Some area lawmen say they can get behind the president's call for universal background checks to curb crime, but are skeptical of banning assault rifles and limiting clip capacity.
"Some folks have no business having access to [assault rifles,]" said Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson. "[But] should we punish all those folks that are well meaning?"
Wilson says it's more realistic to toughen regulations on assault rifles, such as classing them with class III weapons such as machine guns and silencers, than ban them altogether. It would be harder for criminals to get their hands on the weapons but ensure responsible citizens can have them for sporting events and collecting, Wilson said.
Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd said very few shootings in the city are committed with assault rifles.
"We could only remember one murder and one drive-by vandalism to a home in the past three to four years," Dodd said. "Ninety to nine-five percent of our shootings are with handguns and probably average three to four shots being fired."
Joy Lukachick is a crime reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Since 2009, she's covered breaking news, high-profile trials, stories of lost lives and of regained hope and done investigative work. Raised near the Bayou, Joy’s hometown is along the outskirts of Baton Rouge, La. She has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University. While at LSU, Joy was a staff writer for the Daily Reveille. When Joy isn't chasing down ...
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