Jackson Free Press

"We have a crime problem in Jackson and it is driven mostly by two things—narcotics and weapons," Mayor Frank Melton said at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Summit on Illegal Guns. "We are dealing with it, but we also need cooperation in enforcing the laws on the books to the fullest extent possible."

While Mayor Melton's effort to reduce the number of illegal guns in Jackson is laudable, it is telling that he was illegally carrying concealed weapons at the time of his statement. Despite repeated avowals that he has his permits, Melton only applied for a concealed weapons permit on May 1, according to The Clarion-Ledger. This still does not qualify him as a certified law enforcement officer. Public Eye has requested the required certification scores from the city, but the city has made no response.