LAPD Chief Michael Moore says robberies with a gun in Los Angeles are “up 44 percent from 2021” and “up 57 percent from 2020.”

CBS Los Angeles reports Moore also indicated “Robberies with a firearm account for 36% of all robberies, and accounts for 74% of the city’s year-to-date total robbery increase.”

Moore said, “There’s been a marked increase of armed robberies involving victims wearing expensive jewelry, as well as just other individuals whether they’re at commercial stores such as mini markets, convenience stores, gas stations, or on the street.”

An LAPD alert was issued on March 22, 2022, in response to the surge in robberies. The alert said, “Traveling in groups and remaining in well-lit areas can help deter opportunists from attempting a street robbery.”

The alert also noted Los Angeles residents should avoid “wearing expensive jewelry while in public,” as that can increase their likelihood of being targeted.

California is the most stringently gun-controlled state in the Union, and Michael Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety ranks CA No. 1 for “Gun Law Strength.”

A man walks his French Bulldog on Melrose avenue in Los Angeles, January 17, 2022. Two thugs who brutally pulled a gun on Marieke Bayens, a 27-year-old Californian woman, were not after her purse or her life: they were after Merlyn, the little dog she was holding on a leash, because it is a French bulldog.
(CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

CA’s gun control laws include universal background checks, a gun registry, an “assault weapons” ban, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, a limit on the number of guns a law-abiding citizen can purchase each month, a “good cause” requirement for concealed carry permit issuance, a red flag law, a ban on campus carry for self-defense, and a ban on K-12 teachers possessing guns for classroom defense.

Gabby Giffords’ gun control group notes CA also bans “ghost guns,” restricts magazine capacity, and requires guns to be stored a certain way in the home.

CA also has ammunition controls in addition to all the gun controls. Among the ammunition controls is a requirement that purchasers undergo a background check before being allowed to buy bullets.

Despite all these controls, LA robberies with guns are up 44 percent over last year.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.