St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman On LaPierre

When I wrote about freakout reactions to Wayne LaPierre's press conference of a week ago, the example below is one that I had in mind. If anyone can explain St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's statement I would appreciate it, because as you will see I don't get it at all.

On the day when we’re still burying children killed in Newtown, CT, the NRA has the audacity to say the answer is more guns and more violence that exposes our children to unprecedented dangers. As a mayor, as a father, and as a citizen, I’m appalled by this reckless disregard for the safety of our children. We must have a real conversation about how to protect our children and all members of our community that, among other items, includes:

• prohibiting the manufacture and sale of the military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips
• federal legislation that addresses the broken background check system
• a legislative package that makes gun trafficking a felony
• directing the Justice Department to crack down on rogue gun dealers
• outlawing cop-killer bullets and similar ammunition

None of these solutions were offered by the NRA today which means they’ve proven they have no interest in being part of this conversation that stops crimes like this from happening again.

Our hearts continue to go out to the families affected by his heinous crime. As I gather with my family this holiday, they will all be in our hearts and prayers.

That statement is so bizarre and so hysterical that it deserves a point-by-point review.

On the day when we’re still burying children killed in Newtown, CT, the NRA has the audacity to say the answer is more guns and more violence that exposes our children to unprecedented dangers. As a mayor, as a father, and as a citizen, I’m appalled by this reckless disregard for the safety of our children. 

Guarding the children is more dangerous than letting a maniac walk unmolested through classrooms until he runs out of ammo or kills himself? This is very strange, because his own city's police force works closely with the public school system:

The Office of Security and Emergency Management works closely with the Saint Paul Police Department to keep students and schools safe through the School Resource Officer (SRO) program. This partnership provides 7 licensed law enforcement officers to work with high schools and 4 roving officers on a daily basis.

Why is Mayor Chris Coleman deliberately exposing the children of his city to "unprecedented dangers?" Talk about "reckless disregard."

We must have a real conversation about how to protect our children and all members of our community that, among other items, includes:

• prohibiting the manufacture and sale of the military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips

Fine, but this proposal doesn't address the millions of similar rifles or magazines that are already out there and would not have done anything to prevent the shooting at Newtown or another one like it.

• federal legislation that addresses the broken background check system

There are things that need to be addressed with the background check system, but improved background checks would not have prevented the shooting at Newtown. In fact, the shooter apparently tried to buy his own rifle days before the shooting and was deterred by the background check system already in place.

• a legislative package that makes gun trafficking a felony

I'm not even sure what he's talking about here. As far as I know the mother of the shooter obtained all of her weapons legally. I don't see how this proposal would do anything to prevent what happened at Newtown.

• directing the Justice Department to crack down on rogue gun dealers

If there are rogue gun dealers out there then by all means crack down on them. Since the shooter's mother obtained her guns legally this proposal would have done nothing to prevent the shooting at Newtown. 

• outlawing cop-killer bullets and similar ammunition

The term "cop-killer bullets" is essentially BS meant to frighten people into an emotional reaction. The people who use it are either ignorant or trying to con you. A very good article debunking that myth can be found here. I've seen no official details about the ammo that the Newtown  shooter used, but the standard .223 round for that rifle would be deadly enough at close range. This proposal, whatever it is, would have done nothing to prevent or lessen the impact of what happened at Newtown.

None of these solutions were offered by the NRA today which means they’ve proven they have no interest in being part of this conversation that stops crimes like this from happening again.

Utter nonsense. None of those "solutions" were offered because none of them would actually have done anything to stop what happened at Newtown or prevent the same circumstances from happening again. The NRA's actual solutions were met with hysteria like that statement instead of a real conversation.

Our hearts continue to go out to the families affected by his heinous crime. As I gather with my family this holiday, they will all be in our hearts and prayers.

At last, some common ground. 

I don't want to be just another name-caller here, but from my perspective, for the reasons I cite above, Mayor Coleman's statement is really kind of bizarre in its divorce from reality. Shouldn't our response to the Newtown and other shootings actually be effective in reducing the risks of similar events? If anyone can take up the mayor's side here, by all means feel free to do so. I'm not here to bully or slam anyone, I truly want, as the mayor would say, to have a conversation about this.