Right now it’s a symbolic glimmer of hope and common sense. Tampa City Council members recently voted to consider taking part in a national initiative known as “Do Not Stand Idly By.”
It’s a group that wants to enlist the help of public agencies–military and police–that buy tons of guns. The goal is to use that buying power as leverage with manufacturers when it comes to developing “smart guns” that use owner-recognition technology, not doing business with straw-buyer-friendly dealers, not marketing guns based on lethality and not selling large-capacity magazines.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which values real-world priorities over political rhetoric, has endorsed the plan.
We’ll know more in the new year when council will look over a report from city attorneys and the police about taking part.
Right now, anything is better than societal hand-wringing, political finger-pointing and NRA advocacy of out-of-context, Second Amendment perversions.