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Mr. Mayor, Do Your Job
Townhall.com ^ | August 29, 2019 | Lawrence Keene

Posted on 08/29/2019 11:57:02 AM PDT by Kaslin

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney immediately called for increased gun control in the wake of an alarming incident where a convicted felon shot and wounded six police officers attempting to serve a drug-related warrant. “Our officers need help,” he told CBS News. “They need help. They need help with gun control. They need help with keeping these weapons out of these people’s hands.” He doubled down in his call for gun control when he told ABC News, “If the state and federal government don’t want to stand up to the NRA and other folks, let us police ourselves. Our officers deserve to be protected and don’t deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with an unlimited amount of weapons and bullets. It’s disgusting.”

We agree. It is disgusting. No convicted felon including Maurice Hill, who has been sent to prison at least a dozen times for crimes including illegal possession of a firearm and assault, should ever have the ability to get their hands on a firearm. No police officer should be in a position where their life is in danger by such a dangerous criminal. No citizen should be left defenseless against that same criminal while they’re waiting on police.

Most of all, no city should be left helpless by an elected official who would grandstand even when faced with stark evidence of the effects of their unwillingness to enforce existing laws.

Mayor Kenney was rebuked by Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, in a response to the National Review. “Hill is a threat to everyone around him not because he may or may not be an NRA member but because he has embarked on a life of crime. That is what the problem is.”

This isn’t a failure of lacking laws. It’s a failure of executive leadership willing to enforce those laws. Hill was sentenced for his crimes and he even served time for illegal possession of guns. Hill’s convictions on assault, drug charges, illegal weapons possession, escaping, fleeing from police, and resisting arrest, along with prison sentences barred him from legally possessing a firearm. That’s not to mention his charges that didn’t stick, including kidnapping and attempted murder.

It’s not just Hill. He and his high-profile crimes of shooting police are indicative of a larger problem in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love’s homicide rate is the highest in a decade, even as nationally, it trends down. Hill’s repeated illegal possession of firearms and attempted murder and wounding of police speaks to what we’ve been saying. Criminals aren’t getting their firearms through legal means. They are obtaining them through theft and the black market.

Mayor Kenney wants to blame guns for Hill’s crimes. He’s not alone. Just days later, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order for state police and other agencies to report back to him in six months with recommendations to reduce crimes committed with firearms. Here are our recommendations: Enforce your laws; place the blame from crimes committed with guns on those who commit the crimes; and put criminals in jail. Mayor, fulfill your oath and live up to your responsibilities. The firearms industry is committed to Real Solutions for Safer CommunitiesSM. The first step in making our towns and cities safer is holding criminals accountable. If elected leaders won’t do that, they should be held to account for failing in their duties.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: crimeandpunishment; guns; jimkenney; mauricehill; philadelphia; philidelphia

1 posted on 08/29/2019 11:57:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
Gun control for WHOM, Mr. Mayor?

2 posted on 08/29/2019 12:06:13 PM PDT by Impala64ssa (Virtue signalling is no virtue)
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To: Kaslin
".... no city should be left helpless by an elected official who would grandstand even when faced with stark evidence of the effects of their unwillingness to enforce existing laws...."

Does this mayor Kenney blame the cars and drivers for the potholes in his city? Or does he blame his own administration for not repairing the inevitable potholes in the streets?

Does this guy blame the traffic lights for causing people to run red lights? Or does he blame the red-light runners themselves?

Does this guy blame the city water department when someone doesn't pay their water bill? Or does he blame the delinquents who don't pay their bills when they promised?

So why does mayor Kenney blame the guns instead of this ex-felon with a history of firearms convictions for the shootings?

Answer: Blaming the criminal shooter doesn't follow the narrative of the democRATS. Guns and apparently the NRA, kill people instead of criminals kill people.

Do democRATS just think this way or were they taught it?

3 posted on 08/29/2019 2:39:54 PM PDT by HotHunt (Been there. Done that.)
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To: All

If a convicted criminal has a gun illegally how will gun control help?


4 posted on 08/29/2019 3:31:15 PM PDT by Retvet (Retvet)
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To: NFHale

Philly ping


5 posted on 08/30/2019 5:31:26 AM PDT by Impy (I have no virtue to signal.)
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To: Kaslin

“If the state and federal government don’t want to stand up to the NRA and other folks, let us police ourselves. Our officers deserve to be protected and don’t deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with an unlimited amount of weapons and bullets. It’s disgusting.” ............................. Why is it that all these Criminals, Crazies and Crusaders are portrayed as members of the NRA? The armed and DANGEROUS types find their weapons like the druggies find their fix. Nothing legal about it, its all ready in the laws. ?Million NRA members, legal gun owners, killed no one this week unless they were forced to as a defense.


6 posted on 09/01/2019 8:06:36 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft
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