We cover the crime beat in Baltimore, Maryland so frequently around here that regular readers already know what a dangerous place it is. The city recorded well over 300 murders again last year and they’re already up to nearly 30 this year. And a disturbing number of both the victims and the shooters are teenagers. This brought out a crowd of protesters and “gun safety advocates” in Annapolis yesterday demanding action from elected officials. Maryland’s new governor, Wes Moore, showed up to address the crowd, promising that “we’ve got your back,” and “your issues are ours.” But what the audience really wanted was “tighter gun laws.” And yet no matter how often the issue is raised, Maryland always seems to miss the mark. (CBS Baltimore)
Hundreds of gun safety advocates gathered in Annapolis on Tuesday pleading for people to “put down their guns.”
On Gun Safety Advocacy, those in the crowd, including many mothers, pushed for tougher gun laws.
In January, three teenagers younger than the age of 18 were shot and killed in Baltimore City.
Gov. Wes Moore joined gun safety groups in Annapolis calling for tighter gun laws.
Democrats like Wes Moore and most of the state legislature are always ready to talk about more gun control laws. But just as with the Mayor of Baltimore, there seems to be a disconnect between what the grieving families are saying and what the Governor is hearing.
The grandmother of one teenage victim told the governor, “Please, get the killers off the street is all I’m pleading before they kill again.” The family of another teen victim called on the government to “make an example” of the shooters. Others specifically spoke of all the illegal guns on the streets.
And that would obviously be the approach to bring these numbers down. The fact that there are so many teenage shooters and victims should be telling them something. They’re dealing with an epidemic of gang violence and the gangs recruit younger and younger new members all of the time.
But here is what the Governor chose to highlight in terms of what the state legislator is working on:
- Raising the age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21
- Creating tighter gun storage requirements
- Restricting guns in certain public places.
Are you seeing the disconnect I mentioned above? Those parents and families want the shooters caught and locked up. They want the illegal guns off of the streets. They want the gangs brought under control.
None of those laws do anything about the actual problem. Teenagers don’t buy their guns in licensed gun shops. Neither do the older gang members with police records. None of them would pass a background check, so they get them on the black market, known in Maryland as The Iron Pipeline. They don’t obey minimum age laws and I doubt many of the gang bangers own gun safes and trigger locks. You need to be directly addressing the gang and their illegal weapons. That’s where the attention needs to be focused.
Also, every time someone has tried to pass legislation at the state level or in Baltimore that would increase prison sentences for gun crimes, the Democrats have shot down the effort, saying that it would “disproportionately impact minorities.” So even if the police manage to catch some of these younger gang bangers, they’re back out on the streets in no time flat.
Everyone knows there is an epidemic of gang violence in Baltimore and other cities around the state. But the politicians are only interested in politically correct laws and not making the difficult changes that would be required to get the gang members and the illegal guns off of the streets in a serious fashion. Passing laws that will only impact law-abiding gun owners and be ignored by the gangs isn’t going to change anything.
