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Law enforcement officials push for stricter gun penalties WMCTV.COM Police Director Larry Godwin asked Tennessee lawmakers to pass stricter laws. Godwin and other local law enforcers took their cause to Nasvhille to plead for tougher gun laws. The want laws that would put more bite behind their bark. Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and Senator Mark Norris want hard time for gun and gang crimes. "Those tougher penalties will put the thugs behind bars where they belong," says Gibbons. They joined other legislators, attorneys general, and police chiefs from across the state at the state capitol to demand lawmakers pass three bills to help Take Back Our Neighborhoods. Gibbons adds, "we're here to try to get the General Assembly to do the right thing." "It's gonna cut down on our homicides. It should cut down on our robberies," says Dir. Godwin. The bills call for mandatory prison time if a felon's caught with a gun, increased penalties if a suspect commits a crime in a group of two or more and more prosecutors to handle the heavy caseload. "It may be that the staffing bill to hire more district attorneys gets funded. We may have to continue to work through this year and next to enforce the gang violence bill and implement the crooks with guns bill," says Norris. The clock's ticking on the window of opportunity to get their hands on the funding for these bills with a rare state budget surplus and just about a month left to the legislature's calendar. Director Godwin adds, "we're talking about taking the baddest of the bad off the street." They say they can arrest people all day but their hands will be tied until our lawbooks pack more punch. The funding board meets in Nashville to consider the bills May 7th. |
