Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday pressed Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn on the number of cases his department has made against people for violating a background check for a gun purchase.
Graham’s question set off a testy exchange with the police chief at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on a proposed assault weapons ban.
“We don’t make those cases, senator,” Flynn said. “We have priorities. We make gun cases. We make 2,000 gun cases a year, senator. That’s our priority. We’re not in a paper chase. We’re trying to prevent the wrong people buying guns. That’s why we do background checks. If you think I’m going do a paper chase, then you think I’m going to misuse my resources.”
“I was trying to ask you a question about how the law works today,” Graham said. The senator continued, asking how many cases the police chief has had turned over from the U.S. attorney to prosecute at the state level.
“We all know the answer to these questions, senator, they’re self-answering,” Flynn responded. “We don’t chase paper. We chase armed criminals.”
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