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Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. continues to emphasize the high number of murders in the city.

Entering the Fourth of July weekend, the Queen City has suffered 14 homicides in a six-month span. Perkins  discussed his concerns at a joint press conference with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed two weeks ago and at the Selma City Council meeting last week.

“What we’re doing is not working,” Perkins said. “We have 14 murders in Selma and 13 have come from illegal guns. It makes no sense.”

Perkins said that Alabama’s ‘permitless carry law’ has made it “impossible for law enforcement to do their job.”

Perkins said the purpose isn’t to take   guns from law-abiding citizens. Perkins owns a gun.

“We need to disarm those that shouldn’t have guns and officials need to do a better job of listening to victims of gun violence,” Perkins said.

Perkins said that the problem goes beyond Selma and Montgomery, the state’s Capital. He said it’s a national problem.

“I reached out to Reed to come together to form an initiative to address the rise in gun violence in Montgomery and Selma but it is an issue across the nation,” Perkins said.

Perkins said Selma and Montgomery will work together to find solutions to the problem.

“We as a people are better than this,” Perkins said. “Our babies should not be afraid to go to school.”

At the press conference, Reed said that he welcomes a partnership with Perkins.

“None of us can do this by ourselves,” Reed said. “Congress to pass common sense gun laws.

“Guns play too much of a role in settling arguments and disputes. We don’t want our community to turn into people thinking that they have to take the law into their own hands.”