Guns: Ferguson’s follies a show that should be canceled

The heroin epidemic and the resulting gang violence are becoming a crisis in Washington state. Nationwide opioid overdoses killed more than 33,000 people in one year. That’s greater than those murdered with guns (80% of which are gang related) or those killed in traffic accidents.

So what’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s proposal for keeping Washingtonians safe? Some new initiative to combat drug trafficking? New laws aimed at the treatment of substance abuse? Perhaps a new educational push aimed at keeping innercity youth out of gangs?

No, of course not. Those issues are complicated and don’t lend themselves to quick fixes. Ferguson has chosen instead to focus on common semi-automatic rifles and standard capacity magazines whose use grabs headlines, but which account for a tiny fraction of deaths caused by guns. In fact, rifles of all kinds account for less than 2 percent of all homicides, falling well behind those committed with fists or blunt objects.

This whole thing is a political sham. It’s designed to grab headlines and convince a gullible public that the AG’s doing something to combat crime. Call your state representatives and tell them to stop wasting time with “Ferguson’s Follies” and get to work solving real issues.

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Guns: Ferguson’s follies a show that should be canceled."