WSJ: “Crime weapons usually come from petty theft and opportunistic dealers, not from an organized black market”
The Wall Street Journal in an op-ed piece titled, “The Myth of Big-Time Gun Trafficking” this weekend offered some surprising insight on where “illegal” guns come from, and it isn’t really from any criminal black market. The story notes:
“In recent decades, advocates of gun control have taken their cause to court, bringing lawsuits that charge the gun industry with negligence because of how it distributes firearms. Large-scale traffickers, these suits claim, purchase guns in big batches from corrupt or irresponsible dealers, especially those operating in states with weak gun control laws. These guns are then moved to places with stricter laws, where they are sold, supposedly at high markups, to criminal buyers. “
The story follows by noting that the ATF embraces this view as well, and that crime increases because of it. But the story then notes:
“Unfortunately, there is little evidence to support this set of interconnected claims.”
Writer Gary Kleck explains that it is really a small time operation. And Kleck even debunks the notion that guns used in crime travel from states with so-called lax gun laws to those with stricter laws:
“Because the ‘newness’ of crime guns and out-of-state origins are regarded as indicators that the guns were trafficked, trace data provide a misleading picture of the sources of guns used in crimes, exaggerating the share that appears to have been trafficked.”
The question now is whether the rest of the media will even pay attention?
Gun Runner Gang Member
Numerous media outlets including The New York Post are reporting that Kyle Leonard is an alleged “Bloods” gang member. He has been videotaped “peddling 22 guns” to an undercover cop. This is an interesting twist, as the media has often reported on the “iron pipeline” that has seen the flow of guns to New York City from the south.
The twist here is that this might not just be a case of lone individuals taking advantage of so-called lax gun laws, but rather a gang-related business.
Election 2010: New York Eric Schneiderman Blames NY Gun Problem on I-95
RocNow.com reported that Eric Schneiderman, Democratic candidate for New York State Attorney General vows to stop “smuggling of illegal guns.”
The news site reports:
“The crime-fighting plan would establish what Schneiderman calls a special ‘I-95 coalition’ with other state attorneys general. The reference is to Interstate 95, the superhighway that runs the length of the country’s East Coast. Schneiderman said the roadway also is used to transport illegal guns to places including Rochester.”
What is bothersome with both Schneiderman’s claims and the reporting by RocNow is that the guns in question aren’t technically “illegal guns.” The guns are perfectly legal in the states where those firearms are sold. Criminals just go to great lengths to buy the guns. We worry that the “plan” from the I-95 coalition would be to ban certain, if not eventually all guns – simply because these are “banned” in New York. That is after all the New York way it seems
PennLive.com Story Notes Problem With Mayors’ Report
Few in the mainstream media have noted an interesting fact about the recent report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, but this was picked up by PennLive.com, which offered this thought on where Pennsylvania ranks:
“The findings are a bit misleading, in a sense, when you consider the above list (of 10 states) — made up of some of the county’s most populous states — is based on raw figures. A closer look reveals that Pennsylvania ranked 30th in the number of exported guns per 100,000 people.”
So could it be that the Mayors’ report has flaws that the MSM is ignoring?
The Economist Accepts Mayors’ Data, No Questions Asked
We’re used to biased reporting from the mainstream media when it comes to guns, but we were shocked by the level of biased reporting this week from The Economist. The magazine, which tends to look at the world of business, offered a highly prejudiced and predisposed take on the issue of firearms, following a new report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Read more
MSNBC: “Authorities in the U.S. and Mexico say arms from north are fueling escalating violence”
The Mexican cartel story is one that simply won’t go away. Maybe it sounds callous on our part to suggest that the story isn’t worth reporting, but it isn’t the story itself that is what we question. It is what is being reported. Time and time again, we’re hearing about the “American guns” and little is mentioned about the fully-automatic weapons, grenades or other clearly military weapons that are being used there. These certainly aren’t coming from gun shops in Texas.
MSNBC is the latest to jump on the bandwagon, noting that “high-powered assault rifles as well as components for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)” are coming from the United States. In the former, we ask again why the emphasis on “high-powered.” The truth is that many hunting rifles are “high-powered.” This lexicon just makes the guns sound more dangerous, more sinister, but it doesn’t say anything. It is akin to saying, “fast car.” Yes, a racecar can go fast, but so can the average luxury auto these days. Does “fast car” really mean anything? No, and nor does “high-powered” rifle. Read more
AP: “Not all seized guns in Mexico are traced”
In a recent story that noted that “ATF forms teams in 7 cities to stop gun smuggling,” the news service offered this interesting bit of information:
“Not all seized guns in Mexico are traced.”
Of course this factoid was buried way down in the story, in the third paragraph from the bottom. This type of news reporting on the issue of guns isn’t really that uncommon, but it shows yet another example of the bias that we’ve come to sadly expect from the mainstream media.
ABC News Offers More Misleading Numbers From Mexico
Yet again ABC News – supposedly the “Most Trusted Name in News” – offers some dubious numbers from south of the border. This week the news service noted:
“According to U.S. officials, a majority of the guns seized in Mexican crimes are found to be sold in the United States by gun stores in Texas, California and Arizona.” Read more
Paul Helmke Huffs and Puffs and Cites WaPo
Need any further proof that you can’t trust the “news” coming from The Washington Post? Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, referenced the same WaPo editorial that we called out this week in his column for the Huffington Post. Read more
WaPo Offers Yet Another Editorial That Suggests Mexico’s Problem Are All Because of American Guns
It isn’t the levels of government corruption, it isn’t the decades of ignoring the drug cartels, and it isn’t the ineffectiveness of the police and the army. No, according to The Washington Post, the problem of guns and “Shamefully, that is the United States.” Read more
