Anti-gun politicians have reacted predictably to the shooting in downtown Seattle Wednesday by calling for more gun control when it is clear from the facts that their previous gun control schemes haven’t worked.
As reported by KCPQ, the Seattle affiliate to Fox, “Politicians are pushing for more gun control after Wednesday night’s deadly shooting downtown where bullets hit eight people, killing one woman in the crossfire.”
Likewise, as John Carlson, morning drive time talk host at Seattle’s KVI, observed early Friday morning when referring to the pols, “They know what to do but it would mean admitting they were wrong and going in the opposite direction and they are not going to do that.”
Anti-gun Democrat State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon tweeted: “Gun violence is not something that we have to live with. It is something that public policy can prevent. Once we know the facts of this case, the Legislature can and should pass laws to make gun violence less of a fact of life in our state.”
Gun violence is not something that we have to live with. It is something that public policy can prevent. Once we know the facts of this case, the Legislature can and should pass laws to make gun violence less of a fact of life in our state. #waleghttps://t.co/NhJB3NjU3x
— Joe Fitzgibbon (@joefitzgibbon) January 23, 2020
Perhaps Fitzgibbon slept through all of the news coverage Thursday when the facts were all revealed. Police are searching for two recidivist outlaws identified as Marquise Latrelle Tolbert and William Ray Tolliver as the prime suspects. Between them they’ve been arrested at least 65 times and convicted at least 35 times, making them career criminals who were on the street thanks to histories of incredible leniency from the courts and prosecutors.
Seattle Councilwoman Teresa Mosqueda tweeted: “We must get these guns out of our community and end the epidemic of gun violence – now. Heartbreaking third shooting in just two days.”
Notice, Mosqueda didn’t say anything about getting thugs out of the community to end an “epidemic of gang violence.”
We must get these guns out of our community and end the epidemic of gun violence – now. Heartbreaking third shooting in just two days. https://t.co/XhM32ZYpAl
— Teresa Mosqueda (@TeresaCMosqueda) January 23, 2020
Anti-gun Seattle Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, another Democrat, also chimed in with a statement: “We know not every incident of gun violence can be prevented, but it is our moral imperative to do all we can to keep our children and families safe. I pledge to continue doing everything I can to fight the gun lobby and its Congressional allies who stand in the way of commonsense gun safety and gun violence prevention measures.”
All gun control is defined as “commonsense” by far-left liberals such as Jayapal, who at least acknowledged gun control doesn’t prevent “every incident” of violent crime. As examined recently by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the so-called “gun violence prevention measures”—which is camo-speak for gun control—promoted by the gun prohibition lobby apparently haven’t prevented any incidents.
Reiterating what was reported Thursday, “Seattle Police data show more reports of shots fired in the years following passage of Initiative 594 in 2014. I-594 was the so-called ‘universal background check’ measure that was supposed to keep guns out of the wrong hands. CCRKBA joined with several other groups to oppose that measure…
“Prior to 2014, incidents of shots fired in Seattle never topped 300,” according to a report at Ammoland. “Since 2015—the first full year following passage of the gun control measure—the number of shooting incidents has not dropped below 300.”
The story also recalled how the Seattle City Council adopted a “gun violence tax” on the sale of firearms and ammunition inside city limits in 2015. In 2016, the city posted 18 slayings of which 11 were gun-related. In 2017, the city recorded 27 murders, including 16 involving firearms. In 2018, the number was 32, according to SPD data, and 13 of them involved guns. Last year, SPD said, there were 28 slayings.
Further demonstrating gun control’s failure are the FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. In 2016, Washington reported 195 total homicides including 127 involving firearms. In 2017, the state posted 228 total slayings including 134 killings with guns and in 2018 there were 232 murders including 138 committed with firearms.”
With their criminal backgrounds, two things are unlikely about the Seattle shooting suspects:
- They are not legally licensed to carry, as are the more than 646,300 honest citizens who are licensed, and will likely be penalized by some piece of legislation.
- Neither obtained their firearms through legal avenues, which means they did not bother with the “universal background check” mandated in 2014 by gun control Initiative 594.
Fitzgibbon, Mosqueda, Jayapal, anti-gun Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan nor any other anti-rights Democrat is going to admit they were wrong, as KVI’s Carlson pointed out. This is why their policies will continue failing, even if they continue being adopted.
Grassroots activists in Washington acknowledge the only way to change this is to change the political landscape. While that can be accomplished in the Evergreen State, it’s going to require all gun owners to vote and be willing to take action.
In Virginia, at least 22,000 gun owners took the time to gather around their state capital in Richmond. Virginia set the bar and Washington activists say it’s time to do the same in Olympia.
