Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire On Hattiesburg Mayor Dupree's remarks on Fox News‏:

"On Sunday morning Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree (D) suggested Mississippi’s allowance of open carry without a permit contributed to the deaths of Officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate on May 10 2015." --Breitbart.com, 11 May 2015

Mayor Dupree went on Fox News and tried the same old specious argument often posited by such luminaries as Nancy Pelosi and Michael Bloomberg, implying that law abiding citizens are in some way responsible for the deaths of two officers. The good Mayor claimed that because of Mississippi's laws concerning concealed carry of firearms, a convicted thief and drug dealer was somehow empowered not only to carry a weapon but to use it in an unprovoked attack on two of the fine men Hattiesburg counted on to keep the peace.

I wonder whether the Mayor even thought about what he was saying, or whether he was just reading from an old, tired script which has been trotted out on innumerable occasions and has been proven over and over again to be indefensible when held up to the cold light of reason.

What the Mayor does not say, and which many of the misguided need to hear, is that Mississippi's laws concerning the legal carrying of arms simply don't come into play. In the context of this case, those laws are simply irrelevant. Both Federal and State law deny ownership or possession of firearms to any convicted felon, anyone who has renounced their US citizenship, persons indicted for or undergoing trial for a felony offense, or those who have been convicted of either misdemeanor or felony crime of domestic abuse. Those falling into these categories also can't receive a Mississippi concealed carry license, as the laws which regulate the ownership of firearms are virtually parallel to those regarding who may or may not receive such a license.

The Mayor further commented that those with concealed carry licenses are somehow a danger to officers during traffic stops. Ask any street cop and he or she will tell you that all traffic stops are inherently dangerous, as the officers have no idea what--or who--is in the car being stopped. To imply that law abiding citizens who have passed the rigorous background checks necessary for issuance of a concealed carry license are a greater danger to officers than those who conveniently ignored the restrictions of both owning and carrying weapons is patently offensive to those law abiding citizens. In a nutshell, Mayor Dupree dumps the law abiding into the same bucket with the law breaking. As a member of the large group he has insulted, I'd like an apology from the Mayor, though I won't be holding my breath. After all, he had a national audience, so why make yourself out to look a fool locally when you can do so in front of a larger audience?

"Arguing with a man who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." --Thoma Paine

So in that nutshell of Reason I offer the following points:

When an officer asks his dispatcher for information on a driver's license and that person has a concealed carry license, the information on that concealed carry status is attached to the driver's license record. Therefore, the officer is not "surprised" by the information. (I might also mention that people who have concealed carry licenses are statistically the most law abiding group in the country.)

In order to possess a firearm legally, one must not be a convicted felon, drug addict, or spousal abuser. Those who shoot police--or commit robberies, homicides, or drug offenses--don't qualify for concealed carry licenses. Those who apply for such licenses tend to take seriously their responsibilities as gun owners, gun carriers, or citizens in general.

In conclusion, Mister Mayor, maintaining silence may be the best option for you on this subject, though the damage is already done; it remains to be seen whether the greater damage is to those you have insulted or to your own credibility.

Leland Ray
Brooklyn, Mississippi

go figure, black mayor blames legal gun owners for what 2 thugs did.


I don't remember the details, but there was something shady about his election to mayor.

I'm pretty sure murder is illegal in Mississippi.

I live just outside Hattiesburg. I'm of the opinion that Hattiesburg is not blessed with an ethical, nor capable, mayor. By all evidences, and not just conspiracy theories, he had to rig elections and tamper with jurors to be Hattiesburg's mayor. Google "Johnny Dupree Dave Ware".

I used to work with him at Sears in Hattiesburg about 30 years ago. He's an idiot.

Not surprised.

Dupree is a member of Bloomberg's Mayors Against Guns.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...ors-illegal-guns-e-civilian-disarmament/

They all want total disarmament of the American public.

Double whammy (as opposed to triple whammy in Baltimore), the mayor is:
Black
democrat

End of discussion

I'm pretty sure his drug and thievery convictions already banned him from carrying a weapon, I'm equally as sure if there were more laws he would have followed them.

Never do you here about how oBummer or his bunch want to toughen penalties for criminals that possess firearms.

It's always the legal folks that do wrong.

welcome to the liberal version of racism.....

and its fine, since they are the ones doing it...

Amen!!

So being a dumbazzzz had nothing to do with it...

Good to know...

restores my faith in the Afro Americans of this nation...

PREZACTLY !

How in the heck did this nitwit get elected in Hattiesburg? Back in the day, Hattiesburg was the epitome of standardized American culture. How far we have fallen.