Democrats don't seem to enforce the gun control they have :: 04/21/2023

I’m not a fan of gun control of, well, any sort. If I had my druthers, we’d be able to order tanks on Amazon and Walmart would sell belt feds next to the bicycles.

I don’t get my way, though, and that’s never going to happen. I can live with it, too, because it’s not like I’ve ever seen that happen in my life as it is, so I’m not losing anything.

A lot of people like at least some degree of gun control, though. Many Democrats–not all, by any means, but the vast majority–want more of it.

The problem? It seems none of them in a position to enforce what’s on the books seems to have the inclination to do so.

But Democrats, in some places, are not pursuing criminal penalties for violations of the gun laws they already have — including some restrictions Democrats recently championed.

For example, Biden signed an executive order last year cracking down on so-called ghost guns, untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled at home, while some liberal prosecutors are letting suspects caught with those types of guns serve light or no sentences.

Police in many cities have continued arresting people caught with illegal guns, sometimes repeatedly, while progressive prosecutors drop the cases and release offenders back on the streets.

In Philadelphia, for example, arrests for gun possession have soared in recent years as convictions for gun possession have fallen.

Gun possession arrests increased by more than 100% between 2015 and 2020, according to a report published last year by the city’s controller.

But the conviction rate for illegal gun possession cases fell from 65% to 42% over that same time frame. The decrease occurred both because the city’s district attorney withdrew more cases and because judges dismissed more.

It should be noted, though, that Philadelphia officials decry the lack of authority to pass their own gun control laws.

Yet it’s not just Philadelphia that clamors for more gun control while refusing to enforce it.

Washington, DC, for example.

In Washington, D.C., police have recovered thousands of illegal guns off the streets as violence has increased over the past several years.

But not every illegal gun recovery results in an arrest, and not every arrest for a gun offense leads to a successful prosecution.

During the first week of March, for example, Washington police recovered 58 illegal guns from the streets.

Police arrested 33 people for illegal gun offenses that week; many of the guns were recovered without any arrests.

But even some of the offenders arrested for illegal gun possession avoided any meaningful consequences.

In addition, progressive shining star Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA, has downgraded most gun charges that have come before him as well.

All over the place, we see the anti-gun side all but beg for more and more gun control, then refuse to prosecute people for violating the laws already on the books.

Now, as I said, I don’t necessarily support those laws.

However, when you swear a given law is required to keep people safe, don’t come to me and tell me we need more gun control laws when you haven’t even tried to use the ones already there. Especially when you’re using crime statistics to justify those new rules you want.

After all, if the previous gun control laws were so vital and you’re not prosecuting people for breaking them, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the cause of the high crime rate is the refusal to prosecute people for breaking those laws?

Sorry, no one should be interested in playing that game.

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2023/04/20/enforce-gun-control-n69688