Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Mark Puente
Plain Dealer Reporter

Area mayors and state legislators will gather Tuesday in Cleveland to hear how other large cities deal with gun trafficking and violence.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will speak at 1 p.m. at the House of Blues, East 4th Street and Euclid Avenue, on stopping the flow of illegal guns into cities. The lecture is open to the public.

Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg co-founded the coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, in 2006 to work with legislators to close loopholes in state laws that enable criminals to obtain guns.

In an interview, Menino said the group represents more than 3 million residents. He said mayors must take action to make their cities safe because the federal government is doing little.

The group respects the Second Amendment, he said, but too many youths have access to guns.

"We need to work together to solve our concerns," Menino said. "Crime knows no boundaries."

He said cities must cooperate with one another to stop illegal gun sales. One way would be to better monitor sales at gun shows, where lax regulations and straw purchases make it easy for traffickers to obtain and peddle guns to eager buyers -- including youths - who might be barred otherwise from acquiring firearms.

"We want to get the community involved," Menino said. "It's not just a police issue. It's a citywide issue."

The group developed a partnership with Wal-Mart, the largest seller of firearms in the nation, to strengthen the store's guidelines for gun sales.

The store now video records all gun sales and has implemented a computerized log for retailers that flags purchases from customers who have bought guns that were later recovered in crimes.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who will miss the gathering because he is on a trade mission to Germany, said he strongly agrees with the coalition's work. He touted Cleveland's gun-buy-back program and other police programs that seek to rid the streets of illegal weapons.

He stressed that the meeting is not just a symbolic conference.

"We're talking about gun control and closing the loopholes of illegal trafficking," Jackson said. "These are powerful guns and young people are dying."

Jackson vowed earlier this year to crack down on homicides and gun-related violence. He ordered police to target gun-toting criminals as a way to reduce homicides. Killings reached a 13-year high last year, with 134 people slain in Cleveland.

The plan appears to be working. So far, 92 homicides have been recorded this year in Cleveland compared to 124 in 2007 at this time. Cops had seized nearly 1,500 guns through mid-November.

The Cleveland branches of the National Council of Jewish Women and Citizens for Safety are sponsoring today's event.

Plain Dealer Reporter Henry J. Gomez contributed to this story.