Milwaukee Police Department Chief Edward Flynn suffered heavy criticism last week for his response to an advisory released last Monday by state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen that reaffirmed the right of citizens to openly carry guns in Wisconsin. Flynn replied that he will continue to instruct his officers to stop and question any person walking the streets of Milwaukee openly carrying a gun. We agree wholeheartedly with Flynn's stance.

Crime and illegal guns are indisputably a serious problem for Milwaukee. Promoting public safety is inextricably intertwined with all of the other needs in the city, and other efforts will flounder without a tough-on-crime stance. A safe city is essential for encouraging investors to put their dollars into Milwaukee, attracting business and the jobs it brings, keeping kids in school – the list goes on. Public safety should be the city's number one priority.

We would never speak against the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm. But realistically, in this less-than-perfect-world, not all citizens follow the law. The MPD reports that 43,849 crimes were committed last year alone , a number is lower than many of the previous years. In a 1997 National Institute of Justice survey conducted in several major American cities, 55 percent of arrestees told researchers that it was easy to get firearms illegally and 34 percent said they could obtain a gun in less than a week.

With such high incidence of crime and the self-professed ability of criminals to bypass gun laws, it would be irresponsible of the police to not question someone strolling through the city openly armed. "Unless you're going to have your permit tattooed to your head," as Flynn put it, we believe the police should question gun owners when they see them carrying weapons or when they perceive a threat of any kind.

Context is everything. Clearly, an outdoorsman in rural Wisconsin has good reason to carry a rifle during hunting season. But a person in Milwaukee with a handgun on his hip merits further scrutiny and should absolutely be stopped and questioned. For those carrying a weapon for their protection only, this should be seen as a good thing – if truly interested in protecting their personal safety, legal gun carriers should be happy to know that armed Milwaukeeans will be questioned if seen by police.

Clearly, Flynn is doing something right. His efforts last year to build partnerships with the community and deploy officers based on data contributed to a 10 percent decrease in violent crime from the previous year. Homicides dropped 32.4 percent to the lowest Milwaukee has seen since 1985.

Keep up the good work, Chief Flynn. Continue questioning those openly carrying weapons on city streets. Milwaukee needs more of what we have seen this past year.