By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown will be attending a national summit on gun violence Tuesday in New York City. Brown says he hopes to learn what other cities are doing to stop the flow of guns.
Mayor Brown says he wants to learn about ways of reducing illegal guns that are being used to commit violent crimes in Buffalo. Brown leaves Monday afternoon for a gun summit that kicks off Tuesday. It will be hosted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Mayor of Boston. Mayor's from 13 cities including Washington and Dallas will be attending. Brown says they will share strategies for getting guns off city streets.
"We certainly have to stem the flow of guns coming into the community. We need to get illegal weapons out of the hands of people and take them off the streets," said Brown.
Illegal guns, such as automatic weapons are being used in crimes committed in Buffalo. City Police Commissioner McCarthy Gipson says those are now the weapon of choice among criminals.
"Those who are acquiring illegal weapons are, of course, getting the most update weapons they can purchase at out-of-state gun shows. Those are the type of weapons flowing into our community," said Gipson.
Mayor Brown says the city is already working to get guns off Buffalo streets through his zero tolerance crack-down on crime. He says more search warrants are being issued. But Brown noted that the police department can not accomplish this alone. He says there needs to be citizen involvement and assistance from the state and federal government.
"The federal government can provide resources, as well as state government. We need to work on the issue of illegal guns and violence in communities in a holistic way," said the Mayor.
One federal gun program is know as Project Exile. It was first launched in 1999 offering communities assistance in reducing firearms through the U-S Attorney's Office. It is something law enforcement has been using in Buffalo.