March 15, 2011

Details will be unveiled within two weeks, but Monday, the issue of illegal firearm possession took center stage in the mayor's race.

Melina Kennedy, the leading Democratic candidate, challenged Republican Mayor Greg Ballard by rolling out a five-point plan to keep criminals away from guns. It's the first phase of what she promises will be a lengthy crime-fighting blueprint.

"We cannot relent as a community until we find a way to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them -- the criminals," Kennedy said at her Downtown campaign headquarters.

Kennedy said she would lobby to close a loophole in federal and state law allowing purchases at gun shows without background checks. She also plans to ensure that local agencies supply state and federal databases with up-to-date information about people prohibited from purchasing guns.

She also would organize education programs for city youths and their parents about gun violence and prevention; encourage local gun buyback programs; and lobby for tougher sentences for those who possess, use or traffic in guns illegally.

Ballard's office had no comment on Kennedy's plan, but the chairman of the Marion County Republican Party, speaking on behalf of Ballard's campaign, touted the mayor's record on crime.

"Mayor Ballard is working with law enforcement, the Ten Point Coalition and community leaders every day to lead the battle on crime," the GOP's Kyle Walker wrote in an e-mail. "As a result of Ballard's leadership, thousands of illegal guns have been taken off the streets."

Kennedy's plan includes some of the same elements as the multipronged initiative that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement agencies are devising.

Police Chief Paul Ciesielski said IMPD is planning to begin special training for officers in how to identify people who might be carrying guns illegally. IMPD also hopes to target patrols in areas of the city where gun violence is highest and coordinate gun amnesty programs with houses of worship.

A gun drop-off -- in which people can get rid of guns anonymously, no questions asked -- is scheduled for April 9. The Rev. Charles Harrison of the Ten Point Coalition said hundreds of centers of worship will participate.

"We are really pushing it and hope it results in many guns being taken off the street," said Harrison, pastor of Barnes United Methodist Church.

Police have been emphasizing the problem of guns in the hands of felons for months. Their concern was highlighted when IMPD officer David Moore was shot four times during a Jan. 23 traffic stop. He died three days later.

The suspect, Thomas X. Hardy, 60, had been convicted of a felony and was prohibited from carrying a firearm.

"If you look at the homicides last year, about 85 percent were with guns, and most of the people using them had them illegally," Ciesielski said.

U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett was unavailable Monday to discuss what his office's piece of the initiative would be, but Harrison said Hogsett told him he was planning more federal gun prosecutions.

Another part of the IMPD initiative would be educating parents on how to safely keep a gun in the home. Harrison said the National Rifle Association and other gun organizations he has met with would provide the safety information.

Marion County Sheriff John Layton, a Democrat, said he plans to distribute 800 free gun locks next week and purchase 1,500 more in the next five weeks as part of Project Child Safe. Then-Sheriff Frank Anderson started the program.

"I will find the money for more gun locks somewhere," Layton said, "because if it saves one life, then the whole effort is certainly worthwhile."

Kennedy also said that if elected, she would sign an executive order to add Indianapolis to more than 500 cities whose mayors have signed on to Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The group, founded in 2006 by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, supports efforts to keep criminals from possessing guns illegally.

Ballard hasn't signed on. Walker and Ballard's campaign did not respond when asked whether Ballard had considered adding Indianapolis to the list of cities.

Ballard's predecessor, Democrat Bart Peterson, didn't sign on, either. Kennedy was a deputy mayor under Peterson but left the administration in 2005, before the national mayors' group was established.

Indiana mayors of Angola, Columbus, Fort Wayne and South Bend -- all Democrats -- are among ones who have joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns.