“Over 100 guns collected in Myrtle Beach buy-back effort”
Several outlets, including The Herald Online are noting that Myrtle Beach had a guy buyback this weekend, and most claims are it was successful. This is usually the case for these type of events, often based on little evidence that these ever get guns off the street.
But what makes this one stand out is that it includes two facts and seemingly ties them together:
First, it offers a thought from organizer Rev. Tim McCray:
“McCray said the inspiration for the gun buy-back was the success other communities across the country have had with similar initiatives.”
The next sentence then reads:
“An FBI report released this month showed the number of violent crimes across the U.S. in 2010 dropped 6 percent from the 2009 estimate.”
To the reader this would imply that gun buybacks are responsible for the drop in crime, yet this fact has never been actually attributed to gun buybacks. The reader of course might never be the wiser.
Hot Air: “Fast & Furious: FBI may have covered up third gun found at scene of agent’s death to protect informant”
This week Hot Air offered more disturbing news regarding Fast and Furious, noting that the FBI may have covered up evidence to protect an informant. But the article offers this thought too:
“If both the FBI and the ATF are involved in the Fast & Furious investigation, and by ‘involved in’ … ‘withholding relevant information from,’ who’s the higher-up at the DOJ that’s overseeing all of this?”
This is a question we’ve been asking for some time. How could this involve both the ATF and FBI and yet Attorney General Eric Holder claims to know nothing? That seems implausible actually.
Gun Rights Policies with John Snyder: FBI Stats and National CCW Reciprocity
FBI statistics showing violent crimes decreasing correlate with the popularity of state laws allowing the carrying of concealed firearms by private citizens.
What is needed now is national CCW reciprocity.
GunRightsPolicies.orgJohn M. Snyder
Manager
Telum Associates, LLC
Arlington, VA
202-239-8005 Read more
Firearms Sales on the Rise, Where is the Media Reporting Now?
When President Obama was elected in 2008 there was a surge in gun sales – and the media was all over it. Of course one reason for the surge in sales was due to a bad economy. When times are bad, people buy guns. Much of this aspect of the story back in 2008 and 2009 was widely overlooked.
Now The Dayton Daily News is reporting that gun sales in Ohio are on the rise, and outside of the state the media is hardly picking up on it. Of course the increased sales could be from the fact that the economy – especially in Ohio – is far from good. The other aspect is that gun sales have been on the rise for years, a fact the mainstream media also ignored when reporting the upsurge in sales in 2009.
The Dayton Daily News notes:
“During the first seven months of this year, the FBI conducted 247,847 background checks for firearm purchases at gun sellers in the state, up 17.7 percent from the same period in 2010, 9.2 percent from 2009 and 42.4 percent from 2008, according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.”
The paper also cites a bad economy as a factor. Let’s see if the MSM even bothers to note these figures or reports on the story. Something tells us they’ll think this is finally old news.
Gunlaws.com: FBI Implicated in Gun-Smuggling Operation
From Gunlaws.com:
An insider source investigating BATFE’s gun smuggling to vicious Mexican drug cartels, reveals that several of the so-called “straw purchasers” were prohibited possessors, or had suspended drivers’ licenses and other problems that should have prevented them from passing the NICS background check.
Three of the straw purchasers, now indicted, had criminal histories, including a pending class 3 felony charge for burglary, an order of protection, a domestic-violence conviction, and a felony for resisting arrest, later reduced (and criminal damage charge dropped). Any of these should have prevented, or at least delayed purchases when they hit the FBI NICS computer. One defendant even had a CCW permit, under circumstances that seem suspicious but remain unclear.
Whistleblower BATFE agent John Dodson apparently indicated that the NICS system had these buyers flagged for special treatment, and that when a sale request came through, it was routed to a special FBI office that approved the purchases, according to William La Jeunesse at FOX News. Dodson’s prior statements are absolutely incriminating, and riveting: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml
This implies that the FBI may have been complicit in the scheme, allowing BATFE’s mules to get possession of guns when they should have been blocked. How people with disqualifying criminal records or a suspended driver’s license could have repeatedly gotten through the tightly run NICS system is difficult to otherwise explain.
Some of the buyers were young adults living at home with parents, and with no visible means of support. How they got the tens of thousands of dollars in cash they repeatedly spent has not yet been investigated, but is sure to come out. The tax and IRS angles are also missing from all reports, so far. IRS is often vigorous on tracking down unreported income and huge cash transactions, but is not involved as far as published reports go. BATFE installed video cameras at some of the gun shops and have the straw-purchase smugglers’ transactions recorded.
No information is available on how the data BATFE hopes to collect will be used to prevent gun smuggling. Since the information will be gathered by the very bureau responsible for smuggling guns into Mexico, confidence in the scheme is very low. BATFE claims the scheme will generate 18,000 records per year, but how they could possibly know that is unclear, since this is illegal and has never been done before.
Congressional hearings on the BATFE gun-smuggling program continue, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 10 a.m. East coast time, 7 a.m. here in Arizona. The effect on the gun reporting and registration scheme, if any, is impossible to determine ahead of time.
About GunLaws.com:
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Bloomfield Press, founded in 1988, is the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the country. Our website, gunlaws.com, features a free national directory to gun laws and relevant contacts in all states and federally, along with our unique line of related books and DVDs. “After Your Shoot” for media review is available on request, call 800-707-4020. Our authors are available for interview, call to schedule. Call for cogent positions on gun issues, informed analysis on proposed laws, talk radio that lights up the switchboard, fact sheets and position papers. As we always say, “It doesn’t make sense to own a gun and not know the rules.” Visit: www.gunlaws.com
Winnipeg Free Press Offers Misleading Information in Terrorist Gun Story
The Canadian newspaper Winnipeg Free Press picked up on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns ad campaign story, which uses words from wannabe terrorist Adam Gadahn.
While the article corrects one point – namely that Gadahn claims that fully automatic weapons are for sale at gun shows, the article misses some other marks. It notes:
“Gadahn is wrong — consumers can purchase semi-automatics at gun shows, not fully automatic assault weapons — but private sellers at such events are not, in fact, required to perform the same background checks on customers as their federally licensed dealers.”
This is true but the author fails to note that private sales throughout America do not require a background check. The paper then adds:
“Republicans in the House of Representatives even voted down a proposal in May that would have prevented those on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist from purchasing firearms.”
What isn’t noted is that people are on the watchlist by mistake, names are added and removed all the time. Should someone’s Constitutional rights be revoked because they are on a list? The fact that people are on a list is noted by the media time and time again, but never are the facts made clear.
We also find it ironic that the media never seems to mind about rights taken away when it might be about guns. What if the terrorist watchlist revoked someone’s rights to get a job or medical treatment? There would be an outcry of rage for their “rights” being taken away. Apparently the media feels otherwise when it is gun rights.
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms: FBI DATA PROVES ANTI-GUNNERS WRONG ON CRIME, SAYS CCRKBA
Preliminary crime data from the FBI for 2010 adds more evidence that gun prohibitionists have been consistently wrong, and that more guns do not equal more crime, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
According to the FBI, all four violent crime offense categories show declines nationwide for 2010, with murder and manslaughter down 4.4 percent from 2009, robbery down 9.5 percent and aggravated assault down 3.6 percent. Forcible rape was down 4.2 percent. Violent crime declined in all four regions of the country. At the same time, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, firearm sales were up dramatically.
“Gun banners can spin data anyway they want,” observed CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “but in the final analysis, their contention that more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens translates to more crime is clearly nonsense. More than 6.2 million citizens are licensed to carry, Wisconsin appears ready to join states with rational carry laws, and the NSSF reports that the largest surge in gun sales happened during the years 2008 to 2010.
“Instead of more guns resulting in more crime,” he added, “increased gun ownership just might be having the opposite effect. Of course, you’d never get the gun prohibition lobby to admit that.”
According to the FBI report, released Monday, violent crime declined in all city categories, with the greatest drop at 6.9 percent in cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999, although these cities reported a 3 percent increase in murder and manslaughter. Violent crime in rural counties decreased 6.4 percent and in metropolitan counties, the decline was 6 percent, the FBI report said. Murder and manslaughter dropped 25.2 percent in small cities (below 10,000 populations). Robbery is also down across the board, the FBI report said.
“The bottom line,” Gottlieb stated, “is that none of the extremist predictions about blood in the streets and skyrocketing body counts as a result of increased gun ownership, reformed gun laws and expanded concealed carry have come true. Once again, the Chicken Little mentality of the anti-gun lobby has been refuted by the facts.
National Rifle Association: Keeping An Eye On ‘Terror Watchlist’ Legislation Targeting US Gun Owners
From the National Rifle Association:
Last week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee rejected an amendment by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), which proposed to allow the Attorney General to disapprove the NICS check of a person who has been placed on the FBI’s secret “terrorist watchlist.”
Similar legislation has been introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
The NRA opposes all of these proposals for a variety of reasons, chiefly that they propose to deny a constitutionally protected, fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms without due process of law.
While some of the proposals pretend to allow a person to appeal his watchlisting in court, the proposals would prevent the watchlisted person or his lawyer from examining and challenging the government’s “evidence,” the accused would not be entitled to a trial by a jury of his peers, and the judge would not be allowed to examine the government’s evidence in full.
Gun control supporters pretend that proposals like the Quigley amendment are designed to prevent large numbers of terrorists from acquiring firearms. However, 95 percent of people on the watchlist are already prohibited from acquiring or possessing firearms, because they are not U.S. citizens or aliens legally present in the United States.
Furthermore, the watchlist contains the names of people who are not under investigation, or who are only under preliminary investigation, for potential ties to terrorism.
NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox has sent a letter to Congress to outline NRA’s concerns. To read the letter, please click here.
For additional information, please click here.
About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org
Daily News Pulse: “Did the Brady Law Really Do Anything…”
This week the Daily News Pulse asked the question: “Did The Brady Law Really Do Anything For Gun Control: Is It Outdated” and then offered some well-known facts (that you won’t likely read in the mainstream media):
“Today, 37 states have ‘shall issue’ permit systems and as of July 1, 2011 three of those states will also allow for permitless carry (as does Vermont, which has no permit system). This has resulted in an estimated 6 million Americans exercising this right. With all of these ‘guns in public places,’ in 2009 the country experienced a 39-year low in its violent rate crime and a 45-year low in its murder rate, according to the FBI. These historic lows also occurred in the absence of a federal ‘assault weapons’ ban, a law for which the Brady Campaign awards yet more points at the state level.”
And yet, to hear anti-gun zealots speak they make it sound like it is the Wild West in America. The irony is that the ones committing the crimes are doing so with ILLEGAL guns, but gun control types believe disarming law-abiding citizens is the way to go.
Background Checks on the Rise – Is the Economy Suffering
We’ve noted previously that gun sales tend to go up when economic conditions go down. This week The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the average monthly background checks for firearms was 1.25 million during a 12-month period ending in March.
The data, which was compiled by the FBI, showed a record level of background checks. So let’s now consider a couple of very important points.
First, as the paper notes, economic analysts see gun sales as good for the firearms industry – but typically bad for the rest of the economy. According to the paper:
“When Americans purchase more firearms, it doesn’t bode as well for economic growth, according to Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at BNY ConvergEx Group, a technology firm that serves the financial-services industry.”
That is true, and we’ve noted this previously. But could there also be other factors at play? For example, various groups including Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence are pushing for greater restrictions.
The irony is that both groups are calling for greater background checks – noting that the so-called “gun show loophole” remains a problem. The truth it seems is that a lot of Americans are going through the background checks already. But couldn’t the efforts of those anti-gun groups actually be encouraging people to buy guns?
The truth is that gun owners, we at FirearmsTruth, continue to fear that there will be bans, as well as new restrictions on sales. And it isn’t lost on us that most gun owners see this coming and are stocking up on it.
Finally, are there economic concerns? Well, with gasoline prices likely to hit record highs, we’re going to feel it in every product we buy – including firearms. All this does mean that there will likely be another economic downturn. Not that many of us ever felt that recovery. We’re not sure about that “hope” and “change,” but we hope in less than two years that there is another round of change.
