FILE – In this July 25, 2017 file photo, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and other law enforcement take part in public safety event in Austin, Texas. Acevedo is known for his blunt speaking-style and his empathetic side, and both were on display Tuesday, Aug. 29, as he warned looters to stay away from his city and then choked back tears as he announced that one of his veteran officers had died in the floodwaters. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Last week, in the aftermath of the shooting at Santa Fe (TX) High School (by the way, notice how fast the media dropped this? Think it might be related to the fact that the per capita income in Santa Fe is a little less than half of that in Parkland, FL?), Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo posted this on his Facebook account. This is rarely a good beginning to any story.

To all my Facebook friends. Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.

I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do. My feelings won’t be hurt if you de-friend me and I hope yours won’t be if you decide to post about your views and I de-friend you.

I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now. I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you he hasn’t instructed me to believe that gun-rights are bestowed by him.

The hatred being spewed in our country and the new norms we, so-called people of faith are accepting, is as much to blame for so much of the violence in our once pragmatic Nation.

This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).

I close by saying, I wish those that move on from this page the best. May God Bless you and keep you.

Just a few things here. I have serious doubts that God is communing with Chief Acevedo about the Second Amendment. This nation was founded upon idealism (read the Declaration of Independence, Chief. Canada was founded based on pragmatism) and has flourished because of idealism. Doing “something,” particularly by people who have badges and guns and who aren’t entitled by the duty position to “do something,” very rarely works out to the benefit of citizens of society. When a person who has sworn to uphold and defend the laws of this country says he’s not interested in what the law says about gun ownership and possession (for the record, the shooter in Santa Fe couldn’t legally own a firearm and didn’t) then maybe its time to find other employment.

The NRA went on the offensive.

“@ArtAcevedo plays the part of a police chief…he says he wants to go after criminals, but for him apparently the easiest way to do that is to make new criminals that are easy to catch – make criminals out of law-abiding gun owners.” –@stinchfield1776 #NRA pic.twitter.com/UcTMjNTWoK

— NRATV (@NRATV) May 22, 2018

I don’t know about the “left-wing shill” part of the equation but the record is very clear. Acevedo was advocating creating a new class of criminals based on creating new gun storage laws. These laws, oddly enough, are designed, it seems, to target low-income households that might be able to afford a weapon for self-defense but might not be able to afford a gun safe or other acceptable-to-Acevedo storage. And Acevedo is definitely a strong proponent of sanctuary cities.

The day after the NRA Twitter video, a producer from Dana Loesch’s show reached out to Avecedo for an interview.

And she got a polite reply. At this point, I’m with Acevedo. I’d never advise a client to do a hostile interview for an audience what wasn’t prone to give that client a fair hearing. Then Acevedo goes completely unhinged and naturally, he does it on Twitter for the world to see:

Like I was saying, blah, blah, blah. Stop misrepresenting &/or lying about my views. Your action is leading to harassment by your minions. You may just make testing the limits of your dishonesty & cyber bullying worthwhile in Court. Many top-notch firms would do so pro-bono. pic.twitter.com/KirUT42u5P

— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018

P.S. Dana, I Forgot to thank you for making my point in my response to your kind request for an appearance on your insignificant show. Before I close for the last time, did I mention court of law? I retain my right to explore the limits of your twisting of the truth in court. https://t.co/xbGm1ubuKl

— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018

Lastly, I will not respond any further to you on any platform outside of a legal process. Be on notice that we will be watching and will do our talking in a court of Law if the need arises. Good day. https://t.co/xGKhMfaDqq

— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018

This, apparently, is another of those Constitutional issues where God has personally informed Chief Acevedo that aren’t actually God-given. And I’m sure the NRA would be willing to pay Acevedo’s expenses if he would only bring this suit. The publicity would be priceless.

Kevin Williamson has this to say:

The Second Amendment, like the First Amendment [editor’s note: Williamson was prescient in this because Acevedo hadn’t attacked the First Amendment at this point], is a constitutional provision that says, in effect: “You idiots don’t get to vote on this one.” The First Amendment says what it says, no matter how much that may annoy Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. The Second Amendment says what it says, too, no matter how much Chief Acevedo wishes it weren’t so. Not that anybody should give a fig what a bureaucrat in Houston thinks about gun control or any other political issue.

Chief Acevedo should stick to policing crime in Houston rather than the political views of the people for whom—in case he has forgotten—he works. Unless he wants to be chief of police at Face the Nation, the position of sheriff of Fox News already having been taken.

Chief Acevedo needs to give some thought to the question of whether he wants to be a cop or a politician. If he wants to be a cop, he should go stick to running the Houston police department; Santa Fe has one of its own, and God knows Houston’s has administrative troubles enough to keep Chief Acevedo busy. If he wants to be a politician, he should resign his position as chief of police and run for office. Making strident public-policy pronouncements while hiding behind the protection of a position that shields him from direct democratic accountability is not the stuff of which heroism is made.

Bingo. Acevedo should not be in the advocacy business. If he wants that, without the guarantee of a hefty salary ($280,000 or two US congressmen equivalents–I’m assuming the women in Congress get paid less because of the pay gap) or sweet pension, then whole new vistas are ready for him to explore. If he wants to be police chief, he needs to stay in his lane and enforce the law.