President Obama Wants to Stop ‘Gun Crime’ While Forgiving Criminals Who Use Guns

President Obama (Photo: Associated Press)

The President of the United States talks a lot about “common sense.” Common sense gun control legislation, he says, will reduce the number of firearm-related deaths in our country and stop the “flood” of guns into our communities.

But here’s one piece of common sense he has yet to grasp: people—not guns—commit crimes. “Gun crime” is a misnomer because guns can’t commit crimes—only criminals can.

We know he doesn’t grasp this concept because he recently decided to commute the sentences of 156 federal prisoners who have been convicted of gun-related offenses.

Here’s a short sample, courtesy of the National Review and the Washington Times, of the convicted criminals President Obama will be releasing into our neighborhoods and communities:

• Wilson Henderson, of Hollywood, Fla., was convicted of “use of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.”
• Kenneth Evans, of Fort Worth, Texas, was convicted of “use and carry firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and aiding and abetting.”
• Mark Anthony Clark, of Rockford, Ill., was convicted of “possession of a firearm by a felon/fugitive from justice and aiding and abetting,” as well as of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams of meth.
• Artis Sangria McGraw, a two-time felon was nabbed in 2001 as part of a federal-local task force specifically aimed at prosecuting gun crimes. He was caught dealing drugs in a neighborhood of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and had a loaded .38 caliber revolver — with the serial number obliterated.
• Kenneth H. Smith was convicted of lying to a firearms dealer.
• Carolyn Yvonne Butler was convicted of three counts of armed bank robbery.
• Robert Joe Young was convicted of using a gun while trafficking drugs and obstruction of justice. Young was arrested with more than 3 pounds of methamphetamine, was already on probation when he was arrested again, was deemed by local law enforcement to be a major drug supplier to his area and had 40 guns, according to the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, which represents rank-and-file federal prosecutors.

The President’s hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed on Capitol Hill. Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama pointed out that “on one hand, the Obama administration is attempting to limit law-abiding Americans from exercising their Second Amendment right and protecting themselves from harm. On the other hand, the president will let criminals with firearm-related offenses off easy.”

The anti-gun agenda, it seems, is not about stopping people who commit crimes with guns. Their focus, as Brendan Kelly of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence explained, is on guns themselves.

“Our organizational priority is keeping guns out of the hands of prohibited purchasers in the first place,” Kelly told the Washington Times. “We feel that starts by expanding Brady background checks to all gun sales and by cracking down on so-called ‘bad apple’ gun dealers who skirt the law and best practices. We believe that the federal government’s greatest opportunity to reduce gun violence and increase public safety lies in these two approaches.”

The “common sense” behind the President’s call for gun control isn’t really sensible at all. He and his anti-gun supporters blame guns—inanimate objects—rather than the people who choose to pull the trigger. The President made this clear when he decided to forgive 156 felons of gun-related crimes, and anti-gunners make this clear every time they propose gun control as a solution to “gun crime.”