The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

Fewer Cops + Looser Gun Policy = One Bad Idea

by Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke - 12/21/06 1:48 PM ET

When I was Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana (a city of about 200,000 at the time) the Federal government helped us and others fight rising crime by providing COPS grants to hire more police and by restricting access to guns by passing the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban.

Now there is less money for police, and the restrictions on guns have been loosened. Changing our Federal policies from encouraging “more police and less guns” to “more guns and less police” has helped lead to the increase in violent crime.

Tags Assault weapon Federal Assault Weapons Ban Law National security Police Politics Security