Project sets sights on illegal guns
Local law enforcement officials predict a new program to get illegal guns off Jackson streets could begin by the end of the year.
U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton wants to start a gun interdiction unit through the Jackson Police Department. Officers would use vans equipped with gun-firing tanks to test weapons taken at the scene of vehicle stops and crime scenes.
Laboratory technicians would analyze cartridge casings and projectiles to determine whether those weapons had been reported stolen and used in crimes. The test results would be entered into a database linked to a national gun database.
Lampton said he started thinking about the program long before two Jackson police officers recently were shot by suspects using stolen weapons.
Clarion Ledger
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