By ESB Professional @ Shutterstock.com
At Spectator World, Amber Athey discusses the violence and crime taking place in Washington, D.C., and the progressives who have been startled out of their seats at restaurants as their policies come home. She writes (abridged):
Imagine dining al fresco at a popular French brasserie in Washington DC. It’s a clear, summer night and the streets are buzzing with residents and tourists alike. You’re enjoying your Burger American, and suddenly gunshots ring out down the street.
Diners duck and run for cover. You later hear that two men were injured just blocks away from where you were enjoying your meal.
The stark realization hits: the heart of the nation’s capital is not safe.
Thursday night’s shooting on 14th Street was just the latest shocking crime to occur in a well-populated and upscale area of DC.
Three people were shot and wounded just outside of Nationals Park during a heavily attended baseball game last week.
In March, two teenagers attempted to carjack an Uber driver with a stun gun in the Navy Yard neighborhood, resulting in the driver’s death. There has been a 141 percent increase in carjackings in DC compared to last year.
Many of them are violent and occur in broad daylight. Homicide and shooting rates are also up significantly in the nation’s capital this year.
The left will blame this rise in crime on the alleged proliferation of firearms — Jen Psaki did just that today.
They will not tell you that DC already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, or that the recent shootings that wounded innocent bystanders appeared to be gang-related.
Their response to this rise in crime will be to crack down on legal gun owners and manufacturers.
President Joe Biden recently suggested allowing people to sue gun-makers for liability when someone uses one of their firearms to commit a crime.
The Defund the Police movement in DC is actually being pushed by the DC Council, which wants to redirect police funding to social workers and reduce the number of officers on the force.
Amber Athey is The Spectator’s Washington editor. She is a Tony Blankley fellow at the Steamboat Institute and the host of the Unfit to Print podcast.
If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.
