MONDAY JANUARY 7, 2008 Last modified: Sunday, January 6, 2008 9:23 PM CST

BY VICTOR INGE
THE SELMA TIMES-JOURNAL

A Selma man was jailed Sunday morning in connection with a shooting.
Tabarius Andrea Peake, 21, was arrested at Club 9000 on Race Street after the 1:30 a.m. incident. Less than an hour later police charged with assault second degree. Peake was held on $30,000 bond.

Barrio Johnson was shot in the thigh with a small caliber handgun. He was transported to Vaughan Regional Medical Center in a private vehicle.

Police are still investigating the shooting.

When Mayor James Perkins Jr. completes a questionnaire this week telling presidential candidates of the ills his community has with gun violence, he will draw on references such as Sunday's shooting.

"Mayors Against Illegal Guns" is designed to elicit the views of presidential candidates on the issue of illegal guns to both better inform coalition mayors and to focus public attention on this vital issue of national concern, Perkins said.

"I joined forces with a group of mayors across the nation to address the proliferation of illegal guns in the nation, generally, and in the community, specifically," Perkins said.

The survey includes questions on the restrictions Congress has imposed on gun trace data, penalties for gun traffickers, and increasing the enforcement capacity of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Mayors Against Illegal Guns will not endorse a candidate for president, but rather distribute the questionnaire responses to coalition members and the general public...

"Many problems faced in local communities are actually national problems," Perkins said. "One good way to approach these challenges is to form national coalitions along with persons with like problems and interests."