a stray bullet during a soccer game.

Fahey said police officers seized 876 illegal guns last year and have taken 531 more off Omaha streets so far this year.

Members of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee want to draw on all assets of the community and Friday were taking suggestions. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford was behind the City Hall meeting, attended by about 75 people. He hopes to have a plan in place when the Unicameral convenes in January.

Sen. Ernie Chambers argued before we can stop gun violence, we have to get to the root of the problem, find out who is supplying guns to children. “I don't think enough is being done by law enforcement to track down the sources of the guns that wind up in the hands of young boys in my community."

Chambers suggested that billionaire Warren Buffett and other wealthy people living in Omaha should help fund programs to reduce gun violence in the city. Chambers said the city is home to some of the wealthiest Americans, yet has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country. He said the city needs to use its billionaires to its advantage, noting that none was in attendance Friday.

Omaha City Councilman Jim Suttle said he's been in talks with the city's richest residents to find solutions to the problems in the community.

Many agree getting guns off the street is crucial, but they also say there is another problem, the lack of jobs. Some say to stop the gun violence we need to focus on revitalizing businesses.

Twenty-fourth and Lake is the heart of the North Omaha neighborhood. There aren’t any big businesses around there and many will tell you that's the root of the problem with violence in this community.

Gunfire happens almost every night followed by flashing red lights and if it’s really bad, yellow crime scene tape will follow. Boarded up homes, empty lots and no business, which means no jobs.

"The number one issue in our community is jobs,” said community leader Ben Gray.

"People need hope, they need something to live for,” said Omaha City Councilman Frank Brown. “Without jobs their existence is what in the community? I don’t do anything, I've got so much idle time on my hands, what am I gonna do?"

A strip mall was designed to bring jobs to the north side, but after years of looking for tenants a deal was made with a scientific instrument design company taking up nine retail bays and bringing a few jobs to the area.

"It’s a failure, it's a complete failure, it should have been retail," said Brown. So government helps and once again the neighborhood is taken advantage of.”

That's bad news for Randy Nunn and Garry Kern. Kern is a case manager and he's helping Nunn find a job where jobs are few. "It’s gonna take awhile, all the jobs is really out west, out here there really ain’t no jobs," said Nunn.

No business, no jobs, just young people with time on their hands. "I think an idle mind has a lot to do with it,” said Kern. “You get these youth that sit around here with nothing to do, they get bored and there’s always drama. Drama is something to do."

Stopping gun violence is a complex issue. Finding the guns, finding jobs is just the start. Sen. Ashford says its time for the state to get involved and hopefully find solutions.