COUNCIL PRESIDENT JOINS MAYOR IN CALLING FOR TOUGHER SENTENCING FOR OFFENDERS CAUGHT WITH ILLEGAL GUNS

BALTIMORE, MD – Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young will introduce legislation during tonight’s City Council meeting calling on state lawmakers to tighten the sentencing guidelines for illegal gun possession.

Council President Young’s resolution joins Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s ongoing effort to get members of the Maryland state legislature to increase the penalties for illegal gun possession. Council President Young will travel to Annapolis during the upcoming legislative session to encourage state leaders to adopt stricter sentencing rules.

Council President Young’s resolution is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Warren Branch, Mary Pat Clarke, Belinda Conaway, Robert Curran, Bill Henry, Helen Holton, James Kraft, Sharon Middleton, Edward Reisinger and Carl Stokes.

A Thanksgiving dinner Council President Young recently shared with more than a dozen mothers whose sons were gunned down in Baltimore City drove home the need to tighten the penalties associated with illegal gun possession.

“Many of their loved ones died as a result of gun violence,” Council President Young said. “I don’t want another parent to have to suffer because their child was gunned down in the streets of this city.”

Overall, gun crime in Baltimore City – which includes homicides, shootings, armed robberies, and carjackings – is down compared to years past, Council President Young said. But, he added, more can be done to make the city a safer place.

# # #

Please visit our website at www.baltimorecitycouncil.com