A Republican running for a Baltimore City Council seat says he has an “entirely new solution” to Baltimore?s crime rate: A city-owned gun range where a militia of citizens could train to defend the streets.
“If the local government can?t make the city safer, then it should take steps to help citizens help themselves,” Brian Davis, a candidate for the City Council?s District 2 seat, said in a statement.
Davis is running against incumbent Nicholas D?Adamo, a Democrat who received 3,487 votes in the Sept. 11 primary election. An unopposed Davis received 130 votes in the city?s Republican primary.
As of Thursday, city police recorded 244 homicides in 2007, compared with 224 at the same time last year.
Officers have focused much effort this year on seizing illegal guns, but Davis said police need help.
“Clearly, keeping guns out of the hands of people who don?t break laws isn?t the solution,” he said. “Baltimore citizens can buy guns for home protection but have little opportunity to learn to use them properly or for target practice.”
Davis envisions a gun range that could function as a central location for a “Baltimore Citizen?s Militia” ? trained volunteers who would serve as “armed and deputized peace officers,” according to his statement.
Davis likened the militia to off-duty police officers, “ready to step in if they happen upon a crime in progress.”
“If Baltimore had hundreds of men and women trained and ready to help the professionals in a time of crisis, we could go from being one of the most dangerous cities in America to being one of the safest,” he said.
D?Adamo did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Davis? ideas.
Baltimore police spokesman Sterling Clifford said: “This is not an idea the commissioner is aware of, and we decline to comment.”
