Chief Crowley Is At It Again

And there's pretty much nothing anyone can to do to stop him, short of a major re-shuffling of power up on Bacon Hill (no, that's not a typo). The chief is acting entirely within the bounds of the laws of the Commonwealth as they pertain to his authority in this matter.

From the Patriot Ledger:

QUINCY - Setting himself up for another showdown with gun advocates, Police Chief Robert Crowley has refused to let a downtown sporting goods store sell firearms and ammunition.

Ronald Hidalgo, owner of Sportsman's Den on Southern Artery, was denied the permit because of a 1983 assault charge and a 5-year-old restraining order, both of which were later dropped, Crowley said.

"I made my decision - and it was upheld by the State Police," Crowley said. "There is no blanket policy against opening a gun shop in the city of Quincy, but anyone who wants to needs to have an unblemished record."

Hidalgo, however, thinks the chief is abusing his authority and says he plans to go to court to prove it, claiming Crowley has a desire for "power and control."

Hidalgo, who has run the shop for nearly a decade, earned approval from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to be a gun dealer and he has a Quincy-issued license to carry a handgun.

"This is somebody telling me I can't run a business when the federal government even says I can," said Hidalgo, a long-time Quincy resident. "The only reason for the denial is his own agenda. If you allow people to abuse the system like this, they're going to do it until somebody stops them."

I think George Carlin summed it up best when he posed the eternal question:

"Do you know why the dog licks his balls?"

"Because he can!"