Grand Rapids, Michigan Mayor Dave LeBlanc is getting hammered for his recent comment that gun owners should be “ashamed of themselves”, with the National Rifle Association among those blasting his remarks.
Grand Rapids Mayor @DavidLagrand calls for public shaming of gun owners: “If you’ve got a gun, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
We’re NOT ashamed. We’re law-abiding Americans exercising a constitutional right to protect ourselves and others. Shame won’t silence any of us. pic.twitter.com/0Uss97be5R
— NRA (@NRA) February 25, 2026
The head of the Kent County Republican Party called out LeBlanc as well, saying “Law-abiding citizens who exercise their constitutional rights should never be told they ought to feel ashamed.” Rusty Richter added that in “Kent County, we respect the Second Amendment and the responsible men and women who own firearms for lawful purposes. Our focus should be on criminals who misuse guns — not on citizens who follow the law.”
I’m guessing LeBlanc is getting an earful from Grand Rapids residents as well, since he released a statement to WOOD-TV on Wednesday night trying to “clarify” his earlier comments.
“We must be willing to confront the reality of gun violence in our city, and I hope we can move forward together to find solutions that keep our families safe,” he wrote, in part. “I am fully aware that the Second Amendment and state law limit the policy options available to a municipal leader. I cannot legislate this pain away. Therefore, my comments were not a signal of impending policy, but an expression of personal frustration and deep sorrow. My goal was to shift our community conversation away from the status quo and toward a serious, honest dialogue and provide an opportunity for all of us to reflect on what truly responsible gun ownership looks like.”
In other words, LeBlanc is frustrated that he can’t ban all gun ownership in Grand Rapids because the Second Amendment and Michigan’s firearm preemption law are standing in the way.
LeBlanc’s original statement was made at a public meeting where many residents wanted to get answers about the recent police shooting of a man named Da’Quain Johnson, who was shot and killed as police were in the process of arresting him. Johnson’s mother and Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack says it appears that Johnson was shot and killed after an officer declared the man had a gun, but that video from the scene doesn’t show Johnson reaching for a gun before the fatal shots were fired.
The officer who shot Johnson, in body camera footage, instructs the other officer on scene to “grab his right arm,” continuing to say “I’ve got the dog, dog’s good.” A K-9 dog appears to have Johnson’s left arm in its mouth for at least part of the bodycam footage. The other officer can then be heard saying “He’s got a f***ing gun in his hand,” at which point both officers begin to yell for him to drop the gun. Three gunshots are then heard prior to the end of the video. Johnson’s gun is not obviously visible in any of the footage released by the police department.
A bystander video of Johnson’s shooting, which has not been verified by official sources but has been shared widely, including by Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, shows another angle of the shooting. In that video, Johnson appears to be face-down on the ground with both hands behind his back when he is shot from above by an officer. The K-9 dog also appears to have Johnson’s arm in its mouth and continues to bite Johnson after he has been shot.
Johnson’s mother also said that she has seen her son’s body and that he was shot in the back of the head.
“The evidence is there,” she said in a press conference on Friday alongside Womack. “Y’all couldn’t see it, but you will soon enough. But my son was shot in the back of the head. He was mauled in the neck by a dog. And the way he was shot … you could tell that his hands were being held behind his back.”
Winstrom also said that Johnson had been shot in the chest, adding that by the time he personally arrived on the scene, Johnson had already been transported to the hospital. Body camera footage from the officer who shot Johnson largely does not show a view of Johnson’s back and whether or not his hands were held by the other officer. He does appear to be face-down on the ground.
Womack added that it did not appear that Johnson was pulling out a gun before he was shot.
The officers maintain that Johnson, a convicted felon on parole for previous weapons charges, did have his gun in his hand, and actually pointed it at the face of one of the officers before he was shot.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Johnson was trying to reach for his gun when he was shot. That still doesn’t make the mayor’s comments about gun owners any better. LeBlanc made a blanket statement that all gun owners should be ashamed of themselves for exercising their right to keep and bear arms. He might have had Johnson in mind when he made that remark, but what he actually said applies to every lawful gun owner in the country.
If the mayor wants a serious, honest dialogue about what “responsible gun ownership” looks like, then why did he say there was no good reason to own a gun? I’m sure he was serious and honest when he said that, but it seems to me that if LeBlanc believes every gun owner should be ashamed of themselves, then he doesn’t think there’s any such thing as responsible gun ownership. The very act of them possessing one or more firearms is irresponsible, at least in his twisted worldview.
I’m glad that LeBlanc at least recognizes there are checks in place to thwart his petty tyranny, but I hope that Grand Rapids residents continue to express their disapproval in calls, emails, and in person at the next meeting of the city commission. Some folks are even talking about trying to recall LeBlanc, though that appears to be a fairly difficult process in Michigan. At the very least, I expect a large turnout of gun owners for the next city commission meeting on March 17, and I bet the public comment period is going to be dominated by one topic: LeGrand’s contempt for the gun owners of Grand Rapids (and the rest of the United States).
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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