FISHERS, Ind. — If state lawmakers give their stamp of approval, seven central Indiana counties will likely be teaming up in a joint initiative to rid the streets of cities in towns in those counties of illegal guns.
The Republican Mayor of Fishers, Scott Fadness, has been a big proponent of this initiative as he tells All Indiana Politics on WISH-TV, that a lot of violent crime with the use of guns in his city is “spillover” from what takes place in nearby Indianapolis.
“Out of 184 firearms, illegal crime guns, that we took off the city of Fishers (last year) there were 101 instances tied back to violent crimes in our region,” Fadness said. “In Indianapolis and in our surrounding communities.”
Fadness believes this statistic means that more intricate collaboration between municipalities in central Indiana is needed. The task force he is suggesting would include Boone, Johnson, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, and Shelby counties, who would be teaming up with Marion County and IMPD.
“I think all of us are waking up to the fact that these criminals, they don’t respect political boundaries,” Fadness added. “They don’t care that its Fishers on the north side and Indy on the south side of 96th street.”
Fadness said the proposal has bipartisan support among all Republican and Democrat mayors within the counties listed. He is also making it clear that this initiative would only target guns that are in the hands illegally of criminals. It would not be targeting people who are legally carrying a firearm.
