San Francisco May Be Broke, But They Still Have Money To Go After Guns

The City of San Francisco is broke. They’re billions of dollars in the hole, and there’s no real relief in sight. In a way, they’re not any different than a number of other cities throughout the nation.

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I’ve been broke before too. I’ve found myself deep enough in a financial hole that it worried me for a long time, and it was tough climbing out. But, if I can do it, I’m confident that the City of San Francisco can.

But spending money on stuff like this probably isn’t the best way.

With San Francisco reportedly $10 billion in the hole, Mayor Mark Farrell announced a new push to help expand the city’s gun seizure squad.

The $800,000 initiative, approved by the City, would expand efforts to confiscate guns from those who are prohibited from owning firearms due to felony or violent misdemeanor convictions. Among the outlays funded will be for five new positions in San Francisco’s Adult Probation Department, tasked with following up with those who have recently lost their gun rights to make sure their firearms are removed.

“When we keep weapons out of the hands of felons, we make our communities safer for all San Franciscans,” said Farrell in a statement. “We cannot allow these criminals to continue to have access to weapons. Gun violence is a tragic epidemic in our city, state, and country, but we are taking meaningful steps in San Francisco to remove firearms from the most dangerous individuals in our society.”

To be clear, they’re going after guns owned by people who are no longer eligible. They’re not coming after just anyone’s guns.

Of course, it’s important to note that the criminals in San Francisco haven’t bothered to register their guns, so most of the people who are ineligible to own a firearm still have theirs.

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Instead, they’re going after people who were previously law-abiding gun owners who have crossed the line. Hey, it happens. As a general rule, though, most of those aren’t people who are going to break the law again.

Don’t get me wrong, if they’re ineligible, they’re ineligible. I’m not arguing that point.

What I’m arguing are San Francisco’s priorities. They’re targeting these guns, but even the most ardent gun control advocate who is even the least bit capable of critical thinking has to see that this represents, at best, a drop in the bucket when it comes to violent crime. The hardened offenders, the people who are convicted felons yet still manage to get guns time and again so they can commit more violent crimes aren’t going to be touched. No one is going to knock on their door and ask to see their Glock.

It’s ridiculous. It really is. Especially when a city is $10 billion in debt.

But, it’s San Francisco. If they’re not showing what a good progressive (politically) city they are, they’re not sure what to do with themselves. So, they’ll go after these guns and ignore the tons of weapons in the hands of people far more dangerous.

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