Woodfin, holding AR-15, promises to ‘turn up the heat’ after Birmingham crime spree:

‘That’s a death machine’Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin handled an AR-15 rifle and a Micro Draco handgun in his report to the city council this morning, promising to ‘turn up the heat’ on criminals after a weekend homicide spree in the city.

“This feels and looks like a military weapon for me,” Woodfin said. “Tell me, does it belong on our streets?”

Woodfin was displaying guns used in violence in the city, calling for a crackdown on military-style weapons after a deadly Saturday. In roughly six hours, a man, woman and child were killed in a triple homicide and four died in a mass shooting at a birthday party. Should people be driving around with these?” he said as he held the gun. “Because that’s what they’re doing.”

At one point, Woodfin swung the AR-15 in a way that caused some council members to ask him to not point the weapon in their direction. “Council, I apologize – I didn’t mean to,” Woodfin said. “I’m sorry.”When he picked up the Micro Draco, he said, “Finger’s not on the trigger, everybody,” to calm any nerves. “Nowhere near it.”

He asked Birmingham Police Officer James Skinner, a Marine veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, to discuss the firepower of the weapons. “That’s a death machine,” Skinner said.

Those type guns are not used to hunt animals, Woodfin said. “They’re being used to hunt down people,” he said.

“We had five homicides in the first five days of July,” Woodfin said.

“It’s important not to categorize these homicides as stats and or numbers. These are people who are community residents, who have families. There have been several arrests in those first five.”

One of those shootings was over a dice game, Woodfin said.

“The victim and suspect were actually playing against each other,” he said.

“One of these homicides occurred over an argument, two men who know each other walking down the street, verbal altercation, and both pulled out guns. One of these homicides occurred in an apartment … both the victim and the suspect were together to conduct an illegal transaction. And one of these homicides happened in a front yard and it was captured on video, another occurred as a result of the victim having multiple feuds with others.”We are not victim-blaming at all,” Woodfin said. “We’re compelled to ask questions, questions such as, ‘How do you police destructive behavior?’”

Other questions include how to police transactions in houses or apartments, meet-ups for illegal transactions in public parks, or how to predict a homicide between two people who know each other.

“We are challenging ourselves to have an answer,” he said.

The public may blame city officials and police for matters outside their control, he said. “We received a lot of criticism this weekend,” he said. “We’re doing a lot, and we’ll continue to amplify what we’re doing.”

But the mayor and police aren’t superheroes, he said. “I’m not Batman,” Woodfin said. “Police aren’t Batman.”

State laws need to be reformed to allow police to counter well-armed criminals. “Locally, we don’t have control,” he said. “We don’t put guns in peoples’ hands, and it turns out by law we’re not allowed to take them out of their hand either,” he said, referring to the state’s permit-less carry law. “By state law, we’re not allowed to control guns.”The city previously seized guns when owners didn’t have a permit, he said. “You can drive around with this mini Draco, you don’t need a pistol permit,” he said, while holding the Micro Draco.

Woodfin said the city will be more aggressive collaborating with federal law enforcement “to be extremely aggressive in going after” all crimes, “small things that turn to gun violence,” including credit card scams, auto thefts and gun trafficking.

“What we’ve got to do is turn the heat up on everybody,” Woodfin said.

People need to report houses where illegal drugs are sold, he said. “We will turn the heat up on that house,” he said. “They don’t give a damn about our community.”

In addition to Crimestoppers, citizens can call Birmingham police 205-254-6450 to report drug houses, he said. “Do not be afraid to call that number.”

Birmingham has a jobs plan that helps people find legal employment, he said.

“Workforce opportunity is something we always talk about,” Woodfin said. “But we’ve got a small portion of population who don’t want to work, who just want to be in the streets.”Citizens need to steer clear of drug dealers, he said. “Do not ride with them, do not be in the car with them,” he said.

“People are not protecting women and children in this community like they’re supposed to,” Woodfin said. “It is not safe. The lifestyle you think you may be getting from whoever this person is in drug activity, whether it’s money or clothes or paying your bills, or providing your children with clothes and shoes, it’s not worth it.”

As he held the AR-15, Woodfin stressed that he was not anti-gun.

“I support our Constitution; I believe in the Second Amendment rights, I do,” Woodfin said. “As Americans, we can strike a balance and have common-sense gun laws that prevent the carnage from happening not just in Birmingham but across our nation.”