TheNews.com Offers Outright Lies About China and Guns
The Pakistani media outlet TheNews.com.pk offered a fascinating read in a story titled, “China serves as classic example of gun control laws.” This is an example of course of state controlled media, and it paints a rosy picture that verges on editorial without much insight from outside sources, and little in the way of counterpoint.
One passage reads:
“China does not allow its civilian population to possess guns today, but despite extremely stringent regulations in this context, the world’s most populous nation is still striving to completely curb the gun-related crime—- which is otherwise quite rare here as compared to most developed and under-developed nations on the globe.”
The problem with this above statement is that it essentially says that China doesn’t allow private ownership of guns, yet suggests there is gun-related crime. However, it never mentions that there are illegal guns. There may not be many but the fact that there are any shows that “gun control” can’t work completely.
But the article also offers this thought:
“Possessing a single gun in China can yield a three-year prison sentence, while perpetrators of gun crimes are often executed. (Source: The Asian Times: June 24, 2010). According to official history of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the government had also cracked down harder on gun ownership after the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.”
This is a statement that maybe more gun control types in America should read. There was a crack down on ownership after pro-democracy demonstrations, suggesting that guns could lead to a pro-democratic movement in China as the people could fight back.
Finally, the article ends with this chilling thought:
“It goes without saying that while gun laws have worked wonders in countries like China, they have failed to show promise in United States, India, Australia, Pakistan, Turkey, former Soviet Union and most of the European nations. By the way, there is no nation on the planet which does not have gun control laws”
The entire article reads much like a Jr. High level research paper rather than a news story, and it shows a true bias against guns. Would anyone really say that Chinese gun control is ideal? And if they do, we suggest those anti-gun zealots move to China.
Spero News Offers “Truth and Myths” About Guns Headed to Mexico
This week Scott Stewart, writing for Spero News offered some interesting insight into myths about the arms trade to Mexico, and shed some light on the truths. In his piece, he looks at the numbers – including the dubious 90 percent that we’ve been covering.
He notes:
“The 90 percent number was derived from a June 2009 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress on U.S. efforts to combat arms trafficking to Mexico.”
Unlike most outlets, Stewart doesn’t leave it at that, following up with this insight:
“Almost 90 percent of the guns seized in Mexico in 2008 were not traced back to the United States.”
He cites various factors, but notes that the numbers don’t add up. Thus, unlike most of the mainstream media, he sees that there is no way that 90 percent of guns could possibly come from the United States. Read more
MICHAEL KRYZANEK: U.S. could learn from other nation’s gun policies
Writing for the Patriot Ledger, Michael Kryzanek, executive director of the Center for International Engagement at Bridgewater State University, offers an interesting commentary on international gun laws. He writes that the United States could learn from other nation’s gun policies. He cites examples in England, Canada and Australia.
But what about Nazi Germany? What about the Soviet Union? How about North Korea or Cambodia? How about China as an example? China today has laws that ban individual gun ownership, but yet criminal syndicates not only have guns but they have gun making factories that churn out AK-47 clones!
And how about Mexico? That one seems surprising to leave off the list. Private gun ownership is tightly controlled in Mexico, and yet the criminals there have no problem getting guns.
Did banning alcohol turn the United States dry in 1919? That didn’t seem to work. So why would gun control?
Almost Laughable Headline – But it Isn’t Really Funny
The San Diego City College’s “award-winning, student-run newspaper,” City Times offered this headline: “Gun control could have prevented some of history’s worst crimes.”
The editorial offers a few choice passages:
“The United States has seen many such massacres, including the Columbine shootings, the Virginia Tech shootings and countless more gun-related mass killings, most of which could have been prevented by stricter gun laws.”
Could stricter gun laws have made the difference? The editorial even questions itself noting that both New York City and Washington, D.C. have strict gun laws – but as the writer notes, have seen “very different results.”
The editorial unfairly notes that New York is one of the safest large cities in the country because of the gun laws. This isn’t quite the case. There is still gun crime in NYC, and yet the gun laws are strict. Meanwhile D.C. has crime, which the editorial blames on close proximity to Virginia and Maryland.
Missing from the equation is Chicago. That city has seen a lot of crime, despite the laws in Illinois and Chicago. So why not cite that one? The answer is that it doesn’t fit with the editorial. Read more
Gun Control Myth Two: Firearms Restriction Reduce Crime
Gun control advocates have claimed for years that laws which restrict firearms ownership reduces violent crimes. The United States has over 20,000 different gun laws, most of which are at the state and local level. Since the 1960’s states and cities have passed stricter firearms laws intending to reduce violent crime but more often than not violent crime increased. Read more
Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education Explains the 90 Percent
The 90 percent lie has been one that we at FirearmsTruth.com have worked to debunk. We’re not the only ones. Our friends at Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education offer their take on what the 90 percent means:
Back in the Summer President Barrack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
At that meeting President Obama agreed to help Calderon register your firearms. The reasoning for this move is the ludicrous claim that 90% of firearms used by Mexican drug lords come from the United States. Read more
74% of all Firearms Worldwide Owned by Civilians
It is hard to imagine but civilians own more firearms worldwide than do all the militaries combined. The United States is one of the leading countries, with 90 small arms per 100 persons. Finland and Switzerland are high on the list of number of guns per 100. In Switzerland, any male eligible for military service is actually required to keep an assault rifle and army supplies. And yet Switzerland has the lowest murder rate in the world. Go figure.
Great Britain has one of the lowest gun-to-population rates in Europe. Unlike most other countries self-defense alone is not considered a good enough reason to get permission to own a firearm. (Much like American cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. were until recent Supreme Court rulings). Japan has even more draconian gun control laws and China bans all civilian ownership of firearms.
A people cannot be truly free if they don’t have the right to self-preservation through violence, if need be. To be totally dependent on government for the right to self-protection is to be a drone of the state. The individual is absorbed by the collective and the collective makes the decision who is and who isn’t to be protected, whether by conscious choice or bad luck.
Gun Control in Infamous Regimes
The Bemidji Pioneer of North Central Minnesota offered an interesting point about gun control. Control being the key word. Jean Nyquist argues that with gun control you actually have a form of citizen control. Here are a few examples that Jean compiled:
- In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953 about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 , 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
- China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
- Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Maybe those anti-gun groups shouldn’t label themselves as “The Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,” but rather “The Campaign to Promote a Dictatorship,” or “The Campaign to Prevent Freedom.” Something to think about.
Is Mexican Drug Cartel Crime Linked to Gun Control?
“Long before the Mexican drug cartels cut a distribution deal with their South American confederates, back when Colombian drug lords were busy corrupting their society’s democratic system, Mexico’s federal government was cracking down on private gun ownership. Its war against civilian firearms began in 1968, after civil unrest spooked the powers that be. The Mexican government closed all privately held firearm stores. From that point on, all firearm sales had to go through the Mexican Defense Ministry. It determined what guns were sold to whom at what price.” Read more
China Tries to Target Black Market Guns
The Wall Street Journal is about the only mainstream media outlet picking up on story that was first reported in China Daily this week on how authorities in China are cracking down on illegal guns. It should be stressed that in China almost all guns are essentially banned, but there has been a stark increase of the number of illegal guns being produced domestically. Read more
