“Illegally possessed guns mostly on the body of a criminal.”
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom says officers routinely disarm suspects carrying an illegal gun.
“271 illegally possessed guns removed from the streets just through August so that is more than one every day.”
The police chief says it is the world we live in
“The increase of individuals carrying firearms.”
And often he says the person walking around with a weapon is young.
“Seeking approval from the wrong people.”
City Council member Lisa Knight wonders where they get them.
“I don’t think there is a child who wakes up and goes to the corner store and picks up a gun they are coming in through different streams.”
The city has removed some guns from circulation with buy back campaigns. But
“Generally, the guns that make it to the buyback program are not typically those we would see used by the criminal element.”
“We are just going to have to come up with different strategies to be able to identify where these channels are just like we do with illegal drugs.”
“If we could take the illegally possessed guns off the street and make it that much harder to get them that would be huge.”
