BALTIMORE --
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon unveiled a part of her new crime strategy on Wednesday that focused solely on guns.
The mayor, along with city and state police commanders, said the new task force will target the people who illegally transfer guns and dealers who fuel the illegal gun trade.
Like Dixon's overall crime strategy, part of what she announced on Wednesday is also a return to a focus of the late 1990s. What's brand new is a proposal to create a gun registry -- much like the sex offender registry that's been in place for some time.
"People are not driving from across the country to bring guns into our city. You can step over the line into Baltimore County, go to a gun shop where people can legally buy them and then disperse them illegally. So it's right next door," Dixon said.
About 300 guns were seized in April. One 9 mm handgun was used in the shootings of three people in two separate April incidents, officials said. The man caught with the gun was arrested.
Another weapon police seized April was an assault rifle taken during a house raid in midtown Baltimore. The man arrested with it also had a bulletproof vest and a pound of marijuana, police said.
Police said very few of the guns were ever reported stolen, suggesting they were bought legally by one person and transferred illegally to someone else.
The city police department went after those offenders in the late 1990s. The problem -- the investigations often take a lot of time and resources and the charge for an illegal gun transfer is a misdemeanor, not a felony.
But police commanders said this new initiative is worth the effort.
"It's worth it. If we can get these guys off the streets for five minutes, it's worth us doing whatever it takes to get these guys and the people who are fueling this behind the scenes. They've been untouched," said Baltimore city Police Deputy Commissioner Col. Fred Bealefeld.
The mayor said the gun registry, which will be proposed in a bill to go to the City Council, will require convicted gun offenders to register so that police can better track where they live.
The mayor also announced the start of GunStat -- mimicking CitiStat -- to more closely track gun crimes.
On another matter, Dixon was asked Wednesday if she supports decriminalization of drug possession. She responded, saying drug addiction is a "health issue."
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