Is It Gun Control Or Is It Crime Control

Home grown mass murder attacks in America have become common.  Foreign directed terrorists attacks in America have not.  Both however are crimes defined by our criminal justice system and both involve weapons.  Gun control is mentioned after every attack by those who both support and oppose that so called answer.  Each group expresses the reasons they support or oppose such gun control.

The answer is Crime Control and what works best at stopping mass murder regardless if domestic or foreign directed.  The Brady Bill that was supported and passed during the Clinton administration banned assault weapons.  Police chiefs all over America supported the bill and after being in effect for many years testified that it worked.  They should know, right?  The George W. Bush administration let the Brady Bill expire and assault weapons have been back on the streets and continue to kill innocent people.  There was no good reason for Bush to let the bill expire because it controlled crime.  The NRA of course pushed to let a successful law expire.  For that action, the future became like the past.

In the recent mass murders in San Bernardino the FBI reported they discovered a massive catch of guns, rifles, ammo and other explosive devises that the two shooters stockpiled and purchased legally.  Does any one really believe civilians should be able to legally purchase such a great quantity of weapons and ammo.  Those laws should be shut down and closed in favor of crime control.  Any one purchasing large quantities of such weapons are sure not doing so for self protection.

Crime control is having laws that effectively address the problem of the proliferation of weapons that go beyond self protection and legitimate hunting.  Automatic weapons and semi automatic weapons with large clips of ammo should be covered by laws with teeth where city, state and federal law enforcement agents have knowledge about the purchaser in order to prevent a future crime.

Crime control to protect innocent Americans from domestic or foreign attack is not only necessary but one and the same.  The American people have always accepted the hardships and responsibility that go along with keeping the people and the country safe.  The frequency of innocent Americans being killed has to come to an end and effective crime control has to take place.  Gun control does not describe the problem or the answer, crime control does.  It also takes care of the gun control issue.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio