Rufus Johnson has been on both sides of a gun. As a Cincinnati teen, he survived being shot in the face. Today, he is standing in front of a classroom at River City Correctional Center in Camp Washington, walking residents with felony records through a weapons-under-disability course that tries to keep them from ever picking up a gun again.
The class mixes hard-nosed legal education with trauma-informed tools and conflict-resolution work. The pitch is straightforward: understand the law, understand the stakes, and choose a different path before you walk out the door.
Scott McVey, River City’s executive director, told WCPO that since the program launched in 2024, about 50 people have graduated, and roughly 80 percent have not been reincarcerated. Of the small number who did come back to custody, he said only two faced new weapons charges. McVey told the station that Hamilton County judges had pressed him to find programs that take gun violence head-on, which helped push this course into existence.
How the class works
FOX19 reported that the course runs about 90 days, is part of a trauma-informed care initiative added in 2024, and will be mandatory for residents while they are at the center. On its own website, River City Correctional Center lists a “Weapons Under Disability Program” among its offerings and outlines a broader cognitive-behavioral curriculum.
Staff says the class is not just a lecture on statutes. Residents get legal lessons, practice alternatives to violence, and connect those conversations to the center’s trade-skills training and mental-health programming. The idea is that knowing the law is one thing, but having tools to walk away from a conflict or build a stable life is what keeps people from reoffending.
Johnson's approach and background
Johnson, who was shot in the face as a teenager, comes in with a resume that carries weight on the street and in a classroom. He teaches concealed-carry classes, leads neighborhood gun-safety tours, and brings blunt, real-world stories to residents who already know how fast a situation can go bad.
“I was a victim,” Johnson told WCPO, explaining why he leans on both legal knowledge and lived experience when he teaches. Staff and participants told the station that his credibility, earned in the same streets many of them come from, helps the lessons stick in a way a textbook never could.
Why this matters under Ohio law
Under Ohio law, possession of a firearm by someone who is “under disability” including many people with felony convictions, is a third-degree felony, as set out in R.C. 2923.13. The class is designed to make that statute feel real, not abstract, so residents know exactly what they are risking if they carry again.
In Johnson’s classroom, that means talking through potential prison time, collateral consequences, and what it looks like to be sent back to a cell for a single bad decision. At the same time, the course pushes safer options and alternatives residents can reach for when they feel themselves heading toward trouble.
Early results and next steps
Officials acknowledge the program is still small, but say the early numbers have judges paying attention and asking what else might be possible besides prison. As FOX19 reported, the training started after a judge asked River City leaders to bring forward new ideas to cut gun violence.
Administrators say they will keep tracking recidivism data as more residents cycle through, and River City leaders have signaled they plan to monitor outcomes and tweak the curriculum over time. For now, Johnson keeps showing up to class, trying to turn his own trauma into a reason that someone else never picks up a gun again.
