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Assault-weapons
ban has made America safer
Open Letter by LAPD Chief William Bratton
EDITOR'S NOTE: This open letter from LAPD's Chief of Police,
William Bratton, first appeared in the Daily News. In it he calls
for the renewal of the Assault-Weapons Ban, which is soon to expire.
We have written extensively about this issue here at LA Community
Policing. The Chief's voice joins that of many nationwide law enforcement
officials, as well as politicians at the local, State and Federal
levels:
Assault-weapons
ban has made America safer
by William Bratton
LAPD Chief
Saturday, August 14, 2004
As chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and a 28-year
veteran of law enforcement, I have seen firsthand the death
and destruction that can be brought by military-style assault
weapons.
These guns are not necessary for hunting or self-defense, but
their light triggers and rapid-fire capability make them weapons
of choice for criminals. Congress has only five working days
to renew the federal ban on 19 different models of semiautomatic
assault weapons. If they fail to do so, these killing machines
will soon be rolling off the assembly lines at major gun manufacturers
and flying off the shelves of your local gun shop.
In 1994, the nation's law enforcement community, from small
towns to large cities, rallied together in support of the assault-weapons
ban for very practical reasons. Violent criminals and thugs
had weapons of war far more powerful than our own, making it
nearly impossible to protect neighborhoods that were being torn
apart by vicious assault-weapon attacks in which hundreds of
rounds of ammunition were spray-fired on innocent men, women
and children.
Our mission to rid the streets of assault weapons was buoyed
by the support of Presidents Ford, Carter and the late Ronald
Reagan, who affirmed in a letter to Congress that a ban on assault
weapons was common-sense public-safety legislation.
Thanks to their support, today police are safer and the public
is safer. This progress will be in vain if the ban is allowed
to evaporate. Presidents Ford, Carter and Clinton have now sent
another letter to Congress urging renewal of the ban.
Since enactment of the federal assault-weapons ban in 1994,
the proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has
dropped 66 percent. That's why virtually every federal, state
and local law enforcement association supports pending legislation
that will reauthorize the current ban. Since its passage, this
legislation has been instrumental in increasing public safety,
lowering incidents of violent crime and keeping new caches of
these dangerous weapons from falling into the hands of criminals,
street gangs, drug traffickers and terrorists.
The nation's law enforcement agencies will face a tremendous
threat on the streets if Congress fails to renew the federal
assault-weapons ban. If the gun lobby succeeds and President
Bush and Congress allow the law to expire, then we can expect
the return of military-style assault weapons such as the AK-47
and Uzi to our streets. This would be a crushing setback to
the record-breaking reduction of violent crime in this country
over the past decade.
Renewing the assault-weapons ban is more important now than
ever, since we have evidence that it is exactly these kinds
of weapons that are used and sought out by terrorists. In fact,
an al-Qaida training manual uncovered in Kabul underscores their
preferred usage among terrorists in the following instruction
to terrorist cells overseas: "In countries like the United States,
it's perfectly legal for members of the public to own certain
types of firearms. If you live in such a country, obtain an
assault rifle legally, preferably an AK-47 or variations."
We know that the best defense of our homeland security will
depend on the front lines of local law enforcement officers.
We need our lawmakers' help by putting obstacles, such as the
assault-weapons ban, in the path of terrorists.
It is time for the president and Congress to support our nation's
law enforcement professionals in their fight against crime and
terrorism by showing their leadership on this issue. Now is
the time to take the easy step of renewing the federal assault-weapons
ban before it is too late. Failure to do so may prove to be
a mistake that our nation will never forget. |
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