PennLive.com Story Notes Problem With Mayors’ Report

Few in the mainstream media have noted an interesting fact about the recent report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, but this was picked up by PennLive.com, which offered this thought on where Pennsylvania ranks:

“The findings are a bit misleading, in a sense, when you consider the above list (of 10 states)  — made up of some of the county’s most populous states — is based on raw figures. A closer look reveals that Pennsylvania ranked 30th in the number of exported guns per 100,000 people.”

So could it be that the Mayors’ report has flaws that the MSM is ignoring?

Penn Live Story Offers Anti-Gun Bias in Reporting

The key word missing today from a lot of the media: attribution. It seems that thanks to blogs, website posts and quasi-news organizations that attributing a statement or belief to someone isn’t so important. This is certainly true of a recent PennLive.com news story. The site, which is associated with the Central Pennsylvania The Patriot News offered a story this week titled “Gun ‘culture’ stirs frustration and grief.” Already that has a zinger of a headline that shows a lean that is anti-guns in general.

The story does discuss the growing problem of urban gangs and a fascination of youths to use a gun as a fashion statement, and to show how tough one can be. We don’t agree that this is how guns should be used, nor would most law-abiding gun owners. That’s the key, law-abiding. These men are not law-abiding, so the story could be as much about “gang culture” as it is about “gun culture.” But the feature also offers a snappy kicker:

“Some believe the gun laws in Pennsylvania don’t go far enough.”

We’re sure “some” people don’t believe this gun laws go far enough, but some probably think they go too far. This is a weak argument, and weaker still because it lacks any attribution. Who is this some? Was it so hard to find an anti-gun group out there? But the point by the author, who is likely among the “some,” is still made.

Pennsylvania to Get Official State Gun?

The state already has a firearm named after it – sort of anyway – and now State Senator Pat Brown (R-Lehigh County) is “sponsoring a bill that would designate the Pennsylvania Long Rifle as the state’s official firearm,” reports PennLive.com. The story further notes:

“The Pennsylvania Rifle was developed by craftsmen in the mid-18th century. Using native iron and woods, the earliest versions could take upward of 200 hours to build.”

It is nice to see that there are those in government who do care about the historic significance of firearms.