Taking guns off the streets of American cities was the thrust of a national crime summit convened at Baltimore?s City Hall Wednesday.
Surrounded by a dizzying array of handguns, shotguns and automatic weapons confiscated in a recent raid by Baltimore?s gun-tracing task force, city leaders from across the country stood with Mayor Sheila Dixon as they pledged to work together to fight gun crimes.
“All of the mayors here today are fighting against the same illegal gun dealers and repeat offenders who threaten our ability to protect the citizens we serve,” Dixon said at a news conference.
Joined by mayors from 11 cities and other representatives from seven states, the group pledged to create a database to share information on gun offenders.
The database would use information on illegal gun traces and ballistics by the FBI, allowing cities to coordinate crime-fighting efforts against illegal guns dealers and users across state lines.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he believed gun violence should receive more attention.
“If you kill 43 people a day in America, it?s hard to find an
issue that is more important,” he said.
After the news conference, the attendees gathered across from City Council chambers for a presentation on how to effectively share data on illegal guns.
Dixon has emphasized gun seizures as key to her crime-fighting efforts in Baltimore.
In May 2007 Dixon started the gun-tracing task force to coordinate efforts between prosecutors and police to take illegal guns off the streets. Since its inception, the unit has confiscated 335 guns, including 65 so far this year. The Baltimore Police Department captured more than 3,000 guns last year.
Roughly 30,000 guns are sold in Maryland each year.
Officials used a recent arrest of Baltimore gun dealer Philip Norman as an example of the benefits of coordinating efforts. Spotted by a police informant executing an illegal gun sale at a Timonium gun show, a raid of Norman?s Elkton home netted weapons worth $25,000-$30,000.
“These guns could have been sold to anyone, and could have ended upbeing used in crime in Baltimore and elsewhere in
Maryland,” said Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld.
The mayors
» Sheila Dixon, Baltimore
» Ellen Moyer, Annapolis
» Michael Bloomberg, New York
» James Baker, Wilmington, Del.
» Carleton E. Carey Sr., Dover, Del.
» Douglas Palmer, Trenton, N.J.
» Jeremiah Healy, Jersey City, N.J.
» Rick Gray, Lancaster, Pa.
» Tom McMahon, Reading, Pa.
» John Brenner, York, Pa.
» William Euile, Alexandria Va.
» Adrian Fenty of Washington, D.C. was invited but did not attend.
