CHICAGO – In an unusual attempt at addressing one of its most vexing problems, the city of Chicago is asking residents with ideas on how to get illegal guns off the streets to share their thoughts – in 140 characters or fewer on Twitter.

The initiative is part of Chicago Ideas Week, an annual forum for innovators, artists, scientists and others to share ideas, make connections and inspire action. Those who think they know how to cut off the flow of illegal guns coming into Chicago are being asked to tweet suggestions with the hashtag (hash)whatifchicago. The best ideas will be debated at an Oct. 11 panel discussion during Ideas Week that will include police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The head of the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have made combating gun violence in the nation’s third-largest city a top priority, and are fighting gangs with a strategy that includes deploying beat officers to trouble spots for longer periods. The city is also paying an anti-violence group called CeaseFire $1 million to mediate conflicts in neighborhoods beset by gangs.