Bridgeport ex-cons fighting illegal guns in city
Bridgeport's police chief wants help from ex-convicts who have turned their lives around. "Street Safe Bridgeport" is a group of ex-convicts who are reaching out to at-risk kids to teach them about
News 12 Staff
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Jun 30, 2015, 1:22 AM
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Updated 3,223 days ago
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Bridgeport's police chief wants help from ex-convicts who have turned their lives around.
"Street Safe Bridgeport" is a group of ex-convicts who are reaching out to at-risk kids to teach them about gun violence.
At a roundtable on Monday, members said they're constantly fighting a flood of illegal guns flowing into Bridgeport.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal has continued to push for a federal ban on so-called "straw purchases" and background checks at gun shows. Both efforts have stalled in Congress.
"So many of the guns come from Southern states," he said. "They're stolen or lost, transported across state borders."
The city of Bridgeport is launching a gun buyback program, but former Mayor Joe Ganim says that it isn't enough to keep people safe.
"I've had those programs before and they make nice press conferences and they make nice headlines, but they don't get the job done," he said.
Street Safe members said that they're gaining the community's trust, but they can't do much because they have only four outreach members for the entire city.
