Sullivan’s a tool. This is laughable:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sullivan called battling violent crime the No. 1 priority of ATF and said the agency is trying to help cities with federal task forces and technology.

What the hell does the ATF do to “battle violent crime”? Last I saw the ATF stormtroopers weren’t smashing down doors and raiding crack houses like you’re average bubba’d up Police-Ninja. Besides, I thought the ATF’s motto was “Always Think Forfeiture.” I figured that was their #1 priority.

Anyway, Mr. Sullivan is a complete douche. Observe:

Sullivan also said many cities no longer have the police manpower to respond to calls as quickly as they once did.

Okay, is it me, or does “respond to calls” crap indicate that the crime already happened? How is that “battling violent crime,” exactly?

Paramedics respond when someone has a heart attack.

Firefighters respond when somebody’s home is up in flames.

Janitors respond to someone spilling a jar of prune juice in aisle 6.

Police respond when some thug with a 90-page rap sheet shoots a convenience store clerk in the unarmed utopia of New Jersey.

They can never get there fast enough because they can’t get there before it happens and if they could we’d all be screwed with a whole new set of problems (see Minority Report - and by the way, I TOTALLY want a “sick stick”).

It’s up to your average citizen to look out for their own person, and that of their family. Call the police when it’s time to take pictures and clean up a goblin stain in your hallway - not when you’re begging for someone to please not hurt you or your kids.

“In fact, some of the jurisdictions have seen a decrease with regard to patrol officers who are available or detectives available to follow up on some of these incidents,” Sullivan said. “And that obviously is a compounding effect with regard to what’s going on, with regard to crime.”

That makes absolutely no sense. Can someone translate that for me? I don’t speak idiot.

He described funding squeezes in many cities, like Chicago and Detroit, that “contribute to the potential of an uptick with regard to violent crime, because they don’t have as many resources to respond as quickly to it as they once did.”

For the cost of a .38, you can respond to virtually any potentially violent life-threatening situation a hell of a lot faster than any government- or city-funded organization ever could.