There Should Be Stricter Gun Control Laws - Statement Of Sylvester Daughtry, Jr., Chief Of Police, Greensboro, Nc, And President Of The International Association Of Chiefs Of Police, Before The House Subcommittee On Crime And Criminal Justice, April 25, 1

On January 25 of last year … in Langley, Virginia, an individual with no criminal record went on a shooting spree outside CIA headquarters, killing two and wounding three. On the other side of the country, on July 1 of last year, another individual with no criminal record entered a San Francisco law firm with over 450 rounds of ammunition, eventually killing eight and seriously wounding six. With these examples, the argument by gun control opponents that we will be restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens rings very hollow. As we have said, we in law enforcement cannot make such a simplistic and dreamy distinction.

The reason there is no decrease in gun-related mayhem as a result of stringent state and local gun control laws is that guns are easily purchased in less stringent locations and brought into the stricter areas. As you can imagine, chiefs do not have a patrol to prevent firearms purchased elsewhere from entering and being used in our jurisdictions. This is one of the logical reasons why the IACP [International Association of Chiefs of Police] supports federal legislation in the area of gun control. Gun control will work only if all the states are required to observe it.