Law enforcement officers must have complete confidence that their service weapons are the most reliable that they may carry. After all, these public servants rarely get “do-overs” when encountering dangerous criminals.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) recent executive order tying the city’s acquisition of weapons to political and activist concerns drew fire from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the industry trade group.
After all, what do these issues matter in a life-and-death confrontation with bad people?
Politicizing public safety just panders to the mayor’s base of support
NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane criticized the mayor’s office for placing politics over policies based on how the weapons themselves enhance public safety through testing and practice.
“Law enforcement agencies select duty firearms and ammunition through extensive testing and evaluation,” Keane wrote. “Reliability, accuracy, durability, ergonomics, training requirements, and performance under difficult conditions all matter. Officers must have confidence that their equipment will function when their lives or the lives of others depend on it.”
Exactly.
Law enforcement deserves the most accurate and reliable weapons
Keane hardly stopped there as he went on to blast the new weapons procurement process in the Windy City. The safety of officers and the public is now subjected to the whims of “politicians and activists seeking leverage over lawful firearm businesses.”
The NSSF gun rights advocate correctly noted that the men and women in blue do not deserve to be used as “guinea pigs” for public servants pandering to their base.
“The professionals who carry that equipment should be able to select what best meets their needs without City Hall placing gun control ideology ahead of officer safety,” Keane added.
Of course, Brady and like-minded anti-Second Amendment groups tripped over themselves to congratulate Mayor Johnson and his regime.
“The executive order addresses a shocking national problem, exposed by a Brady investigation, that law enforcement agencies have spent millions of taxpayer dollars buying firearms from dealers and manufacturers with repeated violations of federal firearm regulations,” the group claimed.
Anyone with just cursory knowledge of the weapons industry knows that it ranks up with pharmaceuticals for the level of government oversight it faces.
And don’t forget that the previous administration weaponized incidental paperwork errors to bludgeon gun shops out of business. “Repeated violations” should be taken with a grain of salt.
Johnson did not try to sugarcoat his executive order, calling it a “lever” to reach his administration’s political ends. He wants Chicago authorities to sit in judgment over the weapons industry and even quantify how many firearms from this or that manufacturer or dealer are misused by criminals.
That’s no different from deciding between Chevys and Dodges for police vehicles based on how many are involved in DUI-related offenses.
It’s feel-good posturing and nothing more. It perfectly aligns with Mayor Johnson’s previous declaration that “law enforcement is a sickness” and a pattern of demonizing his own police force.
It’s also right in line with Chicago’s recent history.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) embraced the 2020 “defund the police” movement and cut hundreds of good people with guns from law enforcement rosters. Then, as crime predictably spiraled out of control, her administration pleaded for federal help to patrol its violence-torn neighborhoods.
Just a few years later, Johnson’s office wants to play puppetmaster over the Second Amendment industry.
This is the same mayor who recently blamed President Richard Nixon (R), who was elected to the White House in 1968, for criminal acts under his own watch. He also poured $100 million of taxpayer dollars into his shiny new Department of Gun Violence Reduction.
Politicizing the equipping of Chicago’s police officers is as indefensible as it is downright silly. Let the adults in the room choose their weapons and do the work that will actually enhance public safety.
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