Huff and Puff Plays Loose With the Facts

We don’t expect The Huffington Post to be unbiased on the issue of firearms, nor do we expect them to be completely factual on the issue either. They didn’t let us down. In responding to the Supreme Court ruling, Josh Sugarmann offers the commentary: “McDonald Gun Case: More Deaths, Unending Litigation.”

OK, so much for anything but an editorial. But we should add that Sugarmann is also executive director of the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. so we shouldn’t expect anything but anti-gun rhetoric.He offers the usual anti-gun rant, and that’s fine. But he also plays loose with the facts, noting the situation in D.C.:

“And contrary to the claims of the gun lobby, America’s cities are not waiting expectantly to exercise this newfound right offered by the Court. According to DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, in the two years since the 2008 Heller decision overturning DC’s handgun ban, only 900 firearms have been registered in the District that otherwise could not have been registered before the ruling. The citizens of DC have thus far rejected the wrong-headed notion that more guns make us safer.”

What Sugarmann fails to note is that D.C. requires gun owners to take training courses (which cost money), spend time on the firing range (more money) and spend at least four hours in a classroom for course on gun safety (even still more money). On top of that the city has a weapons registry program that requires everyone to go through multiple background checks and get fingerprinted. Imagine if the process to be fingerprinted was required for anything beyond guns?

Civil libertarians would be up in arms, and liberals would call it an invasion of privacy. But this is what D.C. requires. And… all of the above, as in New York City, costs money. Now in fairness, the D.C. fees are less than New York City fees, but it costs about $60 in fees for handguns and $48 in fees for rifles and shotguns. Now this doesn’t include the costs you’ll have to pay to a certified range instructor.

Whether or not you agree with this being necessary to obtain a gun is not the issue, but what is the issue is that Sugarmann never notes these requirements. Could this be why only 900 firearms have been registered? And finally, do you ever think criminals will ever bother? We don’t believe they would.