Paul Murphy / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans is known for a lot of things. Its music, food and culture make it a top tourist destination.
But the city's murder rate and violent crime also make it one of the most dangerous cities in the country.
"Anything we can do right now to keep our community safe and help our police chief get the bad guys off the street, that's what we're trying to do with it," said City Council President Arnie Fielkow.
Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas is asking the City Council to create a gun offender registry. It would require people living in the city and convicted of firearm-related crimes to register with the NOPD. They would have to give police their current address, picture and other information every six months.
"It's a way for the police continue to have accurate and up-to-date information about those person found guilty under the law for violating a firearms-related crime," said Serpas.
Fielkow is co-sponoring the ordinance with District "A" Councilwoman Susan Guidry. It's patterned after similar laws in Baltimore, New York City and Washington, DC. Click here to see the ordinance.
"It's just a way to make sure we're not having repeat offenses," Fielkow said. "Some of the research that we did showed that up to 50 percent of homicides committed by people in large cities are people who have previously been convicted of gun offenses."
The ACLU plans to lobby against the gun offender registry. The state's executive director Majorie Esman says it's just another way for police to presume continuing guilt on the part of people who have already served their sentences.
"It might be a feel-good measure," said Esman. "It might make people think that it's going to solve the crime problem, but it's not going to take guns out of the possession of people who don't have the legal right to own them."
"If we're investigating a crime and somebody's name comes up and we got good information about them, we may be able to eliminate them as a suspect much quicker or confirm they are a valid suspect," said Serpas.
The City Council Criminal Justice Committee is expected to debate the gun offender registry ordinance at it's next meeting, April 27 at City Hall.
