Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom,
You have been making the rounds on a few left leaning talk shows (Rachel Maddow and Morning Joe – oddly enough, both MSNBC programs), and giving press conferences to the lapdog media, some staged at the scenes of previous mass murders, in order to push your new gun control proposals. You say your goal is to reduce “gun violence” and that we need to do it because “more preschoolers getting shot every single year than police officers in the line of duty.”
For now, I’ll ignore the fact that you are making up bogus statistics to gin up the emotions of uneducated voters in order to get them to support your proposal, I’ll ignore that you are staging your press conferences at locations chosen specifically for the purpose of drawing on peoples’ emotions related to historical events that occurred there, and I’ll ignore that you are trying to use the memory of my fallen brothers and sisters in law enforcement, killed in the line of duty, to push your proposal.
What I would like to address is what benefit you think your proposal will actually accomplish.
As a nearly 20 year career cop, who has worked in some of the roughest neighborhoods in my county, who has gone to countless shootings, I can tell you that my personal experience tells me your proposal will do absolutely nothing to reduce “gun violence.”
I have pointed out the folly of your proposals numerous times on your Facebook page, but it appears you only reply to people who support your efforts, and have no interest in discussing the topic with those of us who differ, even though we may have some subject matter expertise.
With that in mind, I challenge you to sit down and have a public debate on the topic (whether it be face to face, online, on a radio show, a podcast, whatever – you choose the venue) and specifically your proposals. At the same time, I would be happy to offer some suggestions that have a far higher probability to reduce the “gun violence” you claim to be addressing.
Sincerely,
Deputy Matt