The Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) said an alarming amount of Baltimore youth are getting their hands on guns.
At a public meeting concerning juvenile justice in the city, the department revealed about 40% of the ghost guns being pulled off the streets are found on those under the age of 21. Meaning, many of those caught illegally carrying are too young to buy a gun in the first place.
The uptick in young people caught with weapons comes on the heels of Jill Carter’s Juvenile Justice Reform Act taking effect in June of last year. The measure was meant to protect kids from facing a number of criminal charges.
Specifically, under the new laws, kids under the age of 16 are blocked from being charged with any firearm crimes.
For example, in the case of an Anne Arundel County 12-year-old who brought a loaded gun to school, police issued no consequences.
It's causing law enforcement leaders from across the state to sound the alarms.
"More crime, that’s what we’re going to see," said Harford County Sheriff, Jeffery Gahler.
Sheriff Gahler said the new laws are keeping his officers from holding kids accountable.
"Gang members are realizing if they can grab younger people and use them in their trade, they can't be held accountable for anything," he said.
"It is alarming," said Baltimore City Police Commissioner, Michael Harrison.
However, in Baltimore City, Commissioner Harrison is not willing to directly say where he stands on the issue.
"What we're concerned about is how do we have consequences that change their behavior and make them make better decisions about whether to commit crime in the first place. And so, it is not my place to say what everybody else thinks I should say. It's my place to say we want them to not commit crime in the very first place. Whatever needs to be done to arrive at that is what we want to do," he said.
Meanwhile, Baltimore City Police FOP President Mike Mancuso released the following statement on his stance:
The juvenile justice system in Maryland has always been a failure. In my 35 years of law enforcement the cops and juveniles consider it a joke with little deterrent to stopping felonious behavior. With what I know about the current majority of the Maryland General Assembly they will only continue to make it worse. They have bought into the current excuse/nonsense that a juveniles brain is not fully developed until 25 years old. This will only continue to give a pass to juveniles in Maryland. I’m sure for their next trick they will want to give the 18-25 year olds the opportunity to use the same excuse.