The Hypocrisy of Gun Control Elitists

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Same as it’s ever been – ‘Rules for thee, not for me.’ IMG NRA-ILA

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- In 2020, then-presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg was asked how he could continue to demand gun control while being protected by private guards equipped with the same firearms and magazines that he wanted to ban others from owning. “Does your life matter more than mine or my family’s or these people’s?” Bloomberg’s response, in essence, was that he was not an ordinary person. He was a celebrity and billionaire who received more threats than most people: “That just happens when you are the mayor of New York City or you are very wealthy.”

At the same time, another big-city Democrat politician known for pushing gun control on the lower orders was being shielded by a small army of police officers, presumably at the taxpayers’ expense. The Chicago Sun-Times recently disclosed that a special police security detail, Unit 544, was created two years ago to protect Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, her home and office, and to “oversee her personal bodyguard detail.” The special unit consists of approximately 71 officers, in addition to the mayor’s existing “separate personal bodyguard detail” of 20 officers.

Both cities – ex-Mayor Bloomberg’s New York City and Lightfoot’s Chicago – are experiencing horrific surges in violent crime. The most recent “CompStat” report from the NYPD indicates rapes, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larceny, and auto thefts have all increased significantly as compared to the same time last year, and the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) own “CompStat” contains the same dismal message.

While privileged politicians float above this wave of criminality, untroubled by threats to person or property, less exalted individuals are forced to rely on whatever police resources may be available or become their own version of Unit 544.

Last week in Chicago, for instance, a 70-year-old Uber driver, threatened by robbers who then carjacked his vehicle, had to wait 75 minutes before police could respond. Police assigned to serve the area had been drastically reduced to 261 officers, the “lowest monthly staffing level for the district since at least August 2017,” so no one was available to take the assignment until the next shift began. The problem isn’t restricted to that police district: overall, more than 660 CPD officers retired in 2021, almost double the number of retirees in 2018, and recruiting of new officers dropped during the pandemic. Carjacking reports, meanwhile, have set a new monthly record as of February 2022, up 390% from February 2019.

The impact on public safety is what makes Lightfoot’s private defense force of almost 100 officers all the more outrageous. In 2020, residents had already complained that patrol officers in areas close to Lightfoot’s home were redeployed to the mayor’s residence. It’s at odds with the mayor’s oft-used theme of “all hands on deck” to address public safety using a “coordinated and collective effort,” if scores of the deckhands are used for what amounts to private security work. And Lightfoot herself can’t pretend that police resources aren’t affected, because the creation of Unit 544 coincided with her proposal to cut the CPD budget by $80 million as part of addressing a pandemic–related citywide budget shortfall.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Lightfoot asserts her special police detail became necessary because in 2020, there was “a significant amount of protests all over the city, and some of them targeted [] my house.” (News reports from 2020 indicate that the protests included, ironically, calls to remove police from schools, for reforms to the CPD, and to defund the police.) A 2020 news report quotes Lightfoot defending, as well, the closing off of residential streets around her home to activists, because of threats to her safety. “[T]he situation can’t be compared to protests at former mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home given the pandemic… This is a different time – like no other.”

John Catanzara, president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, observes that “[w]hile murders are soaring, while districts are barebones for manpower, all that matters [to Lightfoot] is protecting her castle.”

Of course, it is completely reasonable for Lightfoot to take lawful measures to protect herself and her family, the same as anyone else, but her situation is arguably no more dire nor compelling than the crisis of crime faced by every other Chicago resident today.

The problem is that the mayor, and others like her, are the same anti-gun advocates who see no contradiction between demanding ever more pointless restrictions on the ability of constituents to legally access firearms for self-defense, and ensuring their own safety with assigned police bodyguards and armed security. Ordinary citizens don’t need guns because the police will protect them – even if crime climbs to levels not seen in decades and there’s upward of an hour’s wait on a 911 call.

These people would have you believe that this isn’t gun control elitism in action – it’s just that they aren’t like you and me. After all, if you don’t have bread you can always eat cake.


About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

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swmft

if they find it so important now why did they negotiate our rights away to begin with

Darkman

Because like many Republicans in D.C. They wanted to be included in the game and be liked by the players at the same time. So giving in to the Bureaucracy which is mainly controlled by Democrats was a way of paying their dues. So to speak. Besides since they are a part of the Bureaucracy, any restriction placed on the citizenry. Has No effect on them. They get a pass for being good little boys and playing along.

Jonesy

Yeah, up my way we have a governor like that.

Terry

I believe it’s called ‘Quisling’ (see Neville Chamberlain).

TEX

That’s what they’ve always done best.

hoss

Hey speaking of “Elitists”, how”s WLP doing, still living the good life at the expense of the members I imagine?

TEX

The thief and scumbag is still ripping off members money. (Just not as much now because memberships and donations are in the tank) Lapierre and his handpicked and criminal complicit BOD are just trying to stay out of jail. Justice will only happen when their names become number in the lockup.

Russn8r

Poor Wayne, inflation drove Znnegnna suits up 25%. How’s he supposed to get along on $3 million a year plus “expenses”?

Last edited 1 year ago by Russn8r
Tank

A natural right to self defense & the Declaration of Independence clearly have already been ratified & defined years ago. The 2nd A additionally defines that language & intent. Only a great reset of humanity would have the power or ability to negate any of those prior. As we can see the Masa Conf-USA is by design & not a organic natural sequence of events. Prince of Darkness Machiavellian Neo-feudalism seems to be the preferred environment our overlords have designed using Hegelian dialectic. Principalities of darkness rule this realm until enough critical thinking souls figure it out & return to… Read more »

Bigfootbob

It’s breaking now, slow-mo. I see the folks you mentioned as losers who are the genuine “bitter clingers” to a failed ideology. Look around, all the vestiges of their power are cracking and starting to fail. IMHO, they’ve overplayed their hands due to the TDS generated mass insanity they’re infected with. Their backs are against the wall and they are getting careless and sloppy. Just like this post, information is being pushed out by Patriots like you and others to people who just 10 years ago would miss out on what the truth tellers were saying. We don’t need any… Read more »

Montana454Casull

If all these public officials are so worried about thier safety , there is a solution ! Resign you idiots and go away and you will no longer be in the crosshairs of pissed off people !

American Cynic

The anti-gun lobby exhibits the same resolve and flawed arguments as did the anti-drugs lobby. The war on drugs has failed. Much like the war on drugs has failed, such will be the fate of the war on guns. Despite being outlawed and the imposition of lengthy sentences; the availability, use, and trafficking of narcotics continues unabated. In fact we’ve thrown up our hands, and now drugs are going in the opposite direction, and are being legalized. Do not think for one minute that the effort to dissolve our 2nd Amendment rights, will lead to a reduction in gun violence.… Read more »

Boris Badenov

A small note to your excellent post, does it matter to a significant percentage if the thugs use a stolen firearm or one made legally in a shop, but used for illegal purposes? I have yet to see any significant numbers in which a crime has been solved by tracing ownership of a firearm. The use of the phrase “ghost gun” falls into the lefts propaganda in my opinion.