Editorial: How to get illegal guns off the streets ...

[spin]

Published: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 7:02 AM Updated: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 11:06 AM



Some of the handguns confiscated by the Grand Rapids Police Department.

Criminals and handguns are a bad combination. The mix can result in everything from mere calamity to outright murder.

The most effective responses are citizen vigilance, individual responsibility and continued cooperation between federal and local law enforcement in prosecuting gun thieves.

***snip***

That makes it imperative that gun owners adequately secure their firearms in their homes. Police say most guns linked to local crimes were stolen in burglaries by family or friends who needed the money. People whose guns are stolen are required by state law to report the theft to police. Those reports don’t always happen, though they unfailingly should. Sometimes gun owners tell police they don’t know the theft has occurred and sometimes they suspect a family member and may want to protect them.

The Press is taking a direct hand in another solution: citizen action. The newspaper has teamed with Silent Observer to create a gun hotline that will field anonymous tips on illegal firearms. The Press secured a $5,000 grant from the Center on Media, Crime & Justice. People providing information that leads to an arrest will receive a $250 reward. The tips can be made through phone calls, text messages or the Web. Whistleblowers’ identities are closely protected.

***snip***

In another response federal agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have teamed with local law enforcement in Grand Rapids and elsewhere to aggressively pursue gun thieves. The pairing allows for tougher federal penalties, in the form of longer sentences, to be applied in some cases.

The concern here is not with citizens exercising their legitimate constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The concern is with criminals abusing the right for dangerous and murderous ends.

Stopping this activity should be a shared goal for all sides of the gun debate. Protect legal activity. Prosecute illegal activity. Report stolen guns. Bring the hammer down on criminals who traffic in them.

And save a few lives in the process.
http://www.topix.com/guns/2010/12/editorial-how-to-get-illegal-guns-off-the-streets

[PavePusher]

1. That's certainly a refreshing take from the media. Good on them! n/t

[aikoaiko]

2. "Protect legal activity. Prosecute illegal activity." -- word.

Its really that simple.

[Katya Mullethov]

3. And with more funding ,more leeway , and the complete backing of the American People

We will round the corner in the war on illegal crime guns .

[Atypical Liberal]

4. Private sales.

The simple truth is that no matter what laws you pass, they don't apply to criminals. There are no background checks on private firearm sales. So no matter what laws you pass or what background checks you require for firearms bought in stores, as long as people can buy them through private transactions criminals will always be able to buy firearms with no problems at all.

It's probably less hassle to buy a firearm illegally than legally.

[lawodevolution]

5. The reason this will fail is the entire idea is still wrapped around the idea that it is the gun

That is illegal. Probably 99 percent of those guns are perfectly legal and if they are in the hands of a law abiding citizen just like the other 300 million guns they will not be used in crime.

The best way to take guns that end up in the black market out of the black market is to find a way for them to have a pathway back into the legitimate gun market and a pathway back into the safes of legitimate gun owners.

But just like idiotic gun buyback programs that offer 10% of the value of the guns and waste tax payer money because these guns are either melted down or pocketed rather than sold back into the legitimate gun market, this crap will also fail to make it more difficult for bad guys to get guns because it maintains the fallacy that it is the fault of the gun itself for being in the wrong hands. But the government does not do gun buyback programs or stuff like this to really make the streets safer, they are just meant to give people the false feeling that politicians are doing something about crime and violence.

[Euromutt]

7. Oh, I don't know; it depends on how you define "fail"

Certainly, the ideas posited in this editorial aren't going to put an end to violent crime. They won't even put an end to violent offenders acquiring firearms with which to commit crimes. In that regard, you could call the end result a failure.

However, if it makes it more difficult for violent offenders to acquire firearms without infringing on the freedoms of individuals who own firearms for non-criminal purposes, then that has to count for something.

[Euromutt]

6. Shag me, that's a Steyr M1912 in the upper right corner!

Those things have been out of production since 1918; how did it end up in Grand Rapids, MI?
And that revolver two places to the left, past the Ruger semi-auto, looks like a Webley .38 Mk.IV with replacement grips.

[spin]

8. If you are right, those two might be worth something to a collector ...

hopefully the police department can sell them rather than destroy them.