New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg talks with fellow mayors at the Mayors Against Illegal Guns National Summit on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007 on Captiol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

A coalition of mayors recently gathered to discuss violent crime prevention in their cities. Only 10 of America’s many mayors chair this group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), which is part of Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety gun control group. At their latest summit, the coalition ratified its position that the firearm and ammunition industry is unwilling to take steps to reduce gun violence.

The problem is that MAIG’s position simply is not grounded in reality.

Efforts to paint the firearm industry as irresponsible are part of well-established narratives that dominate certain political ecosystems and the punditry of select cable news channels. There is no doubt that cities across the nation, like Kansas City, Mo., experience persistent violent crime. But fervent claims that the American businesses manufacturing firearms directly cause gun violence are based on rhetoric, not reality.

To point fingers at the firearm industry is an abdication of responsibility on the part of these mayors. Fundamentally, it is a waste of essential time and resources that could and should be channeled into effective crime reduction strategies. More broadly, this line of attack fails to recognize that manufacturers and retailers have engaged in meaningful programs to reduce the criminal and negligent misuse of firearms for many years. …

Interestingly, MAIG’s arguments, and the arguments of almost every gun control group, omit NSSF’s multi-decade regulatory, legislative, and community-based advocacy efforts. These groups ignore this work even as NSSF partners with police in many of these mayors’ cities to prevent the criminal misuse of firearms.

Such groups also remain united in their advocacy for a full ban on firearms. This implicit call to action urging for a limitless gun ban is a clear attack on the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding American citizens. These proposals are blatantly unconstitutional, and they do not prevent violent criminals from illegally obtaining firearms. According to a 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, criminals convicted of using a firearm during their crime obtained it through illicit means 90 percent of the time. That’s through theft or the black market—not from lawful firearm retailers.

That’s a startling statistic. But what purpose would additional laws serve if we cannot enforce the laws already on the books, while most criminals obtain firearms through illegal sources? Criminals would pay them no mind and continue to commit crimes using firearms acquired through methods that are, have been, and continue to be totally illegal.

America’s mayors have a responsibility to refrain from biased, fact free rhetoric about the industry and not try to offload blame for gun violence in America. By painting our lawful, heavily regulated industry as the enemy, organizations like MAIG are missing an opportunity to engage with us in meaningful and substantive action to protect Americans and our Second Amendment rights.

— Lawrence G. Keane in The Firearm Industry Is Finding Solutions While Others Point Fingers

19 COMMENTS

      • The same with Bobby, he ran his mouth to the wrong people.
        It also did not turn out well for him.
        The Kennedy’s were funny that way, their father was a criminal.
        “It was a family curse.”
        No, it was that the whole clan had all sorts of dirt on them.

  1. It’s always somebody elses fault.
    And when they run out of somebody else they blame each other.
    When they get tired of blaming each other they blame phantoms and existential nonsense.

  2. One world government, that’s what it’s all about. Open eyes to see and open ears to hear. Why do you think the UN is so hard for the small arms treaty?

    • Ya know Groot in Chiraq blames Indiana for Chicago’s gat crime. Sued a store I frequent in unincorporated Gary named Westforth. As a result they won’t sell me an Illinois resident a gat. I’ve literally seen them refuse to sell to multiple people. Meanwhile Groot let BLM & Antifools run wild to kill,steal & destroy let alone the estimated 150000(!)gangbangers. Dims of all stripes are the problem🙄

  3. The mantra of Leftists is that they are not to blame for anything. They fail to understand that if you permit crime to go on with no firm action to curtail it, it will fester like an ugly festering wound.
    NYC under Rudy Giuliani had a simple solution and it worked. It was/is called the “Broken Windows” policy. You take care of the small things and the big things take care of themselves.

  4. “Only 10 of America’s many mayors chair this group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).”
    The new co-chairs include: Baltimore, Maryland Mayor Brandon Scott; Chattanooga, Tennessee Mayor Tim Kelly; Former Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin; Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas; Mount Vernon, New York Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard; New York, New York Mayor Eric Adams; Former Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs; St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Tishaura Jones; Tampa, Florida Mayor Jane Castor; and Tucson, Arizona Mayor Regina Romero.

    Every city except Tampa and Tucson has a severe violent crime rate related to the 13%.

      • You’re reading my mind. I was just looking up the Tampa mayor — “She was the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as Chief of Police of the Tampa Police Department from 2009 to 2015 and the first openly gay person to be elected Mayor of Tampa.”

        Tampa mayoral elections are “non-partisan” but Castor is identified as a Donk.

        My money is on all or the majority of the remainder being Donks.

  5. Larry is quite the wordsmith but wastes many calories preaching to the choir. Still, he says what needs to be said, even if those who should heed his words, don’t.

  6. Liberals aren’t concerned with facts. They’re here to give you the straight scoop on life. The mayors of the United States should not try to blame gun violence in the country by using biassed, unrealistic rhetoric about the industry.

  7. This is very interesting information! I’ve really enjoyed reading your points, and I think you’re right about a lot of them. You are amazing. I should thank you for all the work you put into making this post

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