Summer Recap: Top Gun Stories
So much has happened over the past couple of months that we felt it was time to do a quick recap. Here are some topics that we’d like to close the book on for good.
Gun and Ammo Sales Have Increased – OLD NEWS. This story started in the dead of winter in January as President Obama took office, picked up steam in the spring thaw and simmered all summer. Enough already.
Gun Buybacks Take Guns Off the Street – TOTAL SPIN. Have any criminals actually handed in their guns? No, more likely widows sold off extremely valuable firearms for a gift card at Costco. Gun buybacks didn’t take guns off the street, but it made for a nice photo opportunity.
Guns at Town Hall Meetings – TOTAL SPIN. No one brought a gun into a hall where the president was speaking (unless you count the Secret Service agents). Worse, the mainstream media has repeatedly claimed that people showed up with “loaded guns.” Did any reporter check the magazines to confirm?
U.S. Guns Fuel Mexican Drug War – OLD NEWS/TOTAL SPIN. Every day hundreds of illegal immigrants cross the border. Every day hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal drugs cross the border. Is this reported? No, because it is considered old news. So why does the mainstream media continue to report on the U.S. guns used in Mexico’s drug wars? And when will the media report that the numbers and statistics are totally wrong and off base? Probably not soon enough.
Crain’s Business: Better Late Than Never on Gun Sales Story
Do investors really trust Crain’s Business with up to date information on the world of business? It makes you wonder if this is the case after reading this past weekend’s piece titled “Post-election jump in gun, ammo sales eases, sellers say.”
For the record, the November elections are just two months away, so this story is about 10 months late I think. Of course even the introduction sounds like something you might have read… oh say, in January or February of this year:
“The ascension of a Democratic president and a Democratic-controlled Congress gave rise to fears among gun owners of renewed gun control efforts, with rumors of new taxes and tracking technology for ammunition fueling a rush on small-arms purchases and ammunition hoarding.”
Let’s hope this is the last we hear of this story. It should be solidly filed under “OLD NEWS.”
Old News: No Fly Suspects Can Buy Guns
File this one under old news. Robert Friedman of the Pocono Record goes on the record in an editorial that takes aim at the fact that “firearms sales have surged President Barack Obama’s election” and that those buying the firearms might have been on “terror watch lists.”
But Friedman’s editorial has problems. He notes this surge, but then mentions that 963 background checks resulted in matches with the lists, from 2004 to 2009. Obama was only elected last November, so the point is sort of suspect. A bigger issue is that of those 963 individuals how many are really a threat? People end up on lists by accident, and for various other reasons.
Yes, it is absolutely wrong that terrorists would get their hands on guns. But it is ironic that the mainstream media continually demands that the government does its job to protect the citizens. That is until terrorist’s rights are violated (as in water boarding), or if the FBI introduces new wiretapping practices. But an important fact should be stressed. How many terrorists have committed mass shootings? Don’t you think if nearly 1,000 real terrorists had purchased guns over the past five years there would have been a few shootings by now?
