(Memphis) Stunned by the loss of Memphis Police Officer Martoiya Lang, Mayor A C Wharton called for changes to gun control laws, “We’re going all over the country to find the best methods we can to get the guns out of the hands of the wrong people.”
Just minutes after two Memphis police officers were shot Friday a devastating massacre at an elementary school in Connecticut killed 26 people and the gun control argument went national.
Three days have passed since the shootings and Arms Fair manager Robert Robertson says the weekend gun sales were busier than ever because of the uncertainty over the future of gun laws, “Getting hand guns or firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens will not in any way stop criminals. Just like prohibition did not stop alcohol.”
Robertson says he expects Clinton era gun bans that expired in 2004 will be brought back for a vote in Congress.
Under those laws guns were not allowed to have large magazines capable of shooting a high number of rounds, and they classified several weapons as assault weapons.
Those weapons had certain characteristics like grenade launchers, and flash hiders on the muzzle.
Mayor Wharton says at the beginning of the year his office and police will be redoubling efforts to get guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
He was not available Monday to tell us how he plans to do it.