Opinion: Chuck Edwards shows hypocrisy in his crime summit by not addressing gun violence

Chuck Edwards, again showing that he takes most of his directives from Fox News, jumped on the Asheville-is-crime-ridden-leftist-city train by holding an “Anti-Crime Summit” June 17.

While Edwards was borderline antagonistic via social media and soundbites toward Asheville city leadership and Buncombe County Democratic state reps leading up to the meeting, based on reporting I’ve seen, the actual affair was practically milquetoast — both sides vowed to work together to overcome the crime that, according to data provided by Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller, is not nearly as bad as the Fox News gods want you to think.

On June 19, though, behind the safety of his computer, Edwards put on his keyboard warrior armor and, in attempting to own those pesky libs, ended up highlighting that one of the most significant issues plaguing the country — an issue he and his party refuse to do anything about — is gun violence.

“Just one day after I convened an area anti-crime summit, more violence broke out in downtown Asheville, this time, a shooting that resulted in the cancellation of the city’s Juneteenth celebration,” Edwards tweeted.

“This is just one day after the Asheville Mayor downplayed the seriousness of the issue, just one day after the Buncombe County Sherriff said crime is really not that bad, and just one day after the Buncombe County DA’s office deflected the issue of revolving-door justice,” Edwards tweeted next (I’d like to note that at said meeting, from all the reporting I’ve read, Edwards was not this passionate … er… performative).

More: Opinion: Chuck Edwards can’t seem to make a cogent argument on not banning assault weapons

He capped it off with one last tweet. “There are no excuses. Asheville and Buncombe County will have as much crime as its citizens will tolerate. We need citizens to demand that local leaders stop making excuses for criminal behavior and start cracking down on crime. #ncpol.”

While I’m sure Edwards and his team were slapping themselves on the back for this liberal own, the comments below showcase just how publicly Edwards highlighted his hypocrisy.

Twitter user @NC11Berline wrote: “You should be focusing on what to do about gun violence. What is your solution?”

As of this writing, according to the Gun Violence Archive, 20,994 Americans died via gun violence this year.

It’s worth noting that despite the crime-ridden-liberal-cities stereotype, a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Surgery found that firearm deaths are more likely in small rural towns than major urban cities and Trump-voting states had 12% higher murder rates than Biden-voting cities.

Twitter user @morganAVL wrote: “You probably sold them the guns.” Edwards campaigned as the only registered gun dealer in his congressional race.

More: Opinion: Chuck Edwards' gas stove advocacy more proof he focuses on wrong stuff

Twitter user @Agt00Soul wrote: “It’s the guns. You contribute to the problem of violent crime as an arms dealer who refuses to protect your constituents with comment sense, highly popular gun safety laws.”

This writer is right that common sense gun laws are highly popular. In April, the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chairman, Rep. Mike Thompson, highlighted a Fox News poll showing that Americans overwhelmingly support common-sense gun safety laws. This needs to be emphasized, that 61% of participants in a Fox News poll want an assault weapons ban, and 87% want stronger background checks.

“The only place gun violence prevention is a partisan issue is in the United States Congress," Thompson said.

This was presented in the house where Chuck Edwards works. So he knows his constituents want stricter gun laws. He knows gun violence is a problem. Yet, he has the gall to blame Asheville and Buncombe County for violent crime and is then inept enough to use a gun violence example as his “smoking gun.”

Twitter user @DropsOfJupiter7 had what I thought was the best response to Edward’s toothless tweets.

“The only reason you are concerned about the cancellation of Juneteenth is it fits your rhetoric,” they wrote. “You couldn't give one **** about the people of Buncombe Co. as it votes blue. If you were so concerned about crime you'd vote in decent gun regulation.”

Maybe though, Edwards’ self-own isn’t the biggest joke regarding this story. Maybe we here in NC-11 are sort of owning ourselves. NC-11 has willfully voted for a registered gun dealer who’s shown himself to be nothing more than a very theatrical party puppet, a social-media-obsessed rich kid with no work experience and taste for fame … and Mark Meadows … over-highly-qualified public servants. As Edwards “astutely” pointed out, ”Asheville and Buncombe County will have as much crime as its citizens will tolerate.”

Pat Brothwell is a former high school teacher, and current writer and marketing professional living and working in Asheville.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Firearms dealer Chuck Edwards doesn't want to change gun laws