A flake no more

“Governor Moonbeam” is turning out to be quite a cop.

News this week that Attorney General Jerry Brown’s Department of Justice, in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, had mounted a statewide crackdown on 1,000 dangerous individuals barred from possessing firearms because they’d been convicted of a violent felony certainly put the lie to Republican charges that he is “soft on crime.”

The sweep, the product of cross-referencing criminal-history data with firearms possession records, resulted in the seizure of 541 handguns, rifles and assault weapons. (In Butte County, the Sheriff’s Department investigated 10 cases, but no felons were found to possess guns.)

Brown is clearly committed to enforcing all laws, including those affecting the environment as well as those controlling guns and criminals. He cajoled San Bernardino County supervisors into complying with the state’s global-warming law in their land-use decisions, negotiated agreements with Southern California ports to reduce pollution, and sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency over auto emissions.

Brown’s predecessor, Bill Lockyer, was an activist AG, but Brown is going him one better. The fact that he enjoys strong support among law-enforcement officials throughout the state testifies to his determination to use his office as effectively as possible. Whatever Jerry Brown is, he isn’t flaky.