JACKSON, Miss. -- The recent murder of a delivery man has Jackson, Miss.'s City Council considering a proposal to require convenience store owners to hire security guards, according to a report by WJTV. The ordinance was on the table last week at a special public hearing, it said.
Jackson store owners are opposed to the idea, said the report.
"The store people they can't afford to have even one employee. Now that store person will pay a security guard plus liability on that person," store owner Surinder Singh told the news outlet.
After hearing Singh's concerns, [image-nocss] the city councilman Keith Stokes is willing to rework his proposal, said the report. He's now asking for a moratorium on convenience stores in Jackson. Stokes says they are magnets for crime.
"We have to do something while we try to work out how we make convenience stores safer," said Stokes.
Stokes new proposal would take a phased in approach, WJTV said.
First he wants the moratorium on new stores. Then he wants to require store owners who operate 24-hours a day to hire security guards. Finally, he would like officers to check on the other stores on a regular basis.
Stokes plans to hold another public hearing to talk about this latest proposal this week, the report added.
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