The guns, all 76 of them, covered three tables.
There were cheap 38s, pump-action shot-guns, a few long-guns modified to resemble assault weapons, and a replica of an M-16. There were hunting rifles more appropriate for the wilds of Western Maryland. Tiny guns that could fit in a purse or pocket. Weapons that could belong to a militia.
These are the guns seized by Baltimore police officers in the past 10 days. The photo was taken by The Sun's Gene Sweeney. It shows Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake at the podium, flanked by Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Riel.
Authorities put the guns on display at police headquarters to highlight crime reductions and a surge in weapon seizures that has netted a total of 1,164 illegal firearms this year. Meanwhile, the 99 people killed in the first six months of this year is the fewest killed over the same time frame in the past quarter-century.
Bealefeld stared down at the arsenal displayed before him, the mayor, the federal prosecutor and the local head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"It certainly is impressive," he noted, shaking his head. "It's menacing, threatening."
But in reality, the city's top cop was thoroughly unimpressed.
"We've all seen tables like this before," Bealefeld said. "I've seen bigger tables. I've seen smaller tables. I've seen more guns."
The commissioner basically admitted that the media show timed to the six-month mark of the year was a repeat performance. It proved, he said, "that we still have a hell of a lot of work to do."
That was not a repeat performance were some of the upbeat crime stats. The 44 nonfatal shootings in June was the lowest number for the month since the department started keeping track in the 1970s. What nobody said was that it's an achievement when the city averages 1.5 shootings a day.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake picked up a black 9mm Glock. She praised her federal partners and noted that despite the tough fiscal times, "we will continue to ratchet up the effort to go after illegal guns."
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J Rosenstein said his office successfully prosecuted 206 people on gun charges in 2009 and has already targeted 131 people this year. Defendants in the federal system typically get 10 to 30 years in a prison far away from Baltimore and with no chance to be released early on parole or probation.
"We don't celebrate that 99 people were killed this year, but we do celebrate the people who weren't shot," Rosenstein said.