Response from Mayor Ballard

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Response from Mayor Ballard

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In response to the note I sent to Greg Ballard I received the following email.

Dear Mr. Swenson:

On behalf of Mayor Ballard and his staff, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. Frank Straub, the new Director of Public Safety, supports an individuals right to own firearms. As Director of Public Safety, his focus will be to regulate and monitor illegal gun ownership to ensure the safety of our communities.

Mary Grattan
Constituent Services Assistant
Office of Mayor Gregory A. Ballard
200 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Phone: 317-327-2580
Fax: 317-327-3980

Emphasis mine

Talk is cheap, Ms. Grattan.

In 2004, he created a division to deal with domestic violence cases in White Plains and testified before Congress, asking that the federal assault-weapon ban be extended.

"My own personal perspective is we have way too many guns on the street and way too many people that own guns," Straub said, adding there is no clear national policy dealing with guns.

"The policy has to start at the federal level and then work its way down to the states and to the local level. Until we control the flow of guns between states . . . you have a problem."

Does that sound like "supports an individual's right to own firearms" to anyone at all?

Here is my reply:

Mary Grattan,

With all due respect ma'am, Frank Straub's actions and own words suggest otherwise. From the Indianapolis Star:

In 2004, he created a division to deal with domestic violence cases in White Plains and testified before Congress, asking that the federal assault-weapon ban be extended.
***
"My own personal perspective is we have way too many guns on the street and way too many people that own guns."

I would be interested to hear if Mr. Straub's position on the "assault-weapon" ban and gun ownership have radically changed. Otherwise, my points hold. He has historically used his public position to advocate anti-gun legislation on the Federal level. Mayor Ballard has given him a much larger platform as the Director of Public Safety of Indianapolis from which to proclaim those views.

For the sake of Mayor Ballard's next election campaign I hope that Frank Straub sticks to focusing on criminal gun ownership as opposed to attempting to criminalize the ownership of firearms by law abiding citizens as he has in the past.

Regards,
Ben Swenson

And her reply:

Dear Mr. Swenson:

Thank you for your additional comments.

Mary Grattan
Constituent Services Assistant
Office of Mayor Gregory A. Ballard
200 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Phone: 317-327-2580
Fax: 317-327-3980

2009-12-23
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