If gun control were all it took to prevent shootings, armed robberies, and other violent crimes, Oakland, California would be one of the safest cities in the country. California residents are subject to an almost never-ending litany of infringements on their Second Amendment rights, including a 10-day waiting period, background checks on all firearm transfers and sales of ammunition, and a ban on “assault weapons” and “large capacity” magazines.
Despite all of those restrictions on lawful gun ownership, criminals in California don’t seem to have a hard time getting ahold of a firearm through illicit means. The failures of the Golden State’s anti-gun regime were evident in Oakland on Saturday night, when four separate shootings were reported over a period of four hours.
Oakland and the East Bay erupted in violence on Saturday night, starting with two deadly shootings and ending with the Bay Bridge shut down by sideshow spectators around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
In the span of four hours, four people were shot in Oakland, and three of them died.
Two were killed and another injured at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 23rd Street around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday Then, one more person was killed around 8 p.m. in East Oakland on E Street.
Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, sideshows started in the East Bay. The group stopped in San Pablo, where hundreds watched, some even climbed freeway signs and nearby trucks.
They also stopped in Richmond, where police said they were able to deploy stop sticks to deflate tires and intercept three cars. Those vehicles were impounded for 30 days and the drivers were cited for reckless driving and released.
Another “sideshow” took place on the Bay Bridge, with hundreds of cars stopping traffic until police showed up. The California Highway Patrol told Oakland TV station KTVU that no arrests were made after officers stopped pursuing some of the vehicles involved over safety concerns.
“At one point there were two helicopters up, an airplane up, multiple perimeters were set up because activities were taking place in this city, and people should not be living in this condition. I mean we’re under siege by criminals,” said Sgt. Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association.
With many officers diverted to deal with the street takeovers, Nguyen says the Oakland PD simply lacks the resources to deal with the growing number of emboldened criminals.
There were also multiple burglaries and a TV news crew was robbed at gunpoint. Their guard’s gun was taken, as well as the camera and their belongings.
“Everybody looks at our city like that’s the city that we do not want to be like, and that’s something that we have to get away from,” said Nguyen.
He said there needs to be more police officers, but instead, the city is telling the department to work harder with less.
“We went from over 800 officers to 712, currently we have 690 and pushing for 678. That’s not the pattern that we should be pushing for,” said Nguyen.
“More laws, less law enforcement” is a terrible strategy to fight crime, especially when many of those laws are non-violent, possessory offenses that are aimed at folks who are merely trying to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. But it’s fully in line with the gun control activists and anti-gun politicians who regularly proclaim that “police violence is gun violence”.
The truth is, it’s far easier to illegally acquire a gun in California than it is for someone to legally obtain a gun for a lawful purpose like self-defense. The state’s draconian gun control regime has priced some folks out of exercising their Second Amendment rights, while subjecting every lawful gun owner to needless delays and a maze of red tape to navigate. And what’s the result? A city “under seige by criminals” where even the reporters protected by armed guards aren’t safe or secure.
We may very well hear Kamala Harris tout California as an example for other states and the federal government to follow during Tuesday night’s debate with Donald Trump, but it’ll be up to Trump to talk about the reality on the streets of Oakland and the repeated failures of California’s gun control regime when it comes to keeping residents safe… or allowing them to protect themselves.
