McComb Police Department works to get dangerous firearms off the streets

MCCOMB, Mississippi (WLBT) – McComb Police are working to make the city safer by keeping dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands.

They tell WLBT 3 On Your Side that they take away firearms from citizens almost every day that are powerful enough to shoot through cars, hard wood and sometimes even steel.

One concern officials have is how easy it is to obtain these weapons. They are bought at swap meets or on the street, and they are often stolen.

There are no security measures in place for such transactions and weapons can fall into the wrong hands.

“Every person I interact with, from young teenagers to adults, I automatically assume they have a weapon on them. It gets a little out of control,” said Lieutenant Kayla Moore.

The ammunition used by police officers and other law enforcement officers at McComb School is intended to prevent excessive intrusion.

“They're designed to flatten upon impact so they can't continue to fly through the target and potentially hit someone on the other side,” said Corporal Tyler Harvey.

However, the cheapest and most commercially available option does not always have this security measure.

“We're trying by all means to stop the shell from going through things so it doesn't reach someone it's not supposed to. Civilians don't follow these rules. They just buy anything. The cheapest thing goes through your vehicles, it goes through that door,” Moore said.

According to Harvey, this type of ammunition is not designed for use outside of its intended targets, such as shooting ranges.

“They're designed to be fired from a distance … at a target where there shouldn't be anyone behind them who could get burned, and they have to have something to stop the bullet. Now when they're used in public, they're not going to slow down. If it doesn't go through a target and penetrate the person, it can hit any vital organ and ultimately cause death,” Harvey said.

If you are in possession of a firearm of any kind, the McComb Police Department encourages you to use it safely.

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