Numerous mayors from the largest cities in America are urging the U.S. Senate to pass stricter gun laws. The letter from the mayors asks the Senate to approve the House-passed gun safety measure during the lame-duck session.
There might not be a solution to the crime issue that plagues these cities in Congress. Instead, the mayors ought to focus on local issues. Or, even better, give yourself a long, hard look in the mirror.
74 mayors signed the letter, which was sent by the United States Conference of Mayors. They put up two requests to U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, the minority leader (R-Ky.).
First, they want S. 736, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, passed by the Senate. This bill would outlaw a whole category of firearms known as modern sporting rifles (MSRs), which are widely owned and utilized. According to industry figures, there have been more than 24.4 million produced since 1990, and ownership has skyrocketed in recent years.
The mayors assert that implementing the prohibition on MSRs, or the semiautomatic centerfire rifles they falsely label “assault weapons,” would not “in any way impinge on Second Amendment rights.” They assert that outlawing MSRs has the support of two-thirds of Americans, but The Reload found that to be blatantly incorrect. Less than half of Americans are in favor of such a restriction.
That’s probably because more law-abiding Americans than ever before, including women and people of color, have bought MSRs for hunting, target practice, and self-defense. In any case, the popular vote does not determine a person’s constitutional rights.
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, more murders were perpetrated with knives, fists, and clubs than with any other type of rifle, including MSRs like the AR-15. Sens. John Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have consistently expressed opposition, making it unlikely that the Senate plan will receive even 50 votes, much less the 60 needed.
The second demand in the letter is that the Senate establish a law creating a nationwide system of background checks for all transfers of firearms, including private ones. The mayors claim that doing this “closes gaps” and prevents consumers from “circumventing the law.” These two statements are contradictory because the law is always applied exactly as it is written; there is no way to get around it.
The Background Check Expansion Act, S. 529, has significant legal issues because a national firearms registry is required for its implementation. The 1986 Gun Control Act and the 1993 Brady Act expressly forbid that. It is illegal since registration is a requirement before government confiscation, as history tells us.
Additionally, the act will “assist law enforcement in tracing crime firearms.” The Tiahrt Amendment, which limits public access to critical, law enforcement-only firearm tracing data, is something they want to eliminate.
Congress, the ATF, and law enforcement organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) support this restriction because it protects sensitive tracing information that could jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations and endanger the lives of law enforcement officers, cooperating retailers, and witnesses.
They also neglect to mention that the ATF has joint task forces and regularly shares intelligence with state and local law enforcement, often derived from looking at trace data and that their own law enforcement agencies have access to trace data for their cities and can share data with other agencies.
The signers are a who’s who of gun control supporters, with one glaring similarity. Democrats make up 92 percent or 68 of the 74 letter co-signers. The mayors of several of the Top 10 cities which had the most Americans fleeing them in recent years signed, including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Detroit. Surging crime and soft-on-criminals policies have been significant issues in those cities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed. He ran his campaign on getting tough on criminals, but has instead deflected action and pushed for national gun control.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler signed the letter. His city descended into chaos and saw a federal courthouse set on fire by rioters. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed too. Criminals in Seattle under the previous mayor Jenny Durkan set up a “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” or CHAZ, where law enforcement was prohibited. That’s where “Raz the Warlord” was captured on video handing out AR-15s from his Tesla’s trunk, violating several of Seattle’s existing gun laws.
Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot, also a signer, has been too busy making dance music videos to address the surging crime problem plaguing the Windy City.
Then there is San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo already passed gun ownership restrictions on residents even though he admitted to CNN his plans won’t address the crime problem. “Skeptics will say that criminals won’t comply. They’re right,” he said.
Several of the mayors who signed the gun control letter come from Red states where voters have approved constitutional carry laws in the past years and expanded the ability of law-abiding Americans to purchase legal firearms, including MSRs, for self-defense.
What the mayors refuse to accept is that criminals don’t follow their laws. They should focus their efforts closer to home and hold criminals accountable instead of running to Washington, D.C., and passing the buck.