Milwaukee Mayor Boasts Record Gun Seizures In Plea for More State Help

By Jenn Jacques

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett may be inept at leading the charge against his city’s rampant gun crime, but he sure is good at making excuses for his failure and pointing the blame at law-abiding citizens.

Reporting that Milwaukee police seize guns in the southern Wisconsin city at a rate nine times of police in New York City, Barrett once again claims this isn’t due to MPD Chief Ed Flynn’s failure to solve crimes or DA John Chisolm’s inability to prosecute criminals, it’s because there are just ‘many guns on the streets’ of his city.

“There’s more gun capacity that the criminals have than the police have,” said Barrett. “And that’s a concern that I have. I don’t want our police officers to face individuals who can outgun them.”

According to Barrett, MPD seized 2,419 guns in 2016. So far in 2017, police have seized 337 guns, all while investigating a crime.

Compared to other major cities, MPD seizes guns at a rate of about 407 per 100,000 people. Los Angeles Police seize guns at a rate of 156 per 100,000 people, Chicago at 246 per 100,000, Philadelphia at 253 per 100,000 and NYC at 44 per 100,000 people.