DORI MONSON
Dori: Signs in gun shops won’t stop gang shootings

How out-of-touch can our local politicians be? Their solution to the spate of violence around this region is to put signs in gun shops. Joe McDermott, the chair of the King County Council, wants to put signs about the dangers of gun violence in gun stores.
Hey Joe McDermott, how about you start getting real about this instead of your phony window dressing? There were eight shootings in the Puget Sound in the last 24 hours. A woman in Burien was just sitting at the front desk at work when a bullet came through the window and killed her. In Skyway, a woman was killed while driving. In Beacon Hill, a woman was shot in the stomach; she is in serious condition. In Rainier Beach, there were shots fired near Cleveland High School. In Snohomish County, a man is facing life-threatening injuries, with two suspects at large. In Lynnwood, a man and woman were shot; the woman is in critical condition.
Then Joe McDermott, this clown on the King County Council, Wednesday night sends out a tweet about the woman in Burien saying, “We must address gun violence.” Hey Joe, why don’t you say anything about gang violence? These are gang crimes. We just got the news that gang members were behind the Burien shooting. Of course, we already knew that — a guy had just picked up his 15-year-old kid at Highline High School, and then guys in an SUV drive by and are targeting that guy and/or his son. Clearly it was gang-related. And that’s how a stray bullet kills this hard-working, 51-year-old grandmother. How will we solve anything if our politicians just decide to put signs in gun shops?
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Yeah, I’m sure all of our gang-bangers are buying their guns at gun shops. And if they see a sign that guns are dangerous, I’m sure they’ll just ask for a refund and leave with out the gun. This. Is. About. Gang. Violence. And none of you in politics have the guts to say that. None of you have the fortitude to address the real problem because it’s not politically correct to point fingers at gangs.
What about that guy who went on the rampage at Target? He was terrorizing store workers and customers for 15 minutes, and there was no police response. Do you think that maybe good, honest, law-abiding citizens need to have a gun, since our cops are de-policing and aren’t able to cover any of these crimes, even when one lasts for 15 violent minutes? Do you think that maybe, perhaps, citizens have decided that they need to be their own first line of defense? The only people buying guns at gun shops are law-abiding people who want self-defense, I guarantee you.
Being around gang victims increases your chance of being the victim of gun violence. Owning a gun increases your chance of being able to defend yourself when there is no police response. What if the two people on the escalator at Target hadn’t been able to get out of the way when the guy shoved a 250-pound display case down it toward them? They could have easily been mowed down and killed. Might it have been good if someone at that Target had a concealed carry weapon and stopped that guy?
But oh, we’re not going to talk about gangs. We’re not going to talk about heroin users, the source of much of the downtown crime. We’re going to post signs in gun shops.
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When these shootings happen in Burien, when they happen in South Everett, everyone knows what is going on here. And it’s not by people who bought their guns at gun shops, for crying out loud. Why can no one call it gang violence? The citizens all know what’s going on. Until you are honestly willing to address the source of the violence, we have no chance of getting our arms around this. And when you have eight shootings in 24 hours in the Puget Sound area, Joe McDermott’s solution is to put up a sign. It’s unbelievable to watch the madness of progressive politics around here.