By Lee Williams
None of the more than 20,000 gun laws on the books in this country will ever stop a criminal from committing a crime – not one – but when you add soft-on-crime prosecutors, politicians only trying to deflect blame and an unguarded target just waiting to be looted, you get a perfect storm of criminality.
A storm is exactly what swept the Union Pacific railroad tracks in Los Angeles earlier this month – a storm of criminals.
Since 2020, more than 90 railcars have been burglarized on the 275 miles of tracks running through Los Angeles County, most in LA’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, according to the Hastings Tribune, which on Wednesday revealed that firearms were among the thousands of items stolen by the thieves.
“People were … breaking into these containers and stealing firearms, tens of firearms,” LAPD Chief Michael Moore told his Police Commission this week, according to the paper. “That gave us the great concern as a source again of further violence in the city as people were capitalizing on the transport of these containers with having little or no policing or security services there.”
The trash and utter devastation left on the train tracks by the criminals – whom California Gov. Gavin Newsom first called “gangs” but later referred to as “organized groups” – went viral. It drew dozens of reporters, who drew dozens of politicians. Newsom himself helped bag trash for the cameras at the crime scene just last week, wearing a t-shirt, ballcap and COVID-19 mask.
Once the legacy media stories were aired, the finger-pointing began. The railroad blamed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who is soft on crime – especially if the defendant is homeless or a drug addict.
Gascón blamed the railroad for poor security. Chief Moore noted that the massive number of empty boxes and debris created a “free for all” atmosphere among the thieves.
Newsom touted his Organized Retail Theft Task Force, which he created last year after Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities saw organized groups of ne’er-do-wells looting retail stores completely unhindered by law enforcement.
Takeaways
California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. However, none of them will keep guns out of criminal hands once the weapons make it onto the black market. Even Joe Biden realized this, once he learned that the Texas synagogue terrorist acquired his handgun from another criminal. “You can’t stop something like this if someone is on the street buying something from somebody else on the street.” Biden admitted.
Similarly, none of the Golden State’s gun laws will work if they’re not enforced. District Attorney Gascón admitted that his office only prosecuted about half of the railroad burglary cases they received from law enforcement, and that the charges included “felony or misdemeanor charges of burglary, theft and receiving of stolen property.”
Misdemeanors? Newsom’s “organized groups” burglarized locked railcars and stole firearms. Armed burglary would have been a more appropriate felony charge.
Gov. Newsom said the carnage on the Lincoln Heights tracks looked like a “third world country,” for which he took some political heat. In my humble opinion, his assessment is correct, but too narrow in scope.
California itself has become a third world country. The entire state is nothing more than one large gun-free zone. Most Californians lack the means to defend themselves, their places of business, and their families. The Lincoln Heights free-for-all is nothing extraordinary. It just happened to catch the legacy media’s eye.
Once a population is disarmed, gangs or organized criminal groups will always rise up. Once a population is armed, the gangs disperse, because while they may not fear defunded law enforcement, soft-on-crime prosecutors or anti-gun politicians, most career criminals still have an aversion to getting shot.
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This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.
“Newsom himself helped bag trash for the cameras at the crime scene just last week, wearing a t-shirt, ballcap and COVID-19 mask.”
… until his aids told the camera people the photo op was over.
I saw a YouTube video about this. At the time there was a detailed train and beside the tracks were a lot of tents and RVs parked (any guesses who did the break ins?). The rail corridor security was lacking with razor wire only on top of the fences at bridges.
Downunder urban rail corridor security has spiked topped fences, barbed wire top strands, or topped with razor wire.
The problem is, this isn’t because people are stealing packages, the problem is – the packages have guns in them.
Yup. Blame the gun. It’s miasma of evil compels those nearby to commit crime.
I’m never going to believe that guy is for real. He just posts crazy stuff her to get a reaction, nothing more.
“…the problem is – the packages have guns in them.”
Guns I have ordered online over the last few years got to the LGS where I do the transfer via UPS. OK, maybe DHL did one, I forget.
The packages look like any other typical UPS shipment a plain brown box, that’s how they hide what’s inside…
Where have the environmentalist lefties gone? Sure looks like an unrecycled, trashy mess to me. Won’t somebody think of the seagulls?
Probably the same place the anti-war lefties went. Code Pink, anyone?
Either converted to wokey corporate globalism that makes the most caricatured capitalistic Mr. Moneybags look tame by comparison or hiding under a rock hoping their peers come to their senses before the world burns to ashes.
Plastics and heavy metals are probably scattered among the trash.
“Sure looks like an unrecycled, trashy mess to me.”
Yep, and as literally ‘trashed’ as it is, you can’t tell day-to-day if the problem is getting worse.
Put some damn cameras up and catch them doing it…
They’re still around. They’ve just evolved. The authoritarians and the capitalists have convinced the environmental activists that the only thing that matters is MOAR money and power (for them, less for you) to save the planet, of course.
They haven’t evolved even a little bit. They were always greedy, grasping narcissists who wanted to have everything their own way while controlling everyone else.
Time to get the recall rolling again on Newscum.
have to recall dominion first.
The entire state of California is NOT a gun free zone. There are millions of guns and gun owners in this state, though until recently most of them lived in areas from Sacramento north and through the central valley. MOST of the state is “virtual shall issue” for CCWs (although to be fair, this is still a minority of the voting public). Further, although the state has an AR ban, it is a features ban and there are work-arounds to build rifles that are not “assault weapons” under the law, and millions of us own them.
It seems to me the State should be providing more trash and recycling cans along the rail lines so that the ‘organized groups’ can be more respectful of the environment.
Trash isn’t killing the polar bears off.
I’m getting text messages every month from the ATF about burglaries or attempted burglaries of gun stores.
And train robberies of guns are not new things. Chicago used to be the epicenter, but it appears that the thieves are now paying more attention to Horace Greeley.
Another thing that’s different is the lack of diligent police work and prosecution of the thugs who are doing the robbing. But forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
“Chicago used to be the epicenter”
I understand it still is for stealing guns out of airline luggage. the bags are required to be tagged as having a firearm, and as it rolls through they just bust the bag and take it.
Maybe Chicago does it differently, but I haven’t had a checked gun with an exterior tag in decades. The declaration tag gets put inside the luggage. At most airports I’ve used, the TSA examines the contents in my presence, let’s me lock it, and bypasses further screening. It doesn’t get treated specially at the destination — it’s on the same carousel as normal luggage. I’ve packed ammo on trips to CA just to avoid the normal screening process, although SJO doesn’t screen in my presence.
@Anymouse, I usually fly out of Logan in Boston. I just “show clear” to the ticket agent after requesting a firearms declaration and I’m GTG.
I lock my luggage with a TSA lock and the TSA does check my suitcase from time to time. Once, an untrained ticket agent tried to tape the firearms declaration to the outside of my luggage. I educated her as to way that was not done. The dec is place inside the luggage, not outside.
I understand that at Chicago airports, the TSA used a spider lock on the bag, which immediately let everyone know that there was a gun inside. That’s stupid, but it’s Chicago, so stupid is the default position.
Most airlines now have a tag (Return to BSO as an example) or it’s identified with the baggage claim scans at arrival (several offer a track my bag function in their apps). Then at your final destination, it gets separated and escorted up to the desk where they want to match photo ID of passenger to ensure it gets in the right hands. Doesn’t always work this way—but 80-85% of the time. That’s based on my last 11 years of flying with a firearm in my checked baggage.
“Gov. Newsom said the carnage on the Lincoln Heights tracks looked like a ‘third world
country’”
import the third world, get the third world.
it’s like those nigerians who gather round the gasoline pipelines and tap in to siphon off gas, splashing happily in the gasoline/mud. occasionally one will forget what he’s doing and light up a cigarette, and torch several hundred of ’em.
“Gov. Newsom said the carnage on the Lincoln Heights tracks looked like a ‘third world country’”
it is.
Aw does Newslum “get” you need to do more than dine at French Laundry & whine? Methinks this failure of a leader would just as soon ban gunz on railroads as the solution…
“ban gunz on railroads”
don’t give them ideas.
did breyer just announce plans to retire?
followed by…?
“followed by …?”
a clone.
No. A radical liberal feminist.
I meant ideologically cloned.
Serious question, which would be better, a radical liberal feminist, or a sjw?
“A radical liberal feminist.”
Worse, a younger Leftist Scum radical liberal feminist…
Easy. The SJW would be worse.
Breyer needs to retire so a newer, fresher, more progressive justice can be appointed to the court. Old geezers have the tendency to want to conserve some aspects of their live they think are important. No. Conserve nothing, nothing accomplished in the past should ever be conserved, keep changing, vote blue. And part of that is replacing old blue with new blue. That and the senate seems to lean republican, so they install all their homophobic, sexist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted fascists to the court, and that spoils the fun for all the rest of us trying to erase the past, destroy it, and continue our change into the future with whatever direction we find ourselves going.
Breyer needs to retire so a newer, fresher, more progressive justice can be appointed to the court. Old geezers have the tendency to want to conserve some aspects of their live they think are important. No. Conserve nothing, nothing accomplished in the past should ever be conserved, keep changing, vote blue. And part of that is replacing old blue with new blue. That and the senate seems to lean republican, so they install all their bigots to the court, and that spoils the fun for all the rest of us trying to erase the past, destroy it, and continue our change into the future with whatever direction we find ourselves going.
Excellent. Let’s start with the 1st, 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.
At least the 3rd Amendment seems to be safe. Stay tuned, though.
I was waiting for TTAG to do this story.
Libertarians liberals and the left helped make it a less serious crime to steal in the state of California. While it is technically still illegal to take property that does not belong to you. Laws were passed (prop 47) that raised the value of the property stolen in the eyes of the law. So now the police will only investigate crimes involving a higher value of private property that was stolen.
So now Train Robbery has returned to America.
But as long as you only steal certain items from a railroad car. For example the property that actually doesn’t belong to the railroad. ie the cargo they are carrying for a fee. It now has become permissible to steal this cargo.
But do not steal the higher-value property that belongs to the railroad. Because the railroads do employ their own Police Department. And as far as I know the railroad police have the same Authority and responsibilities as regular police officers.
How are libertarians a problem? CA has a liberal problem, not a libertarian problem.
This guy litterally thinks Libertarians = Liberal. He has been corrected numerous times but fails to understand. Keeps repeating the same lies. What he should be asking is why are these great Republicans he keeps voting for allowing the liberal agenda to go forward with little to no fight.
Also Rant7 needs to post more, this glow boy must get paid by the word.
A large number of people who call themselves libertarians, possibly the majority, are exactly as Chris T. describes. It’s because of those people that I don’t generally call myself libertarian anymore. He’s not entirely right, but he’s not wrong, either.
I am not surprised that one of my favorite YouTube channels styxhexenhammer 666, had to do a video explaining to the Libertarians how wrong they are.
The comment section in this video is just amazing sad. Libertarians are lost. The rioters should have been shot dead on site. But that is not supportrd by libertarians. I will not say all, but many, many, Libertarians supported rioters.
From july 2020
“No, it Isn’t Libertarian to Side with Rioting Communists.”
video 8 min long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfU3tAvKd9c
Libertarians are correct when it comes individual liberty. Taxation is theft. But Libertarians are not willing to accept the responsibility, and the end result, which is often very negative on society, about the policies they support.
I call them Libertinians, not Libertarians.
This is a common problem with our society. You guys are the party of “free-dumb” and don’t support common sense safety. The problem isn’t that people are stealing packages, or that train cars are being broken into, it’s that the packages themselves have guns in them. The downtrodden, the homeless, and those of non-white privilege rely upon these packages for their livelihoods. We should give them our sympathy, and have the empathy to give them room to do what they need to do to survive. If society were structured better, like UBCs, universal health care, free college, free housing, free food, free phones, more public transportation, more public services, etc etc, they wouldn’t need to break into these cars to begin with.
Quick recap:
1) Problem is the guns not the behavior.
2) Society needs to fix this by providing to these people – “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs” – aka, more taxes, more redistributionism, and we can start with universal basic income and universal healthcare.
Hi-jacking an avatar? You have a worthy skill set.
Made more sense than the original.
Did I just hear the popping sound of a head exploding? It would have to at least induce a cerebral aneurysm.
In the case of dacian the nazi how would you tell if his head exploded or not?
Whatever popping noise our resident fascists head made during the explosion would be more along the lines of a fart than a bang.
Southern Cross,
I sincerely doubt that dacian the stupid’s head is capable of either exploding (if brains were gunpowder, dacian the stupid couldn’t blow his nose), or making a sound if it did. Although, to be fair, a vacuum tube can make a pretty good pop if it’s dropped.
I wonder where the good Dr Dacian is? I would have figured he would have popped up for at least some of the Shot Show news.
He’s on the Maryland Ghost Gun thread. You can smell the aura of smugness.
He’s going to break the keyboard furiously tapping the F5 key.
The railroad needs to hire more Bulls.
An armed or unarmed individual sitting at home has no relevance to a railroad company getting hijacked.
In my youth railroad bulls were no neck mothers that knew how to throw a beating. Times have changed.
“Most Californians lack the means to defend themselves, their places of business, and their families.” –
Thats not entirely true. We, in many case, have the ability to defend ourselves, places of business’ and families. What we lack is any kind of support from our government. We live in fear of being the victim of crime not because we fear the criminal. We can easily send him or her to meet his maker. The problem is, we will then become the target of our own government that values the lives of criminals far more than the citizens it claims to be protecting. BLM or some other evil organisation will target us as racist and have the full support of our own government. Unless we are fortunate enough to have 45 cameras, that we control, filming the attack upon us, we will be sued into obscurity, destroyed publicly, and likely imprisoned.
Thats the fear of the California citizen. Means of defense is not our problem. Its consequence of successfully defending ourselves that is the problem.
Tens of firearms??
“LAPD Chief Michael Moore”
All you need to know. Destination: f*cked
While your local prosecutor may be a Soros funded social justice prosecutor dying to convict people who defend themselves, California does have an excellent stand your ground and castle doctrine law.
These laws are the result of court decisions going back to cowboy times.
LA and San Francisco DAs may be against self-defense they have a very high burden to overcome to convict citizens defending themselves.
More and more CA is becoming a 3rd world county. It’s a bit funny actually.
Perhaps someday that will be corrected when the sheeple there start electing adults to office instead of the 8th-grade-level intellects that they choose now. I suppose you get the government you deserve.
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