Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake today announced that she will seek legislation that would enhance the penalties for illegal gun possession and make the crime a felony.

Speaking before a group of top law enforcement officials, Rawlings-Blake called for a change to state laws that would create a minimum sentence of 18 months and a maximum sentence of 10 years for defendants arrested with an illegal, loaded firearms. The current penalties call for sentences between 30 days and three months years.

Aides say Rawlings-Blake plans a grassroots effort to lobby for the bill - she has been pitching the proposal in meetings with community groups and plans to launch a website and social media efforts to get citizens behind it.

"Too many of these convicted gun offenders are quickly released back into the community and go on to commit other gun crimes," Rawlings-Blake said.

Mayor Sheila Dixon made the same push for an 18-month minimum last year, but Rawlings-Blake's legislation also calls for increasing the maximum to 10 years.

It'll be an uphill battle given how other efforts have fared in the legislature. Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock said the bench was opposed to legislation establishing mandatory sentences. Key legislators have said the same thing in the past.