The Right Targets
An Effort To Make D.C. Safer Zeroes On Real Criminals
Apparently they’re beginning to “get it” in the District of Columbia,
where federal prosecutors are being told to seek pre-trial detention
against every person charged with a gun crime. Maybe the right
people will finally wind up in jail. Photo by Dave Workman
Last month, Reuters reportedly stumbled upon an interesting memorandum from Ed Martin, the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., telling federal prosecutors in the nation’s capital to “seek pretrial detention against every person” charged with a firearms crime as part of an effort to “Make D.C. Safe Again.”
If Reuters was accurate, this goes along with President Donald Trump’s effort to make everything else “great again.” If there’s a downside to locking up violent criminals in the District, it hasn’t yet reared its head.
Martin is the prosecutor who has been under fire for allegedly abusing his position, according to WCR News. Eight Democrat U.S. Senators called for Martin to be investigated for misconduct. Be that as it may, the notion of going after bad guys and leaving good guys alone is refreshing.
In 2023, D.C. recorded 274 homicides which was a 20-year high. Last year, according to the Washington Post, the body count was dramatically reduced, down to 186, but this number appears to be in some dispute. Axios reported in January how last year produced 190 slayings in the District.
Whatever the number, the Trump administration appears determined to bring it down. Nearby Baltimore, Maryland posted 202 slayings last year, according to the Baltimore Sun, but that city has been something of a slaughterhouse in recent years. In 2023, the body count was 262, and in 2022, they really piled up the corpses, with 334 murder victims.
Why is this important? The District has more armed law enforcement than just about any other U.S. jurisdiction. You have the District Metro police, the FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, DEA and probably other alphabet agencies we overlooked. Long story short, it’s a lot of hardware, a great many badges and yet 186-190 people were toe-tagged last year.
What is refreshing about the Martin memo — provided Reuters’ report was accurate — is that it translates to being the first time in recent memory when the focus on crime shifted from penalizing law-abiding citizens to getting tough on criminals.
Which Brings Us Around To …
Every couple of years I like to check on violent crime around the country by going to Google and typing in “Illegal possession of a firearm,” just to see what pops up. When I did this a couple of weeks ago in preparation for this column, I hit paydirt.
Say “hello” to 18-year-old Darnell Stewart. According to Southwest Regional Publishing, he was pulled over for a traffic stop in Chicago and his situation went quickly downhill. The encounter ended up with charges including unlicensed possession of a weapon by someone under age 21, possession of a handgun with the serial number defaced, possession of a “high-capacity magazine,” illegal possession of between 100 and 500 grams of cannabis, driving with a suspended license, in a car with suspended registration and something called “armed violence.”
Down in Miami, Fla., the local CBS affiliate reported the arrest of a “Venezuelan immigrant” and suspected member of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. Facing federal criminal charges, the suspect identified as Luis Ernesto Veliz Riera reportedly entered the country at El Paso, Texas in February 2023. At the time, according to the report, Veliz Riera “was issued a Notice to Appear for an immigration hearing in Las Vegas, Nevada, which he failed to attend. Instead, he remained in El Paso, waiting for his girlfriend to cross illegally from Mexico. The couple then traveled to Chicago, New York City, and finally settled in Homestead, Florida.” His big “oops” came when he was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
Out in Sacramento County, Calif., a 20-year-old alleged gang member is scheduled to appear in court April 24 after being charged last month for what the local Fox News affiliate described as “multiple gun charges.” For some reason, the report didn’t name the suspect, but did offer details on his legal troubles, which include possession of multiple illegal firearms, (illegal) possession of a firearm (he had been arrested in 2022 for allegedly shooting at rival gang members and couldn’t legally possess a gun), and when sheriff’s deputies arrived at his place with a warrant, they discovered fentanyl and stolen guns.
Last month, police in East Windsor, N.J. encountered a 30-year-old man who was arrested for carrying a pistol without a license, possession of a “high-capacity magazine” and “possession of an altered firearm,” according to the CT Insider. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There was also a little matter of 900 bags of heroin, 2.5 grams of cocaine and “drug paraphernalia.” On top of possessing an allegedly illegal gun in New Jersey, this guy became the walking definition of why we call it “dope.” When East Windsor Police Lt. Derek Leab encountered the suspect, he initially found this guy “unresponsive” in a car parked outside of a Comfort Inn, and he also had “a clearly visible narcotics pipe hanging out of his shirt.”
Remember, all criminal suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed legislation
adding firearms safety classes to the public school curriculum,
beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. (Official portrait)
Good Gun Sense
While so many seem to be misbehaving with guns, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last month signed legislation to create a firearm safety education program for public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools.
Fox News reported how under House Bill 1117, now known as Act 229, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will work with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education “to create and approve age-appropriate firearm safety courses.” The program goes into effect during the 2025-2026 school year.
Insider had a look at the legislation, and it is rather impressive in its intent, which is to reduce the odds of youngsters having accidents with guns. Under the new law, school authorities “shall use the following preferred methods of instruction in determining the curriculum or program of instruction used to educate students on firearm safety: (1) The viewing of a video produced by the commission or a commission-approved source; (2) The review of online resources and materials; and (3)(A) An alternative curriculum, which may include an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course. (B)(i) An off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course may be provided in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event.”
If this effort is a success, perhaps other states will embrace the program. We’ve tried the gun control approach, and it hasn’t worked so well.
Putting this effort in perspective, there’s a 14-year-old kid in New Jersey who was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a Newark police officer last month. The teen faces charges of murder, attempted murder and possessing illegal weapons, according to the New York Times. Detective Joseph Azcona, 26, was killed. Four other people were arrested in connection with the case, the newspaper said.
Reminder: Gun Rights Conference Set
The 40th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 in Salt Lake City, at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek.
Co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, this conference will bring together gun rights leaders and grassroots activists from all over the country. Expect several hundred people to attend. It is an opportunity for people to network, hear crucial reports about gun rights and gun challenges.
Registration is open now at saf.org/grpc
Insider learned that American Handgunner/GUNS magazine icon
John Taffin will be honored in memoriam by adding his name to the
annual Elmer Keith/John Taffin Memorial handgun shoot, scheduled the
final weekend in May. It’s an invitational event, and will be held this
year south of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Taffin Memorialized!
Longtime Insider readers know of my annual participation in the purely invitational Elmer Keith Long Range Memorial handgun shoot, and the organizer of the event advised me recently that henceforth, the title of this event will also include the name of recently departed handgunning icon John Taffin.
I spoke with Will DeRuyter of Spokane, who cooked up this event 25 years ago as a fundraiser for the National Rifle Association. It now raises funds for NRA, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Foundation for Wildlife Management.
Taffin passed away March 10 in Boise, where he resided for many years. He wrote both for American Handgunner and GUNS magazine, authored five books on guns, and was considered one of the nation’s foremost authorities on big bore revolvers. DeRuyter knew Taffin, and it seems fitting to add John’s name to this small but enjoyable shoot, which annually brings together some of the finest long-range handgunners I’ve ever met.
