ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Baltimore City leaders gathered in Annapolis today to talk about gun crime and gun safety at the Senate Judiciary hearing.
In his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, State's Attorney Ivan Bates noted that 90 percent of all the homicides in Baltimore since 2015 involved a gun.
Bates is focusing on accountability and strengthening the law for people over the age of 21 who have a gun illegally.
"Right now, when you have an illegal handgun in the city of Baltimore or in the state of Maryland the maximum sentence for that is three years, it's a misdemeanor but if you're between 18 and 20 years of age it's five years, I think we need to make that uniform," Bates said.
Bates shared a study by the Maryland Public Policy Institute that showed the majority of homicide suspects in Baltimore already had a previous gun charge.
He's pushing for more accountability.
"We have a five year sentence that holds people accountable, a little bit more than three years. Because remember, because it's a misdemeanor you only serve 25 percent of that, so what type of message are we sending anybody," Bates asked.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison attended the hearing as well, sharing the challenges, needs and successes of his department over the last year.
Also, discussing the effort to increase the clearance rate at BPD.
"But I think the one thing we can do is make sure we're building good relationships, positive relationships with our community because it takes community members, it takes willing victims, it takes willing witnesses to come forward," Harrison explained.
Harrison says his office and Bates have had good communication between each other to start off the year.
Crime and gun safety is a major topic for this year's legislative session.
