If gun laws kept criminals from buying guns, we?d be the safest country in the world. But they don?t, as a perusal of the Baltimore City police blotter shows. The vast majority of those who legally buy guns never commit crimes. That?s why it makes no sense that people are angry about the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association?s decision to raffle a shotgun.
Critics, including members of law enforcement, say the raffle sends “the wrong message.” We admit the timing could not be worse for the association given the recent tragic shootings in Cockeysville and at Northern Illinois University. But the only thing that could be wrong about the raffle is the misperception critics have or want to spread about guns and those who own them. The law permits people with the right qualifications to buy guns. And hunting is legal.
And as Johns Hopkins criminologist Sheldon Greenberg said, “On the one hand, law enforcement says, ?We?re drowning in weaponry? ? why should any police organization choose to add one more weapon to the tidal wave? … But it?s only an emotional argument. In reality it doesn?t hold water. Rifles and shotguns are easily accessible to anyone.”
Emotion is what imbues facts with meaning. But a decision based only on how the raffle could potentially make people feel makes no sense ? especially when the item in question is perfectly legal.
Whether or not a shotgun is the raffle prize that helps the association raise the most money is a different question. That?s up to members to decide. But the only message the raffle sends is that the group wants to raise money and that law enforcement knows law-abiding citizens are the ones who will purchase tickets for the gun.
They know the mission of law enforcement is to prevent crime, not disarm honest citizens.
