Citing recent shootings in public housing in his district, Michael Lundy, the executive director of the Birmingham, Ala., Housing Authority, this week proposed a gun ban for residents, possibly as part of their lease agreements, AL.com reports.
On Sept. 11, four people were shot, and one of them killed, in a shootout in Marks Village, a Gate City public housing project. This week, another man was shot in the area. “I don’t care who likes it or who doesn’t,” Lundy said of his proposed gun ban for public housing residents. “We can’t have that in public housing.”
But as public housing residents have learned over the years, gun bans don’t disarm the criminals who terrorize their communities—all they do is disarm the good, law-abiding citizens who just might need firearms to protect themselves. Denying their civil rights isn’t just counterproductive on a practical level—it’s also morally wrong.