PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Birchleaf Park -- with its basketball court, playground, and open fields -- should be a perfect place for children to play on a sunny day. But it remained empty Monday afternoon, just hours after it was the scene of a murder.
Prince George's County Police officials confirmed they are still looking for whoever shot and killed Michael Cooper, 18, at the park Sunday night.
After such a violent weekend, Prince George's County Council Member Krystal Oriadha told 7News she is hoping her bill will help prevent repeats of this all-too-familiar tragedy.
"We're losing so many of our young people at an early age to two things: some because they're getting gunned down and are victims of gun violence, and then we're losing some of our children to the system because they're making a huge mistake that will cost them the rest of their lives," Oriadha said. "It's top of mind. Sadly, there's incidents like that, that I feel like are happening daily in my district."
During Tuesday's council meeting, Oriadha will introduce a bill that would include 'ghost guns' to the county's list of banned guns, prohibit the transfer of 'ghost guns' to minors, and increase the maximum penalty for each violation.
"Sadly, we have seen an increase of 'ghost guns' as the number one thing - not just in Prince George's County, but across the country, and especially when it comes to minors. This legislation is focused on making sure we create language around sharing the materials for printing 3D guns and making sure if any adult or someone has the ability or the coding, or anything for manufacturing 3D guns, that we're making it clear that you cannot share that with a minor, and that's punishable, as well, and making sure we want to see the 'ghost guns' off the street, and doing that in a way by addressing it in our policy here in the county," Oriadha said.
The council will also introduce another bill that would allow business owners to request juvenile curfew zones.
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7News On Your Side also asked Oriadha how the council will tackle the issue of crimes involving non-'ghost guns.'
"We did pass legislation for a gun violence task force that will start this year. Our goal is to look at it in a holistic approach: one, to look at what are the root causes that are leading to people to picking up a gun, what are the resources we need to put in the community to stop that, what are the policies and procedures that we need on a state level, and to bolster on the local and school system. We have so many families impacted by gun violence, and they are left after kind words with no understanding of how to not only put back their family, but how to interact with the community. We also want to think about how we address the trauma of gun violence in our community so it doesn't lead to more instances of violence," Oriadha said.
Tuesday's council meeting will come just a day after Prince George's County and D.C. leaders held a joint crime walk.
Oriadha told 7News that she and her colleagues will also have to address underlying issues playing a role in the violent crime communities have seen over the past few years.
"We're looking at social media. There's no way we can really capture what we're seeing in social media, when we talk about just the fact kids are learning to carjack, and it's becoming a game on social media. You have a lot of kids who might not even come from that traditional background that might lead them down the pathway of committing crimes, thinking this is just something fun and not understanding the consequences. We also have to address the issues of poverty, gang activity, drugs," Oriadha said. "When it comes to these issues, it's really hard to address. We have to do it systematically and issue-by-issue. 'Ghost guns' are just one of the issues we need to address, but it's going to take more than this piece of legislation to get to the heart of what's going on."
As for Oriadha's bill, there are a few steps before it becomes law.
Tuesday will be the introduction of the bill. Then, it will be referred to a committee. It has to be approved by the committee, before a public hearing in front of the first council. If the full council passes the bill, it will become law 45 days later. Oriadha told 7News she is hoping this will be the case within the next two or three months.
