Ordinance Would Cite Parents When Kids Have Guns
(CBS) -- Should parents be held responsible if their child gets a hold of a gun?
Yes, says one Chicago alderman, who has introduced an ordinance.
Every day on the same corner, Tamar Manasseh gives neighborhood kids the chance just to be kids, through her group MASK, or Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killing.
"If they learn to play together as children, they won't shoot each other as adults," she says.
But kids playing isn't the only reality near this intersection
Ward 15 Ald. Raymond Lopez has introduced an ordinance that calls on parents to play a role in addressing gun violence and holding them accountable with a citation if they know their kid has a gun and doesn't report it.
"Hopefully this ordinance will start the conversation about having people start paying attention to what's going on in their children's bedrooms, who they are hanging out with and what they are doing when they're out in the street," Lopez tells CBS 2's Charlie De Mar.
The big question: How would you enforce this?
Currently, the ordinance is vaguely written as to how these citations would be handed out. There's no monetary penalty.
Ald. Lopez says he knows parenting is just one piece when it comes to gun violence.