In the following piece, Breitbart's AWR Hawkins makes a serious claim:
AWR Hawkins (2013:Jan.28). SAN DIEGO POLICE CHIEF: WE CAN DISARM AMERICANS WITHIN A GENERATION," Breitbart.com
Because I'm
always wary of Breitbart as a source, I
always follow it back at least one level.
Hawkins (the author) cites the following article as his source for the claim:
Kimberly Dvorak (2013:Jan.17). "San Diego top cop boasts 'we broke the NRA' as some chiefs aim for gun control," Washington Guardian.
I did not find the "disarm" claim that Hawkins alleged; the closest I came was this:
[San Diego Police Chief William] Lansdowne suggested the Newtown, Conn., massacre may have undercut the gun lobby’s power and opened the door for new gun control legislation. “We broke the NRA,” Lansdowne boasted in an off camera portion of an interview with San Diego 6 and the Washington Guardian. When asked to expound, he demurred.
So... not only did the 'boast' happen off-camera (convenient), the interview was with San Diego 6
and the Washington Guardian (Brietbart's source). A joint interview? That's interesting... and probably a bit unusual. But file that away for later... we know what the WG's take on the interview is... let's see what SD6 has to say.
I finally found the SD6 piece via
this article at conservative site CNS news:
Kimberly Dvorak (2013:Jan.16). "White House, Congress Create Gun-Buying Frenzy After Newtown," San Diego 6.
Chief Lansdowne, who plays an active role in the western region of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) association [my note: IACP is an historically anti-gun organization], said it may take a generation but guns will eventually be taken off the streets through new laws like Senator Diane Feinstein’s proposed assault weapons ban legislation. Some of the items his organization is addressing include; a ban on assault weapons, restricting high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes that allow firearm sales between private owners without background checks, and implementing much stricter background checks by using a comprehensive database.
San Diego City’s top cop focused on grandfathering a law provision contained in Senator Feinstein’s legislation that would allow current lawful firearms owners to keep their assault weapons, but said that firearms would be destroyed upon the owner’s death and the new law would no longer allow firearms to be passed down to heirs and relatives.
First of all, do you see what I see? Dvorak is the author of
both the Washington Guardian piece
and the San Diego 6 piece. That explains the question of the "joint" interview, but it also means there's only one person to verify Chief Lansdowne's quote... Dvorak.
Secondly, this is not what I would call "hard" confiscation (i.e. door-to-door), but "soft" confiscation... one that happens over time, via attrition. That's not to say "soft" confiscation is (in the long-run) any less tyrannical than "hard" confiscation.
This article (also tackling Chief Lansdowne's alleged comments) at IJ Review makes a good, hard point regarding the tyranny of "soft" confiscation:
As far as the left’s patronizing objection to gun control opponents that, “no one’s coming to get your guns,” the San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne has taken the unrealistic position that all guns can be taken off the streets withing a “generation.”
However, Chief Lansdowne isn't after "all guns," as the Daily Kos site 'mostly debunks' this claim (though DK claims complete debunking), but 'only'
some guns.
WCWatch (2013:Feb.03). "Roger Hedgecock says police chief aims to "disarm Americans;" then complains of smear," Daily Kos.
Incidentally, all articles to be found, whether on the "Washington Guardian", the jokey Examiner.com, or the local news station Sandiego6.com, are versions of the same article written by a certain Kimberly Dvorak. Dvorak has been accused of plagiarism and other fabrications while penning right wing pieces in conjuction with the anti-immigration extremists the San Diego Minutemen. And about the same time that Hedgecock was tweeting his defense of the story, his own station was debunking it (with Lansdowne clarifying that he was referring to assault weapons).
The DK writer provides a link to the station's debunking (which, presumably, also contains Chief Lansdowne's less-than-comforting 'clarification'). As it is in podcast form, I have not yet had time to listen to it.
Anna Good & [Show Producer] Mike Slater (2013:Feb.01). "SDPD Chief William Lansdowne," 760 KFMB AM.
According to a headline on Breitbart.com, San Diego Police Chief, William Lansdowne said "We can disarm Americans within a generation".
Well, that is not exactly what he said...
However, he did say some pretty inflammatory comments on the show this morning!
Follow Mike Slater and listen to the interview
If anyone finds a transcript, please let me know. If not, I will update in the future.
