Starbucks Asked to be Left Out of Gun Debate
Good for Starbucks for not wanting to be in the middle of debate on whether customers should be able to carry guns while getting their coffee fix. The company offered this take according to The Associated Press:
”Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it’s legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.”
While the company offered this opinion, we still think we’ll be hearing from the anti-gun zealots.
Seattle Times Throws Biased Sidebar in Gun Debate Story
The Supreme Court could decide once and for all if Chicago’s prohibition of firearms is truly constitutional, and while The Seattle Times this weekend ran a rather fair story on the issue – citing legal issues and past cases – the editors felt it necessary to include this sidebar:
Gun facts
By some estimates, about 90 million people in the United States own a total of some 200 million guns. Roughly 30,000 people in the United States die each year from gun violence; more than half are suicides. An additional 70,000 are wounded.
The Associated Press
These “facts” are clearly anti-firearms, stressing only the worst sides of guns. That clearly seems to be the intent doesn’t it?
Who Guards the Guards: 500 Guns Missing in Texas Police Station
According to a story from The Associated Press, which was posted on The Houston Chronicle Web site, the police in Cleveland, Texas have a little explaining to do:
“Federal investigators are trying to determine whether 500 weapons missing from the evidence room of a southeast Texas police station are part of a firearms trafficking ring.”
The story adds:
“ATF agents recovered 112 missing guns during a search at a Humble gun shop, according to court documents. Of those weapons, 98 had been listed by Kelley as destroyed. The whereabouts of the other guns remains a mystery.”
Again, we ask… why should anyone believe in a world where only the police have guns would criminals not get their hands on them? This comes a week after it was reported that the Department of Homeland Security had lost hundreds of guns! Yet, time and time again it is law-abiding gun owners who are made to suffer by harsher laws.
Associated Press Story Seen as Too Biased
A story running on The New York Times Web site from The Associated Press titled “Seeing Loose Guns Laws as Still Too Tight” is one that is still too biased on our opinion, and borders on an opinion piece! The article offers a few choice quotes:
- Arizona’s permissive gun laws gained national attention last year when a man openly carried an AR-15 rifle to a protest outside a speech by President Obama.
- “That’s sheer insanity,” said M. Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center.
- Police departments worry that making permits optional might encourage more people with bad motives to carry concealed weapons, said John Thomas, a lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police.
Of course there were hardly as strong statements from those actually supporting to move for Arizona to allow concealed weapons to be carried without a permit. But why would we expect otherwise? About the only thing missing in this one is a quote from gun hating Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Yeah, we know Arizona is a long ways from New York City, but that doesn’t stop Bloomberg from offering his opinion about Virginia or Ohio laws!
Associated Press Offers Anti-Biased Spin on Assault Weapons Ban Issue
The Associated Press via The Seattle Times have run an article that shows typical media bias on the issue of gun control. While recent high profile crimes are mentioned in the introduction, no mention is made that over all crime is actually down while firearms sales have been up:
“After 2009 ended in a hail of high-profile gun violence, Washington state’s gun-control advocates are frustrated by an apparent lack of political support for an assault weapons ban, warning that the state will likely face more deadly shootings without it.
“The bill comes just weeks after a spate of deadly police shootings, and proponents of the ban say those killings should force politicians to confront gun violence.”
Is it really fair to high-light recent shootings of police officers, especially when this tragedy did not actually involve a so-called assault weapon.
More Guns “Off the Streets” in Bean Town
The Boston Herald and Associated Press proudly announce that Worcester has managed to get “241 guns off the streets.” This was the number of handguns that were collected in exchange for a retail gift card. The news makes a big deal that these included “76 semiautomatic pistols.”
“Those who dropped off firearms were given gift cards to Wal-Mart. Rifles were redeemed for $25, revolvers for $50 and semiautomatic pistols for $75.”
We’d like to ask who determines these prices? It seems like rifles should be worth more, and once again we ponder the fact that some prized positions, and highly valuable pieces of history were likely handed in and will now be destroyed.
Associate Press Highlights New Gun Laws With Expected Bias
The mainstream media has said for the past year, since Barack Obama was elected president that gun owners were concerned about new gun legislation, but now that many new favor gun owners, the Associated Press has noted these with concern. Here is a rather one-sided point on the issue:
“The NRA has a stranglehold on a lot of state legislatures,” said Kristin Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, a gun control group in Washington. “They basically have convinced lawmakers they can cost them their seats, even though there’s no real evidence to back that up.”
Are these really a stranglehold, or actually just the perseveration of second amendment rights?
AP Spin on Detroit Gun Buyback
Even the Associated Press decided that the Detroit gun buyback was worthy news. A version of the story ran in the Battlecreek Inquirer as well as on WZZM News13’s Web site. Note this clever intro:
“Short of money and have a gun to unload? Detroit police will take the cold, hard steel off your hands for cold, hard cash.”
Filled with puns and clever writing, yes. Filled with facts, no. $20 is hardly cold, hard cash. And anyone short on money would be better served taking the gun to a pawnbroker or gun show. $20 for a firearm is just sad!
Seizures Up at Border: AP Highlights Only Mexico’s Plight
Some interesting spin on the situation in the border lands this week. The Associated Press is noting that the seizures of cash and guns are up, and includes this passage:
“U.S. authorities on Tuesday reported a spike in seizures of guns and cash along the Mexican border since they began assigning more agents to stem the flow of southbound contraband.”
However, The San Diego Union Tribune gives a slightly different view of the picture, one that appears a little less biased. Notice that this story doesn’t paint it just as guns traveling to peaceful and hardworking Mexico (that part is a joke):
“Stepped-up enforcement efforts have led to more seizures of illegal drugs, guns and cash flowing back and forth across the US-Mexico”
We’d of course like to ask The Associated Press why they think guns were flowing south of the border? And why there is little mention of illegal drugs flowing north to American. Isn’t that the bigger issue? These guns are flowing to fight a gun war, and those drugs are flowing to our country. That’s the part we should be more concerned with frankly.
Who Guards the Guards: To Live and Sell Guns in LA Edition
The Associated Press is reporting that a Los Angeles police has been indicted for attempting to illegal export firearms. This is noteworthy, because this is just the latest example of a case where law enforcement supplied guns to criminals.
Meanwhile law-abiding citizens are continually coming under attack for so-called straw purchases and gun show loopholes. The real loophole here is that the guards aren’t being guarded closely enough.
