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Baltimore Police Commissioner Wants Stronger Penalties For Illegal Guns

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Carrying a loaded illegal gun in Maryland will get you, at most, 30 days in jail. Baltimore's police commissioner calls that a slap on the wrist and is demanding stronger penalties.

Investigator Mike Hellgren has more.

There have been multiple shootings in 72 hours in southwest Baltimore. The two elderly people shot in that neighborhood have left people stunned and outraged.

If someone went to jail now for just carrying illicit weapons, they'd be out by next month at the latest because it's just a misdemeanor---and the commissioner says that needs to change.

The guns keep flowing into Baltimore and the victims keep mounting, from the young to the elderly.

What angers Baltimore police commissioner is the fact that getting caught with an illegal weapon means next to no jail time.

"They'll be treated in our courts no different than a first-time offender. They'll get probation and they'll be right out the door," said Police Commissioner Kevin Davis.

Right now, it's 30 days maximum. The commissioner is pushing for a one year minimum; repeat offenders would get a five-year minimum.

"It's a no-brainer that we increase this crime from a misdemeanor to a felony," he said.

These mandatory sentences would bind the hands of judges and represent a shift in Maryland gun laws focusing on sellers to, now, the criminals themselves.

"People are afraid but we can't be held hostage in our own communities," said activist Sonja Merchant-Jones.

Merchant-Jones keeps the picture of one of Baltimore's youngest murder victims, McKenzie Elliott---a girl she never knew---in her living room, next to her own children.

"She had a right to turn four years old but she didn't because of the very people who bring guns in and sell them to people who should not have guns," she said.

In the murder of a teenager caught on camera, the killer shows off the gun and then casually walks to his car.

"Three hundred and forty-four people were killed last year, so that's the menace," Merchant-Jones said. "The gun you sell may be the one they turn on you."

Those opposed to new legislation say Maryland doesn't need new laws and should enforce those already there. But the commissioner counters the punishment should fit the crime.

"It's just time for Maryland to wake up a little bit and make sure the consequence for carrying an illegal firearm is what it should be," Davis said.

Tuesday night at 11, gun runners pour illegal firearms into the city and shootings surge. Investigator Mike Hellgren has more on how just one gun ring fueled the violence---and the undercover sting that shut them down.

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