"... However, the best way to deal with crime is not to limit the availability of firearms to law-abiding citizens, but to enforce our laws to ensure that criminals do not obtain weapons in the first place and are penalized for their misuse. These criminals must be held accountable.
As we move forward in the 113th Congress, my Democratic, Republican colleagues and I must come together to find effective solutions without violating the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
This isn’t a Democratic issue. This isn’t a Republican issue. Upholding the Second Amendment and protecting our nation’s citizens are promises that we make as elected officials the day we are sworn into office. I look forward to making good on these promises with my colleagues in the weeks ahead."
Not exactly waffling words and pretty clear to me. He either lives up to them or he doesn't. Since they are so clear, my guess is he will.
While he has become a "politician" and as such, has to play the game to a certain degree, he was a damn fine Sheriff. Some of the comments in this thread would be humorous if they weren't so ignorant.
Those who wish to criticize the handling of the Green River case may want to study up on what actually was involved and how things pioneered in that investigation have become the gold standard in serial investigations.
Just a few of the difficulties involved- Multiple victims, many of whom were never missed or considered second class citizens by most of society due to their lifestyle, multiple jurisdictions, pre-computer age, pre-DNA, few if any witnesses, many of whom were unreliable and uncooperative, etc., I could go on for paragraphs. Sure there were folks who had their suspicions about Ridgeway and he was an early suspect, but you actually have to build a case, get real evidence, and then prove it. It was the County that pulled the plug on money and resources for the investigation not the Sheriff's Office.
The fact that what little physical evidence that did exist was properly retained, catalogued, and stored so it could be analyzed once modern science advanced to make it useful, is a huge victory. Sheriff Reichert's tenacity and personal connection to a case that haunted him for years is what brought that case back after he was elected Sheriff and had the power to make it happen. His dedication and determination, along with untold hours of work by literally hundreds of others, brought that case to a close. You would be hard pressed to find friend or family of the Green River victims to say a negative word about Sheriff Reichert.
I played no significant part in that case but, over the years, some of my work product went into it. While I am by no means privy to all the details, I have working relationships with many of the key players and have heard enough first hand, factual information to appreciate what a remarkable and unlikely success solving that case represents. Anyone who thinks otherwise, simply has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Could he be more conservative, or a "better" republican? Sure, but then he would have never been elected to represent citizens in two of the most liberal and democrat leaning counties in the state. Sure lots of rural area in that distrct but lots more urban population and that population is undeniably left leaning.
How do changes to firearms investigations and prosecutorial process reduce gun crime? By solving more crimes, taking criminal's guns off the street, getting the appropriate charges, and putting bad guys in prison for longer periods of time.
My favorite definition of "compromise" is that no one gets everything they want, but everyone gets what they can live with. Working together with some comprise does not necessarily equal caving in. Of course some things are absolute, but there are many, many pieces to this puzzle and the only hope is for both sides of the aisle to quit demagoguing the other and work together.
Having worked for this man, and witnessing first hand his dedication and integrity as a police officer and Sheriff, I will always give him the benefit of the doubt and trust what he says until he actually does something to prove that trust is misplaced.
