Crime

Lengel: Gun Rights Advocates Should Stop Whining About New Eastpointe Ordinance

November 29, 2019, 6:19 AM by  Allan Lengel

The Second Amendment states that "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The Constitution says nothing about gun owners doing whatever they please with their weapons. And it certainly doesn't say anything about gun owners having the right to be as irresponsible as they want to be.

Which leads me to this story in The Detroit News by Oralandar Brand-Williams, which says that gun rights advocates are complaining about a new gun ordinance in Eastpointe that took effect in October. It  penalizes people who leave firearms in unlocked vehicles. Violators can be fined up to $350 on a first offense and face up to 90 days in jail.

Gun rights advocates need to stop whining. It's not asking too much of them to lock their car with a gun inside. Some gun owners think the Second Amendment gives them infinite rights. 

It does not!

Gun rights advocate Rick Ector of Legally Armed in Detroit argues in the story that the ordinance punishes gun owners and absolves criminals who steal firearms.

What a ridiculous argument.

Who says anything about absolving criminals? Show me one case in which a criminal was let off the hook because the gun he used in a crime was stolen. 

The Second Amendment doesn't give gun advocates the right to make shamelessly ridiculous arguments. 

Eastpointe Public Safety Director George Rouhib tells The News that 60 guns have been stolen in the city over a three year period, and 21 guns swiped in one year. He notes that a gun stolen from a car in Detroit was used in an Oct. 12 shooting of six people at the Last Call bar in Eastpointe. One died.

In other incidents, the article notes, youths or drug addicts have stolen guns, which were in turn sold. It's not far-fetched to assume some were used in robberies and possibly homicides.

"It's not that intrusive. All we're asking is, please, if you leave your gun in your car overnight, which is not a good idea, please lock it or bring the gun in the house, that's all we're asking. Nothing more, nothing less," the public safety director tells the paper.  

Makes sense. So I say kudos to Eastpointe for trying to do something to try and prevent guns from getting in the hands of criminals. 

And to the gun owners in Eastpointe and cities beyond: Lock your doors if you leave a gun in the car. 

That's really not asking too much.



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