CNN Newsroom
May 31, 2021
1:22 p.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: We are hearing from other law enforcement officials calling for federal changes to gun laws. Take a listen to the Miami police chief.
ART ACEVEDO, MIAMI POLICE CHIEF: Unless the American people speak out, it's going to be a long, hot, bloody summer, and we can thank a lot of elected officials for that.
CABRERA: What do you see as the impact potentially of police officials like that chief, yourself and others in particular just being more vocal on these issues?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, listen, Art was absolutely right. The problem is, when police chiefs speak out, elected officials don't pay attention. That's why he's saying the public at large has to speak out. Because these guys -- the members of Congress are not going to do anything. If they didn't do anything after Sandy Hook, there is no reason to believe that what happened a couple of days ago, or any other mass shooting is going to make a difference, because it's not.
I mean, you know, they're going to sit on their hands, hope people forget. You know, I just hope these kinds of things just stay in the news, that we keep a body count, you know, just like with COVID, you know, the number of people murdered on the streets, I mean, we pay attention to mass shootings, but every single day people are losing their lives to gun violence -- every single day. And in many instances, it goes -- it's almost unnoticed. And unless we really pay attention and get the public interested in demanding change, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen, I have zero confidence in the United States Congress doing anything at the federal level.
