Should Prince George’s Have a Gun Offenders Registry?
The county council is considering a measure to track those convicted of gun crimes.
Prince George’s County could soon join jurisdictions around the country in requiring those convicted of gun crimes to be a part of a registry and regularly check in with police.
The county council is considering a bill that would create such a registry, The Washington Post reports. Last year, 64 people were fatally shot in the county and hundreds more wounded. The legislation is an effort to increase safety on county streets where police say a high number of people are illegally carrying firearms.
Similar laws have been passed in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York City in recent years.
“These guys are not afraid to ride around with guns,” Prince George’s Deputy Police Chief Craig Howard told the Post. “They’re not afraid to get locked up. So hopefully, this will give us a little teeth.”
Pachacutec
1:29 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
If people are going around carrying guns illegally, does anyone really think a registry is going to make a big difference? How about harsher sentences for those convicted of violent crime or, if need be, using the death penalty? This type of registry would have the same drawback as the sex offender registry; unless the person is under 24/7 visual surveilance, he's still free to go after new victims.