By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued a scathing statement about so-called “police reforms” in various American cities, blaming such policy changes for “hindering law enforcement efforts to remove contraband guns from the streets.”
The grassroots gun rights organization said so-called “reforms” allow gun traffickers to “illegally circulate firearms to convicted felons or underage thugs, contributing to a violent crime problem for which law-abiding gun owners are unfairly penalized.”
According to Fox News, “Recent reforms to police departments policies have led to less traffic stops, something experts are warning has led to more gun trafficking in major cities.”
The story quoted former Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Joseph Sullivan, who estimated that up to 80 percent of illegal guns “taken off the street” were due to traffic stops. There apparently are similar troubles in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. So-called “reforms” have also been instituted in Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis, CCRKBA said.
“Legal vehicle investigations are a critical part of any gun violence strategy,” Sullivan stated.
“The same politicians tying the hands of police and preventing them from putting a crimp in gun trafficking are constantly demanding more laws to restrict law-abiding gun owners,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It’s as though liberal city politicians are on the side of criminals rather than cops and honest citizens.”
The veteran gun rights advocate pointed to remarks by Philadelphia’s Democreat Mayor Jim Kenney earlier in the week that raised hackles among gun owners. Kenney suggested only police should have gns.
“Jim Kenney is a perfect example of the liberal urban political mindset,” Gottlieb said. “He complained there are ‘a lot of goofballs out there with guns and they can get them anytime they want.’ His administration made that a lot easier with these ridiculous reforms that prevent police from actually intercepting gun traffickers and discovering guns possessed by people who shouldn’t have them, during routine traffic stops.”
According to the Fox News report, “traffic stops have become less common in Philadelphia after the city council passed legislation aimed at limiting stops for minor violations, including expired vehicle registrations, a single brake or headlight that is broken, minor bumper damage, or using a car without an official certificate of inspection.”
Yet it appears many of those stops have yielded much more than a traffic citation. Guns transported illegally but seized by police do not find their way into criminal hands.
“It is because of such policies, and soft-on-criminal prosecutors, that the nation is seeing criminals operate with impunity,” Gottlieb observed. “When criminals know they’re not going to be vigorously prosecuted, they are simply emboldened to continue committing crimes that often turn violent. Then what happens? Law-abiding gun owners take the heat from self-righteous politicians for crimes they didn’t commit.
“Honest gun owners are tired of taking the rap,” he added. “Take the handcuffs off police and put them back on the criminals. Stop demanding laws to take guns away from law-abiding citizens and instead restore policies that take guns away from outlaws who shouldn’t have them.”
