Townsend Targets Illegal Gun Sales

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Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend says she would focus in a second term on tracking gun sales to their sources and shutting down groups that are selling them illegally.

The Democrat has devoted much of her first term to fighting crime.

Mrs. Townsend, 47, has promised to cut gun-related crime in half if she is re-elected with Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

She also wants to expand the "HotSpot" program to 64 more high-crime areas in a second term. The program now operates in 36 Maryland communities, providing money for additional community police officers, prosecutors, probation officers and after-school programs.

Mrs. Townsend's …