By: José Niño
After a mass shooting in Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood resulted in the death of two individuals and the injury of dozens of others, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called on lawmakers to pass measures to keep illegal firearms off the streets.
In an announcement made on July 2, 2023, Scott claimed that law enforcement in Baltimore has confiscated 1,343 illegal guns in the year of 2023 alone.
“They were in the hands of people who should not have had them, that had them anyway because they are so easy to obtain,” Scott declared.
“That choice was given to them because of the access to illegal guns. Where do most of the guns in Baltimore come from? They come from outside of Maryland,” Scott added. “We have to do it at the national level as well.”
Scott called out firearm manufacturers and individuals selling so-called “ghost guns.” He ultimately wants to keep firearms out of the hands of potential criminals.
“We need accountability at every level from those who are selling and trafficking those weapons into Baltimore to companies who manufacture guns that skirt guns into our community,” Scott proclaimed.
Baltimore, like many jurisdictions under monolithic Democratic control, has experienced a significant crime wave over the last few years. Such developments aren’t random developments. They’re the result of soft-on-crime policies that privilege criminals and allow them to receive light sentencing for otherwise serious crimes. In a relatively short period of time, these criminals will be back on the streets to continue terrorizing the law-abiding.
On top of that, Baltimore is in Maryland, one of the most anti-gun states in the country. According to Guns & Ammo magazine’s best states for gun owners rankings, Baltimore finds itself in a lousy 44th place. In effect, law-abiding citizens across Maryland, especially those in crime-ridden cities such as Baltimore, can’t easily access firearms to defend themselves from the very criminals that Maryland’s political class coddles.
Dudley Brown, the president of the National Association for Gun Rights, had the following to say about Scott’s remarks:
“Maryland has ‘Red Flag’ Gun Confiscation, Maryland outlawed semi-auto’s, Maryland has Universal Gun Registration, Maryland banned adults under 21 from owning guns. Wake up people! Disarming the law-abiding only enables the thugs and madmen to carry out their twisted fantasies.”
Serious policymakers will recognize that flawed gun control and criminal justice policies will not stop crime in major cities. It’s going to take a combination of solid law-and-order policies and the relaxation of gun control laws for order to be restored in these jurisdictions. For those policies to come into fruition, Baltimore and countless other Democratic-run cities will need a veritable regime change to go into effect.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.