“We know we have a serious problem with violent crime that must be addressed, and we have spent the past months meeting with leaders and organizations at all levels to discuss possible solutions,” Parson said in a statement Thursday. “This is about targeting violent criminals and getting them off our streets. If we are to change violent criminal acts across our state, we must work together, we must do our jobs, we must support our law enforcement officers to accomplish these goals, and we must start prioritizing the prevention of crime.”
Note what Parsons didn’t say. He didn’t say that in order to change violent criminal acts, legal gun owners are just going to have to sacrifice their rights. He didn’t call for a gun ban, or rationing gun purchases, or allowing the government to decide who gets a license to own a firearm or not. He called for “targeting violent criminals and getting them off our streets.” The focus is squarely on the perpetrators of violent crime, instead of targeting lawful gun owners in the hopes that there’ll be some sort of trickle-down effect on street gangs.
