Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Not Enforcing Existing Gun Laws—That's a Crime

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

If anybody in Chicago is culpable for the armed carnage on that city’s mean streets, it’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who never misses an opportunity to blame peaceable, law-abiding gun owners for the daily bloodletting by violent Chicago thugs.

 Emanuel steadfastly refuses to demand application of tough federal laws that would surgically rid the streets of criminals who currently terrorize many Chicago neighborhoods. And that represents a kind of aggressive political malfeasance.

For Emanuel—a former U.S. congressman, former chief of staff in President Barack Obama’s White House and former Bill Clinton White House gun-ban guru—to intentionally blow off federal laws punishing illegally armed violent criminals is especially vile.

The reason is simple. If Chicago citizens knew the extent of existing harsh criminal sanctions and that those laws could readily be applied to prosecute real criminals, Emanuel’s endless call for new “gun control” would be seen for what it is: an evil campaign to disarm the innocent. And those federal laws apply equally in every corner of the nation.

That reality goes for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and for every other mayor signed on to his phony national political machine, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. It also goes for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.

A January 2013 Chicago Tribune story headlined, “U.S. struggles over which gun crimes to prosecute,” reported, “Obama’s Justice Department has shown little appetite to prosecute what it considers low-level firearms crimes … officials with the department said.”

If “low-level” prosecutions of the most violent armed criminals in Chicago were the norm, that city—with thousands of shootings and armed robberies added to its growing number of murders—would see scores of the worst violent gang members and armed drug dealers sent to prison in sure, swift prosecutions. That’s true for every city in America.

But Chicago, with the most vicious armed criminals in the nation, ranks 89th out of 90 U.S. Attorney districts. That ranking comes from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which provides the gold-standard review of federal law enforcement performance. 

Given thousands of violent crimes involving armed criminals, including record numbers of murders every year, Chicago has seen pathetically few federal gun-law prosecutions: 63 in fiscal year 2011.

How many of the 506 murders involving firearms in Chicago last year would never have happened had Obama’s Justice Department taken criminals off the streets?

A simple look at the law answers that question. Everything real violent criminals do to acquire a firearm is already a serious federal felony. Under federal law, lying to a licensed dealer, lying on the form 4473, and straw sales are all federal felonies that are almost never prosecuted. Holder’s Justice Department calls them “paper violations.” Yet those are the very crimes that they say demand a “universal background check”—a national registration scheme—for all of us.

So let me cite—from a federal public defender fact sheet—a few of the existing federal statutes dealing with armed criminals once they have their guns. I’ll give you the prison term first along with the citations in the United States Code (U.S.C.).

10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)—for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon, fugitive, or drug user … And possession means touching a gun, any gun, handgun, rifle or shotgun. Any firearm that Sen. Dianne Feinstein would ban for us, is already an illegal gun for violent criminals.

10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(j)—for possession of a stolen firearm.

10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(i)—for shipment or transport of a stolen firearm across state lines.

10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(b)—for shipping, transporting or receipt of a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.

5 to 30 years consecutive mandatory minimum sentences—18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(a)—for carrying, using, or possessing a firearm in connection with a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking.

The death penalty or up to life imprisonment—18 U.S.C. § 924(j)—for committing murder while possessing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking.

 15 years mandatory minimum—18 U.S.C. § 924(e)—for a “prohibited person” who has three prior convictions for drug offenses or violent felonies.

10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(g)—for interstate travel to acquire or transfer a firearm to commit crimes.

So, if every possible aspect of acquisition, possession, transport, transfer of a firearm by criminals demands harsh and swift punishment under existing law, what is it that Emanuel, Bloomberg and President Obama really want?

To criminalize—then prosecute—everything that we do as law-abiding, peaceable citizens who own and use firearms.

I want to ask a favor. Copy this column and give it to people in the media and to politicians. Put them on notice that their ignorance of law, feigned or real, and their unwillingness to push for prosecution of real criminals using existing federal law cannot be tolerated—ever! Otherwise these agenda-driven politicians are complicit in criminal violence. 

TRENDING NOW
Defending the Indefensible: Court Strikes Illinois FOID Card Law

News  

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Defending the Indefensible: Court Strikes Illinois FOID Card Law

Lawmakers in Illinois have a long track record of irrational gun bans and restrictions based on the idea that public safety is best served by disarming criminals and law-abiding citizens alike, even if that means ...

Anti-Gun “Researchers” Face Harsh Reality

News  

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Anti-Gun “Researchers” Face Harsh Reality

The reelection of President Trump is already paying great dividends for the Second Amendment, even at this early stage.  Beyond the obvious jettisoning of the most anti-gun administration to ever occupy the White House, we saw ...

Eighth Circuit Narrows Blanket Firearm Prohibition for “Unlawful User[s]” of Drugs

News  

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Eighth Circuit Narrows Blanket Firearm Prohibition for “Unlawful User[s]” of Drugs

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the NRA-supported case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) continues to play a critical role in cases related to Second Amendment rights.

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Mutates into Permit-to-Purchase Scheme After Midnight

Friday, February 14, 2025

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Mutates into Permit-to-Purchase Scheme After Midnight

Senate Bill 25-003 was amended well past midnight to not only be a near all-encompassing semi-automatic ban, but now includes a permit-to-purchase scheme reminiscent of Illinois' FOID cards.

Virginia: Gun Control Bills Pass General Assembly, Head to Youngkin's Desk

Friday, February 14, 2025

Virginia: Gun Control Bills Pass General Assembly, Head to Youngkin's Desk

It has been a busy week in Richmond, and not for the right reasons. The House has passed a slew of anti-gun legislation, and these bills will now be transmitted to Governor Youngkin's office

NRA Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, February 7, 2025

NRA Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights

Today, the White House announced a new Executive Order to protect and expand the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans. This is the first action taken by President Donald J. Trump to carry through ...

The Hearing Protection Act Introduced in the 119th Congress

News  

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

The Hearing Protection Act Introduced in the 119th Congress

U.S. Representative Ben Cline (R-VA-06) and U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) recently reintroduced the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 404/S. 364) in the 119th Congress. This commonsense legislation will give gun owners and hunters the opportunity to ...

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Massachusetts’s Ban on the Possession and Carry of Handguns and Semiautomatic Firearms by Adults Under 21

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, February 14, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Massachusetts’s Ban on the Possession and Carry of Handguns and Semiautomatic Firearms by Adults Under 21

Today, the National Rifle Association, along with the Gun Owners’ Action League, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and an individual, Mack Escher, filed a lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’s ...

Legislation Introduced to Block Credit Card Gun Registry

News  

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Legislation Introduced to Block Credit Card Gun Registry

U.S. Representatives Riley Moore (R-WV-02), Richard Hudson (R-NC-09), and Andy Barr (R-KY-06) have introduced H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. This crucial legislation would prohibit credit card companies from tracking constitutionally protected purchases ...

Washington: Anti-Gun Radicals Spend Taxpayer Funds for Elaborate Gala

Friday, February 14, 2025

Washington: Anti-Gun Radicals Spend Taxpayer Funds for Elaborate Gala

Washington state anti-gun zealots continue to demonstrate their disdain for the right to keep and bear arms with their recent release of an unbelievable proposal this week.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.