On February 9, approximately 10 hooded men with Kalashnikov rifles opened fire on police in Marseille as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls prepared to give a speech on the “excellent” work in reducing crime there.
The attack led to a “lockdown… [for] some 7,000 residents in the area.”
According to Sky News, the incident happened “on the notorious housing estate La Castellane” and is being described as “drug-related.” They quoted journalist Stefan De Vries saying, “The area is sealed now and heavily armed squad teams are in the area.” He said the area is home to a “very high murder rate but almost all” of those are gang-related.
At the same time, Sky News Foreign Editor Sam Kiley added that the guns are so easy to get in the area that distinguishing between criminals and terrorists is increasingly difficult. He said the “lines are blurred” because of the supply of weaponry.
Elisabeth Guigou, president of the French National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, “We estimate that about 1,300 French people or residents in France have been concerned by going back and forth to Syria or to Iraq, so that’s quite a lot of people to keep an eye on.”
On January 19, Breitbart News reported French police claims that gun control was not working for them. This was demonstrated during the January 7 attack on Charlie Hebdo headquarters, wherein the terrorists were far better armed than the police. In fact, some police officers who responded to the attack weren’t armed at all.
French police unions met with Interior Ministry officials on January 19 to demand more guns and “heavier” guns, according to the Associated Press.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins or reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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