jfh
Member.
from the StarTribune, Jan 27:
That's the whole editorial--here's the link:http://www.startribune.com/561/story/962786.html
I'm not up to speed on this mayoral "illegal guns" BS game, but if you can get me up to speed, I'll write a response.
Jim H.
Editorial: U.S. mayors get tough on illegal firearms
Rybak, Coleman join in effort of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
(sidebar)CHICAGO'S RECORD "Last year, Chicago's crime rate went down 3 percent, while the national rate increased 3 percent. One of the reasons for our success is that our police continue to lead the nation in removing illegal guns from the streets." Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
The nation's mayors -- including St. Paul's Chris Coleman and Minneapolis' R.T. Rybak -- are taking dead aim at the illegal firearms that fuel the carnage visited upon so many of their neighborhoods. With Democrats now controlling Congress, they stand a good chance of taking down the barriers to effective law enforcement erected by the National Rifle Association and its congressional allies.
The mayors met Tuesday in Washington, with Rybak in attendance, in their first national summit as Mayors Against Illegal Guns. It is a bipartisan group determined to get from Congress the tools they need to take illegal guns off the street.
Their first target is the Tiahrt amendment, named for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., which prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from releasing trace data on illegal firearms to cities and their law enforcement agencies except in narrowly defined cases. Every year since 2003, the Tiahrt amendment has been attached to Justice Department appropriations bills, and each year the restrictions have gotten tighter. This year, several bills in the House would further tighten the language and make it permanent. As a consequence of Tiahrt, for example, cities are unable to use BATFE data to pursue action against a gun dealer who is the source of illegal weapons used to commit crimes.
As always, cries will go up that the mayors want to trample on the right to bear arms. That's nonsense, says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leader of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "Our coalition has refused to fall into the same old trap that this is an either/or issue -- either respect the rights of gun owners, or keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals," Bloomberg said at the summit. "The fact is, respecting the rights of gun owners while cracking down on illegal guns are completely compatible goals -- and we are committed to both."
To help move their congressional agenda forward, the mayors will work with an impressive bipartisan task force in the House that includes Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee; John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the Judiciary Committee; Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., a member of the Appropriations Committee.
The mayors and the members of Congress have the wholehearted support of the American people. Poll after poll has shown that most Americans, tired of their neighborhoods being turned into battle zones, support strong efforts to control illegal guns. They don't buy the gun-rights alarms of the NRA and its allies. In a recent poll, respondents were asked a question that went directly to the issue raised by the Tiahrt amendment. Asked whether "police should or should not be allowed to share information with other cities and states about who sold and bought a gun that is found at a crime scene," 90 percent of all respondents and 87 percent of gun owners said such sharing should be allowed.
The mayors' cause is righteous, and we're delighted that Coleman and Rybak are taking an active role. Getting illegal guns off the streets of their two cities is a goal their constituents will wholeheartedly support.
Rybak, Coleman join in effort of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
(sidebar)CHICAGO'S RECORD "Last year, Chicago's crime rate went down 3 percent, while the national rate increased 3 percent. One of the reasons for our success is that our police continue to lead the nation in removing illegal guns from the streets." Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
The nation's mayors -- including St. Paul's Chris Coleman and Minneapolis' R.T. Rybak -- are taking dead aim at the illegal firearms that fuel the carnage visited upon so many of their neighborhoods. With Democrats now controlling Congress, they stand a good chance of taking down the barriers to effective law enforcement erected by the National Rifle Association and its congressional allies.
The mayors met Tuesday in Washington, with Rybak in attendance, in their first national summit as Mayors Against Illegal Guns. It is a bipartisan group determined to get from Congress the tools they need to take illegal guns off the street.
Their first target is the Tiahrt amendment, named for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., which prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from releasing trace data on illegal firearms to cities and their law enforcement agencies except in narrowly defined cases. Every year since 2003, the Tiahrt amendment has been attached to Justice Department appropriations bills, and each year the restrictions have gotten tighter. This year, several bills in the House would further tighten the language and make it permanent. As a consequence of Tiahrt, for example, cities are unable to use BATFE data to pursue action against a gun dealer who is the source of illegal weapons used to commit crimes.
As always, cries will go up that the mayors want to trample on the right to bear arms. That's nonsense, says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leader of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "Our coalition has refused to fall into the same old trap that this is an either/or issue -- either respect the rights of gun owners, or keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals," Bloomberg said at the summit. "The fact is, respecting the rights of gun owners while cracking down on illegal guns are completely compatible goals -- and we are committed to both."
To help move their congressional agenda forward, the mayors will work with an impressive bipartisan task force in the House that includes Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee; John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the Judiciary Committee; Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., a member of the Appropriations Committee.
The mayors and the members of Congress have the wholehearted support of the American people. Poll after poll has shown that most Americans, tired of their neighborhoods being turned into battle zones, support strong efforts to control illegal guns. They don't buy the gun-rights alarms of the NRA and its allies. In a recent poll, respondents were asked a question that went directly to the issue raised by the Tiahrt amendment. Asked whether "police should or should not be allowed to share information with other cities and states about who sold and bought a gun that is found at a crime scene," 90 percent of all respondents and 87 percent of gun owners said such sharing should be allowed.
The mayors' cause is righteous, and we're delighted that Coleman and Rybak are taking an active role. Getting illegal guns off the streets of their two cities is a goal their constituents will wholeheartedly support.
That's the whole editorial--here's the link:http://www.startribune.com/561/story/962786.html
I'm not up to speed on this mayoral "illegal guns" BS game, but if you can get me up to speed, I'll write a response.
Jim H.
