Police in Small Wisconsin City Want Residents to Volunteer to Have Their Homes Searched for Guns

Police in Beloit, Wisconsin, want residents to volunteer to let officers search their homes for firearms as part of a new initiative that officials believe will help reduce gun violence.

Beloit Police Chief Norm Jacobs told Wisconsin Public Radio that officers will mostly be looking for guns in homes that residents might not even be aware of.

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“That's really what we're looking for. Maybe we'll find a toy gun that's been altered by a youngster in the house — and we know the tragedies that can occur there on occasion,” he added.

Jacobs also told WPR that “gun violence is as serious as the Ebola virus.” The home searches, he argued, are similar to a vaccine to strengthen the city’s immune system, the report stated.

That being said, the police chief admitted he isn’t anticipating a stampede of residents eager to have their homes searched.

In 2014, there have reportedly been seven gun-related homicides in Beloit. Most have victims have been teenagers or men in their 20s.

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