UPDATE: Dallas County Sheriff’s Department has released a statement claiming that the gun has been found. According to the press release, Valdez had submitted the gun in January but the gun was not entered into inventory at that time. After a second audit it was found in the Sheriff’s Property Room.
Former Dallas County sheriff and current gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez has frequently cited her service in law enforcement as the reason voters should elect her over taxpayer champion Gov. Greg Abbott.
However, Valdez’s reliability as a law enforcement officer remains an open question.
A recent report by the AP has uncovered that Valdez’s county-issued firearm, a 9mm Beretta, has been missing since the end of her tenure as sheriff. Valdez was first loaned the weapon in 2011.
When asked about the weapon, campaign spokesman Juan Bautista Dominguez said, “it is possible that this weapon could have been stolen or misplaced during Sheriff Valdez’s moving transition and she is working with Dallas County Sheriff Department to locate the firearm.”
Valdez has been a consistent advocate for gun control, even penning an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle pushing stiff penalties for “reckless storage of weapons.”
Valdez’s failure to properly care for her own weapon puts her out of step with most civilian gun owners who tend to exhibit extraordinary care with their firearms.
Gun control advocates’ fundamental claim is that only law enforcement should be allowed to defend itself, but Valdez’s carelessness shows why this is misguided. Guns will always find their way into the general population, and citizens must be able to protect themselves against those who would seek to harm them and their families.
