Quote:Lake County Crime Stoppers cracks down on gun law violations

In an attempt to crack down on gun law violators, Lake County Crime Stoppers is offering $100 rewards for information that helps confiscate illegally owned weapons or guns brought into prohibited places.

"The primary thing is if someone sees someone with a gun in a public place they need to call," said Andy Anderson, executive director of the county's largest crime reporting system.

Anderson said that first call should be made to 911. Then call Crime Stoppers, which will provide the reward if the information and incident are verified.

"This is nothing against conceal carry," he said, referring to people who are licensed by the state to carry a weapon.

Crime Stoppers, which has had a Gun Stoppers program in place for the last 15 years, has recovered two guns so far this year. Last year, 17 guns were seized.

In 2001, the first year of the program, 25 guns were recovered and the numbers have see-sawed each year. There were 15 guns collected in 2002, 31 in 2003, 37 in 2004, 35 in 2005, 56 in 2006, 19 in 2007, 20 in 2008 and 109 in 2009, the highest number recorded.

Anderson said the spike was the result of the gun buy back program that has since been discontinued. The rest of the statistics include 67 guns in 2010, 51 in 2011, 57 in 2012 and 38 in 2013.

Crime Stoppers is promoting its gun safety message on posters that have been placed in 90 percent of the schools in Lake County, Anderson said.

"Lake County Crime Stoppers, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and all other law enforcement agencies in the county seek your help in this very important matter," he said.

"See something, say something," he said, explaining that the law enforcement catchphrase can prevent gun violence.

(06-14-2015, 09:11 AM)Dutz Wrote: The law states the concealed gun must be mostly concealed. That means a good faith attempt, i.e. printing is not a problem. Therefore if someone sees mine and calls the police, there will be hell to pay. I will do all I can to make sure that person never wants to do that again.