By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
When police in Bellevue, Washington recently arrested two men in the parking garage at the popular Bellevue Square Mall, it provided an illustration about the failure of gun control as a policy.
According to the Bellevue Police blog, officers were called to the mall by security. There they found a car which had been reported stolen, along with an illegally-modified handgun. More officers were called and after they arrived, they arrested two men from Seattle who were returning to the car. One of those men was a convicted felon and he was carrying a handgun, which was also reported stolen. The other male, aged 19, was arrested for illegal possession of a handgun as he was too young to be legally carrying a handgun. The pistol in question had been illegally modified to fire fully-auto, according to the police and KCPQ/Fox News13.
Images of both handguns posted online by the Bellevue police show they are both Glocks, fitted with extended magazines
KIRO News said the bust occurred in the afternoon, and that police said the gun recovered in the car was in full view, next to the passenger seat. That is also a violation of state law, which says (in part), “A person shall not carry or place a loaded pistol in any vehicle unless the person has a license to carry a concealed pistol and: (i) The pistol is on the licensee’s person, (ii) the licensee is within the vehicle at all times that the pistol is there, or (iii) the licensee is away from the vehicle and the pistol is locked within the vehicle and concealed from view from outside the vehicle.”
Neither man had a concealed pistol license, and the gun was visible.
While the incident provided an opportunity for Bellevue Police Chief Wendell Shirley to observe that people coming to his city to commit crimes “your chances of being caught are high,” it also underscores the major failure of gun control, as frequently explained by critics: Criminals do not obey gun control laws. Such laws only affect law-abiding citizens.
In nearby Seattle last month, police apprehended a wanted felon who was illegally carrying a handgun, which he discharged in the lobby of the Columbia Tower building. Felons cannot possess firearms.
Also last month, Seattle police apprehended a 34-year-old female for felony harassment, and according to the Police Blotter, she was carrying three handguns, one of which had been reported stolen. This was sometime after she allegedly drew a handgun and pointed it at an apartment complex security guard. She was also allegedly in possession of illegal drugs, and had an outstanding warrant for her arrest.
Since 2014, Washington has seen the adoption of two restrictive gun control initiatives, and several new gun control laws. The number of homicides has gone up statewide, and Seattle recently set a new record despite the adoption of a “gun violence” tax on firearm and ammunition sales in 2015.
