Times Daily Article Offers Fair Insight to Second Amendment
Monitor bulk sales and so-called straw purchases – that’s the suggestion from the Times Daily of the Tennessee Valley. In a rather insight commentary on the issue, the article questions what exactly the Founding Fathers meant went drafting the Second Amendment, but it also offers insight on why the United States today remains a populace that is well armed.
We would add that the United Sates is also a nation that has a real respect for our guns as well, but the piece, titled “A little more clarity on gun rights,” is worth giving a read as this is an example of how the media should report on the guns – give the facts and background, and let the reader come to the conclusion. Too often the authors of these pieces have an agenda to push it seems.
Wisconsin Makes Straw Purchases a Felony
Some biased reporting from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which reported how the state is pushing to make so-called straw purchases a felony. The paper already notes that this is, in fact, a felony already under federal law but only a misdemeanor under state law. The problem with this article is that it implies that this is a much more common occurrence, noting:
”The state would train its sights on the potentially deadly crime of straw purchasing – in which one person buys a firearm on behalf of a felon who can’t legally do so, under a bill approved Thursday by the Assembly.”
The paper further quotes Rep. Ann Hraychuck (D-Balsam Lake), the bill’s lead sponsor and a former sheriff, as saying, “Again and again, these felons are able to illegaly obtain a firemarm.” Is that statement even true? The mainstream reports that straw purchases are a major problem, but the evidence still shows otherwise. However, makign straw purchases a felony in Wisconsin is a good idea.
New Information Comes to Light Regarding Iron Pipeline
The Iron Pipeline – or Iron River – is how the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico is often described by some in the mainstream media, as well as those in high-ranking positions in the Mexican government. The picture is being painted by both parties is that most of the guns in the hands of Mexican criminals are from the United States. This has been debunked many times, but it keeps coming round and round. The Texas Tribune asks this very question in a new feature article:
“Is an ‘iron river’ of weapons flowing south from Texas to Mexico, as U.S. officials claim? Or is that nothing more than a fiction promulgated by a corrupt Mexican government that skews statistics to deflect responsibility?”
The article offers a mostly unbiased look at both sides of the issue, and given that recent reports are talking about “grenades” and “grenade launchers,” can anyone really believe this is about straw purchases being made in Austin and Houston?
Who Guards the Guards: Cop Gets 60 Days for Selling Illegal Gun
Once again we must stress that we don’t have anything against law enforcement, and we are thankful that America has one of the best records when it comes to the police. But situations such as this story reported by The Washington Post really are upsetting:
“During his sentencing in Prince George’s County Circuit Court on Friday, David A. Eichelberger, the former police chief of Morningside, told the judge that he illegally sold a police weapon last year so he could afford diapers for his children.
“Eichelberger, who pleaded guilty in February to stealing and then selling the 9mm Glock pistol, was sentenced to 60 days in jail. In imposing the sentence, Judge Nicholas E. Rattal gave Eichelberger credit for the one day he has spent in jail.”
How is it that Eichelberger only received 60 days in jail for stealing and selling a handgun? It is the job of police to keep the streets safe and not to put guns in the hands of criminals! The story tries to offer a spin that Eichelberger was strapped for cash, couldn’t pay for groceries and diapers and thus sold the gun.
He’s not alone. Many people are really suffering due to the economy, but turning to crime is NOT a solution, and it is disgraceful that a lawman would get a slap on the wrist. The paper also quotes Deputy State’s Attorney Carlos Acosta as saying police officers “are accountable to the law. Everyone is held to the same standard.”
This doesn’t seem like the same standard at all. It should also serve as a warning to anyone who worries about gun show loopholes, straw purchases and other ways that legally owned guns become illegal that the easiest way is if a gun in an evidence locker makes it way back to the streets.
CNN Tracks Straw Purchases, Misses Points
Our friends at Newsbusters.org responded to CNN’s new segment on the so-called “Iron Pipeline.” Thank you to Newsbusters for pointing out that CNN’s reporters essentially crafted a very one-sided and biased piece looking at firearms sales, and in the process never point out that straw purchases are essentially felonies!
Too often the media tries to make it seem that “straw purchases” are legal, and that only when the firearm is handed to a criminal is the law broken! What the media fails to address is that criminals obtain firearms many ways, and even purchasing a “legal” gun for a criminal is in itself a crime. We’re just glad that Newsbusters is also watching the mainstream media, and calling them like they see it.
San Diego Union-Tribune Reports Facts on Straw Purchases
Did you know it was a crime to make a so-called straw purchase for a criminal? Of course anyone who thinks about it would know this is a criminal offense. Knowingly supplying a gun to a criminal is a felony. But the way that the media makes it sound as if this is yet another loophole, as if somehow criminals can get guns “legally.” But kudos to The San Diego Union-Tribune for setting this record straight. The paper is reporting about a new ad campaign that points out that buying a gun for a criminal is crime.
“The message targets “straw buyers” — people who can pass a federal background check and use their good name to buy a gun for someone prohibited by law from possessing one. People not allowed to have guns include convicted felons, illegal immigrants, people dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, minors and those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.”
Now if the rest of the mainstream media could report on this as well, maybe it would put to bed this “straw purchase” story already.
Editorial From The Toledo Blade Presents Facts and Then Completely Ignores Them
Millions of people enjoy a beer after work. A few of those people over indulge and get behind the wheel and kill someone in a drunk driving related accident. So we should make it harder for anyone to buy a beer. Sounds harsh right? But that’s essentially what the editors of The Toledo Blade have said… if you take out beer and insert guns. In a recent editorial the paper states the facts up front:
“EVERY year, hundreds of thousands of people attend gun shows across the United States. Most buyers and sellers are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who enjoy hunting, shooting, or just collecting firearms.” Read more
New Jersey Man Sentenced for Gun Trafficking
This week a 23-year old man in New Jersey was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for using a straw buyer in Georgia to purchase handguns. We’re reporting on this because the point is clear, straw purchases are far from easy to make and it is very easy to get caught! Both the man and his girlfriend were found when they falsified federal forms, and stating that the guns were for the girlfriend’s use. Again, all this is worth mentioning because guns aren’t so easy to get through straw purchases, and the reporting of this incident highlights that there is always a paper trail. So we ask again, why does the mainstream media spend so much time reporting on the so-called dangers of straw purchases and not enough on how people are so easily caught when doing so?
