These deeds are expected and normally ignored by most, but it’s a different story when this grandstanding involves constitutional rights.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg decided to prove a point in his battle against crime in his city, a noteworthy cause that all law-abiding citizens support. However, he chose the wrong target and a pointless gesture to show his mettle.
Under new city policy, confiscated guns will now have their firing pins removed.
That’s it. A completely reversible procedure to prove a point will be undertaken for the sake of making some anti-gun zealots feel good about themselves.
As Openrange Gun Range President Barry Laws observed, “Basically they’re just creating a lot of busywork for law enforcement and gun dealers to put the gun back in a position where it can be sold again.
As most gun enthusiasts know, it is a brief process for someone who has done it multiple times. Most of the time it can be accomplished in under a minute. So why is Greenberg so adamant about this unnecessary and wholly symbolic move?
He admits that under Kentucky law, this is as close as he can come to destroying confiscated weapons. Greenberg said on Thursday that to abide by state law, the guns are sent to the Kentucky State Police (KSP) for auction. “Today is just the first step in our administration’s efforts to end our illegal gun trade, to end our illegal gun crisis,” he said.
Greenberg many times has criticized what he claimed are state laws that put the guns right back into the communities they were taken from.
Most of the funds raised return to the police departments throughout the state to pay for body armor.
Weapons will now be shipped to the KSP with the gun and removed firing pin stored separately. There will also be a warning label letting the state police and potential buyers know that the weapon may have been used to commit a crime. The city-issued label will also include statistics on violence and promote new laws to change how the state regulates firearms.
Laws said the mayor’s initiative just adds a meaningless layer to the process. Inconvenience aside, federally licensed firearms purchasers will be well aware of how to get them working again. He also noted that the cost of having professionals remove and store the pins counterbalances any perceived benefit.
He said that, in the future, it would be helpful for city and state officials to reach out to people who actually work with guns daily to be a part of the process.
“(It’s) like going to a roller-skating rink and never (having) roller-skated and tell(ing) them how to do things,” Laws noted. “Come see us, and we can discuss what would really make a difference.”
The Louisville mayor’s office advocates House Bill 325, which would amend state law and allow for local governments to destroy seized guns.
Demonstrating the twisted logic of the anti-gun lobby, Mayor Greenberg on Thursday made a statement that flies in the face of reason. “When we seize drugs in our city,” he said, “we don’t put those drugs back on the street and give them to a different drug dealer, we destroy them. Why don’t we do the same with guns?”
The answer, Mr. Mayor, is simple. Drugs are illegal. Drugs are not constitutionally protected and provide law-abiding citizens with the means to protect themselves from violent criminals who are in fact put right back out onto the streets.
Guns are inanimate objects that serve the objective of the holder. Misplaced blame will not solve the crime surge the country is experiencing. Its only function is to salve the emotions of grandstanding politicians who ignore real solutions in favor of band-aid approaches that accomplish nothing.
