January 18, 2010
New York Times Editorial

Politicians Watch Criminals Pack More Heat

The nation’s police chiefs are finding an alarming increase in criminals’ use of assault weapons — the high-powered battlefield rifles that used to be banned, back when the federal government showed greater concern for public safety. The 10-year ban expired in 2004, despite the vows of presidential nominees from both parties to fight for renewal. Congress hasn’t mustered the guts to try, preferring to roll over for the gun lobby.
A survey of more than 130 local police chiefs and officials found 37 percent reporting an increase in assault weapons in street crime. Front-line police find criminals generally packing more powerful heat, with more than half of the chiefs citing increases in large-caliber handguns and high-capacity semiautomatics — the real-life stuff of tough-guy movie fantasies. Miami police reported that four years after politicians allowed the federal ban to lapse, homicides by assault weapons increased six fold, including the murder of two police officers.
The findings were part of a police brass “summit on guns and crime” in Washington last November that was studiously ignored by the capital ruling class. Meeting as members of the Police Executive Research Forum, the attendees underlined the disheartening fact that “there seems to be little or no appetite for gun control legislation in the U.S. Congress or the Obama administration.”
In their frustration, the chiefs deserve credit for trying to come up with some local and state solutions — for example, requiring owners to immediately document lost or stolen guns as a deterrent to the current dodge of selling them as “lost” in the underground market.
The chiefs were collectively enlightened, discovering that in most states gun dealers are monitored not by state or local police but by federal firearm inspectors. They have a force of but 600 covering 115,000 gun dealers — who may be visited no more than once a year. Polls regularly show that the public, including most gun hobbyists, wants more realistic gun controls. But don’t tell that to the timorous politicians of Washington.
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Our two Colorado Senators:

         Senator Mark Udall:        D.C.:  202-224-5941       Denver:  303-650-7820 
         We're trying to figure out why Mark Udall (accused of being the "Boulder
         liberal" in his campaign) is voting for whatever the gun lobby brings up.
         (Udall also voted to rob the District of Columbia of the right to regulate
         guns in its jurisdiction.  This is still pending).  

         Senator Michael Bennet  D.C.:  202-224-5852       Denver:  303-455-7600
         Michael Bennet is an appointee and is apparently doing everything he can
         to not offend anyone as the 2010 election approaches.  Let him know that
         you're disappointed in his votes for the gun lobby (Bennet also voted
         to limit D.C.'s gun laws) and would like to see him vote with the interests
         of Colorado citizens.

If you would like to contact your U.S. Representative and live in another district or 
if you would like to send an email or letter, go to http://www.votesmart.org

Support Colorado Ceasefire by donating to following address:
 
Colorado Ceasefire Capitol Fund
PO Box 7501
Denver, Colorado   80207-0501
contact@coloradoceasefire.org

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_re_us/gun_deaths_suicide