Capitol Weekly Shows Anti-Gun Bias in Reporting on Gun Legislation
Maybe someone should tell the staff at Capitol Weekly, “The Newspaper of California Government and Politics” to watch some old episodes of Dragnet and just tell “the facts, just the facts.” The paper reported on “A graveyard for key bills at the 11th hour” and shows some serious anti-gun bias. Read more
Daley Says Gun Owners Not Jumping Through Hoops
Some choice quotes from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley this week, as reported by The Chicago Sun Times:
“We’re not jumping through hoops. We have to have accountability. … This is protection of the city from lawsuits from a lot of people. You have to ask for reasonable gun laws. Until the federal government seizes more illegal guns, that is the issue.”
This is just one of several choice quotes from Daley, and it makes us seriously think he doesn’t understand the greater issue. How again does allowing law-abiding citizens to have greater access to firearms cause more crime? And how exactly would a crackdown on illegal guns reduce lawsuits against the city?
To us it appears that Daley is scrapping the bottle of the barrel and grasping at straws to make his argument. The problem is that law-abiding citizens are still caught in the ensuing cross fire.
Arizona Republic Calls For “Middle Ground on Guns”
This week in an editorial responding to the tale of two gun laws, The Arizona Republic argues that a middle ground needs to be found. The paper suggests that Chicago’s absolute ban on handguns had been too strict, but also questions the Arizona law with an interesting choice of words:
“Arizona, meanwhile, has enacted some of the most liberalizing gun laws of any state in recent years. They include permitting gun-owners to carry weapons in places like restaurants and bars and, still more sensationally, allowing most people over 21 to carry a weapon, open or concealed, without requiring a permit. That latter law is scheduled to go into effect July 29.”
While this might be extreme to some, it brings up an interesting point – one that the editors only touch upon. Chicago has become a wild west with mob rule practically in place. Yet Arizona, which was truly part of the real Old Wild West, doesn’t have nearly the same amount of gun violence. However, Arizona faces a threat as criminal elements from Mexico are causing problem in the border region. This isn’t noted in the editorial, and it is important to note as residents in those parts should have the right to be armed as the thugs from south of the border seldom care if innocent people get caught in the cross fire.
John Lott Takes Aim at Gun Laws and Gun Critics
Kudos again to John Lott, who set the record straight again when it comes to how the media covers gun crimes. As Lott notes many news features offer quotes from anti-gun groups, often times without checking the full facts.
Lott’s story can be read at FoxNews.com
Chicago Tribune: Guns Will Still be Hard to Own
In a blog post for The Chicago Tribune, some interesting facts were presented, and readers were asked to pick the laws they think would be best for the Windy City. Here’s the link:
- If Chicago’s gun ban were overturned, vote for the gun laws used elsewhere you think would work here
John Lott Recalls Tragic Shooting to Set Record Straight
The American mainstream media likes to point out the waves of shootings that have occurred in the United States over recent decades, noting that most other countries don’t have this problem. But John Lott, writing for FoxNews, sets the record straight, writing that of the top five worst school shootings in the world, only one actually occurred in the United States:
“The very worst one occurred in a high school in Erfurt, Germany in 2002, where 18 were killed. The second worst took place in Dunblane, Scotland in 1996, where 16 kindergarteners and their teacher were shot. The third worst high school attack, with 15 murdered, happened in Winnenden, Germany. The fourth worst shooting was in the U.S. – Columbine High School in 1999, leaving 13 killed. The fifth worst school related murder spree, with 11 murdered, occurred in Emsdetten, Germany.”
Now any event of this type is a true tragedy, but Lott makes his point. Germany had three of the vive worst shootings – and yet has extremely strict gun laws compared to the United States. Thus tighter gun laws, which take away our Second Amendment rights, aren’t going to keep anyone safer.
Philadelphia Gun Law Ruling – Good With the Bad
This week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a mixed verdict regarding Philadelphia’s gun laws. With it comes some good and some bad (depending on what side you’re on). However, even in this ruling, there is bias in the media.
The Philadelphia Weekly offered this cheat sheet on the law:
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The city is allowed to force its citizens to report a lost or stolen gun within 24 hours.
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Police are allowed to seize guns from those “considered to pose a risk to themselves or others.”
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Those subject to a protection-from-abuse order may not own a firearm within the city.
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Want an assault weapon? You’re good.
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Need to purchase more than one gun a month? No problem. Have as many as you want!
Notice that there is no cynical humor for the parts the writer’s seem to agree with “Police are allowed to seize guns,” but with other parts of the bill there is clearly a mocking tone? Was this really necessary?
Firing Back: Does Supreme Court Not Matter To Daley? Does This Guy Think Before Speaking?
In a blog post for The Chicago Tribune it makes it perfectly clear that the rule of law doesn’t matter to some gun-hating mayors around the country. Apparently men like Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago is just such an example, notes the post:
“Mayor Richard Daley today rejected the idea that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn the city’s gun ban, but said that he will be ready to act quickly to put in place restrictions on gun ownership if it does.”
The post further quotes Daley, almost suggesting that he hopes something bad will happen to chance some minds:
“You have to have confidence in the Supreme Court, Maybe they’ll see the light of day. Maybe one of them will have an incident and they’ll change their mind overnight, going to and from work.”
So we’ll ask the question, no one else seems to ask… does Daley think before he speaks? The Tribune blog post also quotes him saying this choice statement:
“Whatever the details of the court’s ruling will be, we will always find new ways to keep guns off our streets.”
The sentiment is good. The possibility of this statement being true is ridiculous. Daley can’t possibly believe he can keep “guns off the streets.” What he can do is make it harder for law-abiding citizens to own guns. Of course, this comes from the guy who just days ago told a reporter that Chicago’s gun laws were effective with the choice statement:
“If I put this up your butt, you’ll find out how effective it is. Let me put a round up your, you know.”
So does Daely think before he speaks? He sounds like a very dangerous man to us, and there is an old saying about where good intentions take you. Let’s hope that men such as Daley, or New York’s Michael Bloomberg don’t do too much paving.
Brady Bunch Against State’s Rights?
Does it sound like the Brady Center Against Gun Violence really wants reasonable gun laws? It certainly doesn’t seem that way to us, as the group is now going after states that it disagrees with, reports The Great Falls Tribune:
“The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed written arguments in U.S. District Court in Missoula, asking that the Montana Firearms Freedom Act be struck down as unconstitutional. Among the groups joining the Brady Center were Montanans Against Gun Violence, the Montana Human Rights Network and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.”
This is extremely worrisome to us. The law was passed in Montana but the Brady Bunch is making this a District Court matter. So much for state’s rights!
NYC to “Simplify” Gun Registration
As a long time resident of New York City, I personally can tell you that the gun registration process in the Big Apple was anything but simple. However, The New York Times is reporting that this could change:
“The Bloomberg administration announced on Friday that it was moving to simplify the process for New Yorkers to obtain gun permits, thus speeding up a set of byzantine licensing requirements that gun-rights advocates have long criticized as among the most restrictive in the country.”
We’ll be watching eagerly to see if this really makes it easier for law-abiding citizens to get permits, or whether the process will in fact make it simpler for the police to deny individuals.
