During Obama's first term, his attorney general, Eric Holder, implemented Operation Fast and Furious.  The ostensible purpose was for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to catch straw purchasers who bought guns in America and sold them in Mexico.  ATF blew it, and taxpayer-funded guns vanished into Mexico.  A secondary goal was to try to convince Americans that guns are bad, to drive gun control laws.  When I read about Democrats flooding cities with gun crime suspects, I wonder if they're trying the same psychological trick again.

What caught my eye first was a New York Post report on the fact that almost 90% of gun crime suspects are back on New York's streets:

Nearly 90 percent of suspects arrested on gun charges this year are back on the streets, which the NYPD says has fueled a historic spike in shootings that have left more than 1,756 dead or wounded.

About 3,345 of the 3,793 perps arrested between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 for firearms crimes — 88 percent — were let go, according to department data. Just 450 remain in jail, the NYPD told The Post.

Some New York City Council members also want to order police to avoid any contact with homeless people, many of whom are deranged and violent.

In Los Angeles, the new Soros-funded district attorney, George Gascón (who spent almost ten years growing up under Fidel Castro), is unilaterally doing away with serious punishments for violent gun crimes, virtually assuring that the criminals will be back on the street.

Then there was the news that New York's shooting rate is heading for a 14-year high:

New York City is about to hit a dangerous 14-year high in shootings this year. NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the increase of gun violence should make New Yorkers stop and pause. https://t.co/YHkOd3Cb0y #nyc #nypd #gunviolence #nyccrime pic.twitter.com/LPHTSAoZLW

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) December 8, 2020

After that, I saw that, because of an ACLU lawsuit, a California judge ordered Ventura County to release half its prison population:

The sheriff of Orange County, California, was ordered by a Superior Court judge on Friday to reduce the number of incarcerated people currently housed in the county's jail system by fifty percent to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

[snip]

"If the order stands, it will result in the release of more than 1,800 inmates," said [Sheriff Don Barnes]. "Many of these inmates are in pre-trial status for, or have been convicted of, violent crimes and will be released back into the community. This order puts our community at substantial risk and does not take into account the impact on the victims of these crimes."

Chicago's Cook County also released all sorts of inmates due to COVID-19, and the gun crime rate has skyrocketed there, too.

In addition to releasing criminals onto the streets the big cities have all cut back on their policing in response to the Black Lives Matter movement's demand for "defunding the police."

At the same time, with a Biden White House and Democrat Congress within their grasp, Democrats are making a huge push for gun control:

Kamala Harris remembered the December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary attack by pushing gun control "to keep our children safe."

[snip]

The "common-sense gun safety" being pushed for the Biden administration includes a ban on the sale of firearms which Democrats label "assault weapons," as well as a ban on "high capacity" magazines, and the implementation of universal background checks.

These types of gun controls have been pursued by Democrats like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) at the federal level for years and they have been in place in New York since 2013.

As Stef Feldman, who is Biden's policy director, said, the administration is planning "big, bold changes through executive action" to affect "gun violence":

The @NRA has obtained a new video from yesterday of @StefFeldman, @JoeBiden's policy director, promising "BIG, BOLD" gun control executive action as first priority. We must keep fighting, patriots! pic.twitter.com/K9DnAdMD8A

— NRA (@NRA) December 9, 2020

When I see all these news stories and then listen to Feldman's words, all I can think of is that Democrats are deliberately driving up gun violence so they can justify that "big, bold action" against guns.  In that way, Operation Fast and Furious may have been a trial run for what Democrats now plan.

Image: Guns forbidden sign.  MaxPixels.  Public domain.