Law enforcers plan gun seizure for Jackson ... Joint JPD, U.S. attorney's office operation could include traffic stops and door-to-door visits. By Grace Simmons Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

The Jackson Police Department and the U.S. attorney's office are planning gun seizure operation in jackson that could include traffic stops and door-to-door visits in areas that are hot spots for crime.

The operation will be modeled after nationally known, aggressive gun programs in Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis, Ind. In the Kansas City experiment, traffic stops in a targeted 80-by-10-block area proved to be the most effective way of finding guns.

U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott said Monday his office will be bringing in Kansas City and Indianapolis police officers for an all-day training session for Jackson police on June 29.

"It will be up to Chief (Robert) Johnson to pick a zone and a time period in which to conduct a gun seizure operation," Pigott said.

Johnson said he believes that officers aggressively applying gun laws can reduce the number of guns on the streets. Also, he thinks Mississippi's gun laws, which he describes as permissive, are contributing to the city's homicide rate.

"If you got the ability to carry around a gun or as many guns in your car as you want to - and there appears to be a sort of relaxed attitude about people carrying guns - then (guns) are going to be readily available for people to settle an argument," Johnson said.

Gunshots killed 81 of Jackson's record 95 homicides in 1994. More than half of this year's 37 victims have died from gun-related violence.

The concentrated attack on guns will focus on getting repeat offenders, which is another of the U.S. attorney's office joint anti-crime initiatives. If caught with a weapon, people with three or more convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses face 15 years to life in prison.

"Crime statistics show that as few as six percent of all criminal offenders commit as many as 60 percent of all violent crimes," Pigott said.

The gun program has the backing of Ward 4 Councilman Credell Calhoun, who asked Johnson last week about whether there was a way police could search vehicles and seize weapons during roadblocks.

"I am just trying to figure a way to get some of those automatic weapons that are illegal off the streets," Calhoun said.

"Also for those young people under 21 that are doing most of the shooting, we could probably catch those people in advance if we had a systematic way of searching cars around the city of Jackson," he said.

Pigott and Johnson said law enforcement must be mindful of constitutional requirements for searching automobiles and seizing weapons. Herbert Thibodeaux, a member of the state Rifle and Pistol association, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association, said he would favor a gun seizure program as long as officers followed the law. "Anybody is going to be for (it) when a police officer by legal means finds somebody in illegal possession of a gun," Thibodeaux said.

"Certainly if we have reasonable grounds to stop a vehicle and search it, we will," Johnson said. "We just can't decide that a car looks like it is suspicious and (say) 'I think I will stop it and search it.' "

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Note: Here in Mississippi there are no restrictions on gun ownership or registration requirements. Also, it is legal for anyone over the age of 18 to carry a loaded concealed pistol in his car without a permit. They may catch a few fellons and underage kids (the dumb ones), but except for these two cases, it is very legal here to have and possess firearms.

Clarion Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi
May 16, 1995

NRA version of local/federal DC efforts to search and disarm vehicles and individuals
Federal anti-weapons teams to seize guns by traffic stops and special
Gun seizure for Jackson; could include traffic stops and door-to-door visits.