NY Times Op-Ed Just More Sour Grapes
So ends another year, and how does The New York Times see it when it comes to firearms? Instead of noting a decline in crime, while a booming business in a bad economy the Times’ editors say it as “Another Year for Weapons.”
That’s right, not guns, not firearms, but WEAPONS! And the paper offered this passage:
The F.B.I. reports that gun dealers submitted the names of almost half-a-million customers in the six days before Christmas, with December on its way to surpassing November, which had a record tally of 1,534,414 names submitted for background checks for criminal convictions and mental health issues. Only a little more than 1 percent of buyers are typically rejected by federally licensed gun dealers. No one knows how many more firearms were purchased through the gun-show loophole that enables black marketeering.
It is fascinating that no mention is made of Fast and Furious, nor of the stockpiles of military hardware left in Libya. No the Times is worried about law abiding citizens buying guns! And then of course has to offer the “gun-show loophole” and tie it to illegal guns – without offering any proof that this is ever the case.
But the Times wasn’t finished. It offered this conclusion:
Instead of cowering before the gun lobby, political leaders in both parties should be treating the annual gun death toll as a serious public health and moral problem. Polls show the public is wiser than many politicians on the gun issue. Protest candlelight vigils organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence are being planned nationally for Jan. 8, the anniversary of the Tucson rampage. Nearly 30 cities and towns have signed up, proof that sensible voters are demanding stronger protection from gun violence.
Are the political leaders really cowering behind the gun lobby? The first sentence of the op-ed and the first sentence of the final paragraph don’t add up. Isn’t it legal sales, meaning law-abiding citizens were buying guns? Doesn’t that mean that people – law-abiding citizens that is – want guns?
So what the editors are really saying is the voters, the citizens be damned. The Times editors don’t like guns so no one should have guns!
And that statement “polls show the public is wiser than many politicians on the gun issue” needs to be clarified. What polls exactly? What about the Gallup poll from October that showed that more people are opposed to gun control.
Finally, the gun lobby isn’t pushing for mass shootings as the final passage implies. Yes, cities can have mass vigils and should. But these vigils don’t mean these communities want to be rid of guns, to throw out the Second Amendment. Of course it is hard to understand what the editors think, but in their tall towers in Manhattan do they really know anything about what is going on west of the Hudson River?
Newswer Makers Sure to Include Brady Opinion in Black Friday Coverage
The news site Newser, which offers the tagline “read less, know more,” did a capsule report on Black Friday gun sales and while this piece did include Gallup poll numbers, it made sure to cite the Brady Campaign’s notion that this was a “one time event.”
Even if this is true, we ask once more – so what? Is there anything wrong with marketing guns?
Huff and Puff Tries to Argue with Numbers
This week in a piece titled, “Obama Gun Control Policy: President Stays Virtually Silent On Issue,” the Huffington Post argues that gun control is an issue that won’t be much of an issue in the election – almost to the point of frustration. And at one point in the article, the writer even attempts to argue with the numbers:
For gun control advocates, it adds up to frustration with Obama and the Democrats. The group Mayors Against Illegal Guns argues that polling shows voters support certain gun safety measures like stronger background checks – although a recent Gallup poll also finds more support for enforcing current laws than for passing new ones.
This isn’t entirely true that Gallup poll numbers call for more support for enforcing current laws, but it the Gallup poll did show that more people are against gun control. So why is data from an anti-gun group such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns cited as well? That seems like clear-cut bias to make a point.
The article then adds this bit:
But the NRA outspends gun-control groups by a wide margin, and analysts say that when it comes time to vote, the gun issue is more likely to motivate gun rights activists than gun control supporters.
Since becoming president, Obama has been extremely cautious on the issue. In his 2004 Senate race, for example, Obama said it was a “scandal” that then-President George W. Bush didn’t force renewal of the assault weapons ban. But Obama himself has done nothing to promote that issue since becoming president.
Once again the NRA is painted as some nefarious and sinister cabal that secretly is out to destroy America. And then the author tries to paint Obama as neutral on the issue, and as with so many other stories failing to note this is the same man who said he was working on gun control but “under the radar.”
Associated Press: Tough politics for Obama on guns as 2012 election approaches
The Associated Press, via The Washington Post, last week essentially bemoaned that the GOP contenders for the Presidential race next year could take the “gun vote.” The piece noted:
Democrats have learned the hard way that embracing gun control can be terrible politics…
This is absolutely true, but the article still fails to note that according to a recent Gallup Poll that more Americans are opposed to gun control. So why is this such a big deal, except that we know that President Obama is anti-gun. He wants gun control, has said he is working on it “under the radar” and now the mainstream media almost seems peeved that it could an issue that could hurt his re-election chances!
NSSF Time Capsule Marks 50th Anniversary & State of Hunting and Shooting
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has packed a time capsule with materials that reflect the state of firearms ownership, target shooting and hunting in the year 2011 and that tell the story of how NSSF, the firearms industry’s trade association, has helped promote, preserve and protect those freedoms over the last half century.
The time capsule project is the last major event commemorating NSSF’s 50th Anniversary celebration this year. It was a half century ago this month that NSSF was officially incorporated.
The 1 x 2 x 3-foot composite-material box –stamped “Open in 2061!”– will be on display at NSSF’s headquarters. Read more
Politics 365: 15 Million Jobless, 49 Million Poor… and Congress is Focused on Guns
The political website Politics 365 clearly doesn’t understand what issues Americans care about as it notes unemployment, the national debt and then tries to dismiss the Second Amendment. All of these issues are very, very important, but writer Lauren Victoria Burke instead dismisses it by noting:
With so many pressing issues at hand, a Congress with a 9% approval rating (the lowest in American history) passed gun legislation through the House this week.
Now maybe this would be a good point. There are a lot of issues to deal with, but Burke shows her true colors as just another anti-gun reporter as she adds:
There are approximately 100,000 people shot each year in the U.S. According to the CDC, 66,000 people were treated for gun injuries in emergency rooms in 2009.
So here is the agenda. Had Congress not passed the legislation perhaps her column would have been on how Congress can’t get to the jobs, can’t address other issues but at least it legislated for tougher gun control. And finally, isn’t it interesting that Ms. Burke cites the CDC numbers, among others, but fails to note in the article that a recent Gallup Poll found a majority opposed to gun control and more restrictive gun laws? But that’s a fact that wouldn’t fit her argument so instead it is ignored.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Study Gets Media Attention
Here is what seldom gets reported: law-abiding citizens buy guns and nothing bad happens. That part of the story is boring, and thus the media ignores it. But worse, when a recent Gallup Poll showed that a majority of Americans didn’t favor more gun control, the media was silent.
This week however, the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns released a study that found so-called flaws in the background check system, and the media was all over it.
The New York Daily News offered the headline, “Mentally ill may buy guns with ease: Most U.S. states not forwarding crucial mental health records to database used to screen un licenses.” This story notes how Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho was able to get a gun, and includes commentary that leans very anti-gun. Little is noted that crime is down, and these shooters are the very rare exception.
ABCActionNews.com in Tampa offered just as sensational a headline, “Cracks in background check system give drug abusers, mentally ill access to guns: Background check gaps put guns in killers’ hands.” First, that headline is not technically accurate. This does not either provide access nor does it actually put guns in the hands of would-be killers. This “story” actually links to the Huffington Post coverage, which itself cites a study from Mayors Against Illegal Guns. In other words, where is the reporting? Citing a report is not reporting!
The truth is that this information should be made available so that those with mental problems don’t possess guns. But the problem is that Mayors Against Illegal Guns is also looking to pass the blame on these problems not to the “cracks” or “gaps” or the “loophole” but on guns in general. In other words, they could argue, “we can’t fill the holes or gaps, so ban guns instead.” This is why this issue needs to be watched very closely.
CBS News Offers Surprising Headline
Last Friday CBS News offered a headline that had us turning our head, “Poll: Most oppose assault weapon ban.” CBS News is certainly one to watch. Not only was it this news organization that helped break Fast and Furious, but now it is reporting the facts about the findings of a Gallup poll instead of trying to put a spin on it that suggests something else.
A couple of key points that we also find worth noting:
“It’s difficult to monitor gun ownership in this country, and the latest increase in self-reported gun ownership could reflect more of a change in Americans’ comfort with stating publicly that they have a gun, than in a real increase in gun ownership.”
“President Obama has said little about the subject publicly, frustrating gun violence prevention advocates like Colin Goddard, who was shot four times during the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.”
Both are interesting points, but we wish that CBS News would have noted that President Obama has stated that he is working on gun control, but “under the radar.”
Huff and Puff Responds to Gallup Poll
While the media has been mostly silent on the findings of the Gallup poll, which suggests fewer Americans are in favor of gun control, many liberal and left-leaning bloggers, websites and news outlets felt necessary to put a spin on it. Clearly they’re either “shocked” by the findings or just convinced there is a way to explain those findings in a way they like.
Writing for The Huffington Post Margie Omero, Democratic pollster, and president of Momentum Analysis suggests that the poll’s findings are somehow wrong. She writes:
“By tracking opinions toward a handgun ban, and by looking at only a few broad questions, news and polling outlets are missing a clear and important pattern: There is widespread support for a variety of gun laws.”
No, that is not what the findings of the poll suggested. This is a twist on it. We should also add that in the copy Omero notes this point:
“In my firm’s work this year for Mayors Against Illegal Guns…”
So in other words, this op-ed is biased out of the gate, as Omero has worked with a notable anti-gun and gun control organization. How can anything she writes not be questioned? Well let’s look at few more points:
“Now, after decades have passed without any new movement on a handgun ban, a clear majority say there should not be such a law. Voters’ opinions on this likely reflect the political debate, as much as the political debate reflects public opinion.”
She adds:
“A second question shows a similar, but less dramatic pattern. It asks ‘Are you for or against a law which would make it illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess semiautomatic guns known as assault rifles?’ A slight majority (53%) are now opposed to such a law, mirroring, perhaps, the lack of a major public debate on the topic.”
What she is trying to say is that there is no debate on the issue so therefore Americans must be too stupid to think about gun control. If there leaders are screaming about it, Americans aren’t in favor it.
And finally she puts this spin on it:
“Despite hyperbolic coverage highlighting political divisions, voters are actually quite united on guns. Large numbers want to see guns out of dangerous hands, better cooperation between law enforcement agencies, concealed gun permits extended only to those meeting a state’s requirements.”
Yes, voters are quite united on guns… no one wants to see guns in the hands of criminals, and we think following the ATF Fast and Furious debacle there needs to be better cooperation among law enforcement. But what the writer wants the reader to think is that we are all in favor of gun control. This is a subtle bias, but one we see right through.
Media Matters Tries to Claim Americans Want Gun Control
Liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America tried to put an anti-gun spin on the findings from a Gallup poll. The crew over at Media Matters must not have liked the results, so instead of letting it go, they instead offered some interesting thoughts:
“Indeed, another question included in Gallup’s poll demonstrates robust support for gun violence prevention legislation. 77 percent of respondents feel that the laws covering the sales of firearms should either be stricter or kept as they are now, with only 11 percent calling for them to be weakened. In other words, the vast majority of Americans support reasonable gun control measures; only a small fraction is actually opposed to gun control.”
That isn’t exactly what the poll suggests that “only a small fraction is actually opposed to gun control.” Even Gallup noted:
“In 1991, 68% of Americans favored stricter gun laws and 43% favored a ban on handguns. Those percentages are 43% and 26%, respectively, today.”
But again here is where the media – or in this case a “media watchdog” – doesn’t like the findings and will put its own spin on it. Read more
