Time to crack down on illegal gun possession

When Mayor Catherine Pugh, City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Police Commissioner Kevin Davis proposed a novel way to address the carrying of illegal guns within a 100-yard radius of the church where I serve, I stood in support of the proposed ordinance (“Baltimore City Council deeply divided over mandatory sentence for gun possession,” July 17).

Growing up in Baltimore, I’m old enough to remember the city’s first African-American police officer, the late Lt. Violet Hill Whyte. The mere mention of her name struck fear within the hearts and minds of youth growing up in her day. Her tough demeanor was only the mask that covered an officer who wanted the best from our youth and for them not to make a mistake that would only lead them into a more destructive path. One day, she got the brilliant idea to pass the word throughout the community that the corners we were standing on were “indicted.” The reaction was swift. We moved off of the corners because they were “indicted” and that meant we would be “indicted” as well. We later learned you cannot “indict” a corner. Her strategy worked, it created a conversation within the community that permitted people to talk to one another to avoid any possibility of getting in trouble with the officers who patrolled our communities.

Times have changed! Many have had so much contact with the criminal justice system they know the strengths of weaknesses of current laws. Being caught and convicted of carrying an illegal gun is a misdemeanor. If one is caught without any other serious offenses, the penalty amounts to “one bite of the apple.”

We have reached a point in time when a different conversation needs to be had within our community regarding carrying illegal guns. This proposed city ordinance prompts that conversation and focuses our discussion around why it is necessary for members of the community to carry a gun within 100 yards of Union Baptist Church. This is a place where children are playing, children are learning and people are praying. Why should an illegal gun be within 100 yards of this sacred space?