Wayne County leader wants to make it harder to buy bullets
DETROIT (WJBK) - A new program to limit the sale of bullets in Wayne County is being proposed by a member of the Wayne County Commission.
Reggie Reg Davis is holding a press conference Tuesday morning to elaborate on his plan. His background will be Woodlawn Cemetery. It may seem like a macabre place to hold a press conference but he's doing exactly that.
His uncle and brother are buried at the cemetery, both killed because of gun violence. He thinks having it here will send a strong message.
Davis says it was 2001 when his 19-year-old brother was shot and killed on the east side of Detroit.
“A young man aimed a gun at his vehicle; 17 rounds unleashed, hitting a major artery. He bled profusely trying to get to the hospital, didn’t make it; hit a tree. His life was no more.”
'The east side', 'the west side', 'shot and killed', 'hit this many times', 'aimed a gun'; we hear and say those things a lot on the news.
“I’m tired of turning on the news every day and watching you report stories over and over again, killing each other. It’s got to stop somewhere.”
And so Tuesday at Woodlawn Cemetery, Davis wants to unveil his plan to “unload guns” by trying to limit access to ammunition in Wayne County.
The plan would require a mental health background check to buy bullets; make people go to law enforcement agencies to get ammunition; and raise taxes on bullets.
The money, Davis says, would go to victims of gun violence and support conflict resolution education, among other things.
“Mr. NRA, Mrs. NRA, we’ll take the funds derived from the taxes on the ammunition to teach about the Second Amendments and how important they are and help the victims of gun violence,” Davis said.
Gun rights advocate Rick Ector literally laughed at the idea.
“We have some serious societal issues in the county, in the region and in the state not depriving people of their constitutional right to bear a gun.”
Ector thinks even the basics of Davis’s plan go too far.
“At the end of the day, regardless of how they experienced their loss of a loved one, that should not in any way reduce an individual’s ability and their right to defend themselves and to defend their homes,” Ector said.
“The bullets, they do the killing, they kill. It’s up to us to figure out a way to wrap laws around the purchasing of ammunition,” Davis said.
The solution debated, the pain of gun violence everyone agrees on.
Despite Burgeoning opposition - Davis Hopes that his “bullet bill” will be a model nation-wide for preventing gun violence at Woodlawn Cemetery.