**FILE** Guns are offered during a buyback program on Jan. 26, 2013, ... more >Guns can’t be used for defense, said the police chief in Emeryville, Calif. They can only be used to show power and dominance, he said, at a press conference to promote tighter gun-control laws in California.
“One issue that always boggles my mind is that the idea that a gun is a defensive weapon,” said Emeryville Police Chief Ken James, according to a report in The Blaze. They are rather “offensive weapon[s] used to intimate and used to show power.”
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In his remarks, Mr. James called for bans on semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. He also pushed for universal background checks, according to the media report.
“Police officers don’t carry a gun as a defensive weapon to defend themselves or their other officers,” Mr. James said, according to The Blaze. “They carry a gun to be able to do their job in a safe and effective manner and face any oppositions we may come upon.”
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Cheryl Chumley is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She’s also a 2008-2009 Robert Novak journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation. She can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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