Dem Mayor Says 'Only Police' Should Have Guns After Philly Shooting
On the 4th of July, as Philadelphians were taking in an annual fireworks celebration in a busy area, gunfire rang out.
An as-of-yet unidentified gunman had opened fire, striking two police officers before darting off into the night. The scene caused quite a bit of chaos, and social media was soon brimming with videos depicting the tumultuous aftermath.
Now, just hours after the incident, one elected official is making a wild suggestion, and it puts the constitution in the cross hairs.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney suggested the Second Amendment and the United States Supreme Court were too lenient when it came to gun rights, following a shooting that injured two police officers near a Fourth of July event on Monday night.
Standing outside the hospital where the two police officers were treated for gunshot injuries, Kenney told a group of reporters that only police officers should be allowed to own guns and that he is looking forward to retiring, so he no longer has to deal with gun violence.
“I’m concerned every single day,” the mayor said just after midnight Tuesday morning, alongside Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. “I’ll be happy when I’m not the mayor,” he added.
And then…
“It was a chilled back day, beautiful weather. But we live in America where we have the Second Amendment and we have the Supreme Court of the United States telling everybody they can carry a gun wherever they want,” he said.
The mayor said he recently visited Canada and remarked that gun violence did not once cross his mind.
“I was in Canada two weeks ago and never thought about a gun,” he said. “The only people I knew who had guns in Canada were police officers.”
“That’s the way it should be here,” Kenney stated, before saying such an idea was “never going to happen” in his lifetime.
Democratic lawmakers have consistently attempted to push gun reform in the emotional wake of mass shootings, understanding that the legal and constitutional paths to adjusting or abolishing the Second Amendment are simply not viable.
