I saw your report on the efforts of the Justice Resource Center to prohibit firearms sales in high crime areas of Louisville. These efforts are morally equivalent to the Jim Crow laws of the 19th and 20th centuries which disarmed minorities and rendered them unable to protect themselves. Rev. Coleman should take a look at the history books before he promotes victim disarmament upon the people he purports to represent. The ‘gun dry zone” touted by the Justice Resource Center can only make the situation worse.
Nearly every “massacre” in recent history has taken place in a “gun free zone” which did nothing to stop the criminals from murdering their victims. American cities which have placed the most draconian firearms restrictions on their citizens consistently have the highest murder rates.
For the record, there is already a total ban on firearms in both state and federal law for the circumstances presented in your report. I’d like to see a follow-up investigation by your station about the statistics for arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for “gun” crimes in Metro Louisville. Actually, these charges are seldom fully prosecuted, and are often plea bargained away. If “gun” crime is such a problem, why isn’t it enforced and prosecuted more vigorously at the state, local, and federal levels? And why doesn’t the Justice Resource Center insist on this vigorous enforcement and prosecution before they make it more difficult for
A disproportionate percentage of murders are committed against criminals by criminals, and most of these are drug related. Most of these murderers have a long history of violent crime. I’d like to see a follow-up investigation from your station about why these violent criminals are still on the streets.
Here are a few facts to consider for your next report.
- In the entire history of mankind, not one gun has ever committed a crime of violence. Inanimate objects are incapable of committing crimes. Criminals commit crimes, and sometimes they misuse firearms to do it.
- Most people who use guns in crimes are already legally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. Consequently, most firearms used in crimes are stolen, purchased from another criminal, or otherwise obtained illegally.
- Current state and federal law forbids all convicted felons, people convicted of certain misdemeanors, or anyone who is under a restraining order, from purchasing, owning, or being in the possession of any firearm.
- Every person who purchases a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer, or redeems a firearm from a pawnshop, must undergo an FBI instant background check, and fill out and sign a form 4473 certifying under penalty of perjury they:
- are a citizen of the U.S., or resident alien (resident aliens may purchase long guns only)
- are the actual buyer of the firearm (it is a felony to purchase a firearm for another person who is prohibited from purchasing that firearm for themselves)
- are not under indictment for a felony or any other crime for which you could be imprisoned for more than one year
- are not a fugitive from justice
- are not an unlawful user of, or addicted to narcotics or any other illegal or controlled substance
- have never been adjudicated mentally defective, incompetent to manage their own affairs, or been committed to a mental institution
- have not been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces
- are not subject to a domestic restraining order
- have not been convicted in any court for the misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
- have never renounced their U.S citizenship
- are not an illegal alien
- are not a nonimmigrant alien.
- Every person who purchases a firearm from an FFL holder must show a picture ID.
- Not one criminal will find it more difficult to purchase a firearm because they can’t legally purchase a firearm from an FFL holder like a pawn shop.
- The law-abiding citizens of high crime areas are not served by making it more difficult to arm themselves.
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