Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority opposes attempt to restore gun rights to less fortunate Americans

By Chad D. Baus

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that a push by some federal lawmakers to allow guns into public housing has outraged Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority officials, who call it "absurd."

From the story:

Authority Executive Director George Phillips says most of CMHA's 50,000 residents support the authority's ban on guns in its housing complexes.

"This [proposal] goes opposite to everything we've tried to do in the past 10 or 15 years to regain control of public housing, to move crime and drugs away," said George Phillips, executive director of CMHA.

"It's short-sighted...and I can't speak strongly enough about how absurd this is," he said Friday.

Phillips offered no proof of his claim that most of the 50,000 CMHA residents support the current ban on their Second Amendment rights.

The legislative proposal is sponsored by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA). Price offered it as an amendment to a House bill that would reform the federal Section 8 housing voucher program and offer public housing to more families in need.

Again, from the story:

The House Financial Services Committee approved the amendment by a vote of 38-31, with 13 Democrats voting yes -- including Rep. Charlie Wilson, from Bridgeport in eastern Ohio. But it faces an uncertain future.

The full bill needs to be voted out of the committee, but Elizabeth Esfahani, a panel spokeswoman, said the committee's biggest priority is reforming financial regulations to better protect consumers.

A spokesman for Price told the Plain Dealer there is no corresponding gun legislation in the Senate, which would be required for the measure to become law.

Nevertheless, the story says CMHA's Phillips remains concerned.

According to the story, when gun violence began to spike in the Clinton Nineties, several housing authorities that serve large cities -- including CMHA -- banned guns in hopes of stemming the bloodshed. The bans say that if a resident or a guest brings a gun onto CMHA property and is caught by police, the gun is confiscated, the lease is broken, and the tenant loses a place to live.

As with all bans, there is proof in the story that criminals are simply ignoring this one.

CMHA's police chief, Andres "Andy" Gonzalez, a former commander of the Cleveland Police Department's 3rd District, said his officers have seized more than 10 guns from CMHA property in the past month or two.

Gonzalez said lawmakers supporting guns in public housing are "a bunch of knuckleheads" and are out of tune with what's happening in the projects.

Clearly, what is happening in the projects is that the people responsible for the ongoing violence are ignoring the ridiculous bans, and are preying on the law-abiding residents who have been disarmed by this policy.

If you support the restoration of Second Amendment rights for people of ALL democraphic levels, please contact your Representative and express your support for Rep. Price's amendment.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.