Earlier this month, the Prince George’s County Council unanimously passed a bill that would create a gun offender registry, forcing convicted gun offenders to register with police and allow them to visit their homes unannounced. But the county’s chapter of the NAACP isn’t happy with the law, and is looking to call a referendum on it, reports the Gazette:

“Everyone I mention this to, they think it’s crazy,” said Bob Ross, NAACP chapter president. “I understand what [the county] is trying to do, but they’re beginning to define our community by crime. We should never define our community by crime.”

Since the legislation’s passing in the council, Baker has 45 days to sign the bill, giving him a July 20 deadline.

Ross said if Baker does sign the bill, he plans to start a petition to take it to a referendum to let county residents decide whether to force gun offenders to put their information into a police database.

“The council must talk to the residents. They can’t sit there and not talk to the residents,” Ross said. “The legislators represent us. They should at least come out and talk about it.”

Critics of the registry argue that it would only marginalize ex-offenders, making it harder for them to find jobs and establish normal lives.

But proponents argue that something has to be done to crack down on gun crimes in the county; last year there were 95 homicides, 64 of which involved guns, and 977 guns linked to 180 nonfatal shootings were recovered. They also say that the registry isn’t forever—depending on the crime, a convicted gun offender would only be on the registry for three or five years—and that criminals that use guns show high recidivism rates.

A similar gun registry in Baltimore was ruled unconstitutional in 2011; New York has had a gun offender registry since 2006.