AP and WaPo See End of “One-Gun-A-Month” as Opening Haven for Gun Runners
Review the Second Amendment of the Constitution and it says nothing along the lines of “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Buy Just One Gun A Month,” and yet that law has been on the books in Virginia for a while. Now that it is on the verge of being repealed, The Associated Press via The Washington Post noted this week:
A law Virginia passed a generation ago to end the states’ reputation as a haven for gun runners is on the verge of being repealed.
The story later offered this passage:
The bills to abolish the one-handgun-per-month law would end one of the legacy laws of former Gov. Doug Wilder. The Democratic governor pushed for it after Virginia became a prime supplier of guns used in crimes in major East Coast cities.
What isn’t noted is whether this was ever actually proven to be true, or did the story note that gun crime had not fallen as a result of the one-gun-per-month restriction, which only seemed to effect law-abiding citizens in Virginia –but of course those are facts that get in the way of anti-gun bias in reporting.
Gun Safety “Daunting” Claims WDBJ
How does WEDJ7.com see the issue of control gun? In a word: “daunting.” This is how the news site reported the issue in a piece on Virginia gun control. The story began with this passage:
The Virginia Center for Public Safety plans a vigil for victims of gun violence Monday at the state Capitol. Members also will seek the ear of state legislators to encourage them to toughen the state’s gun laws.
Their task is daunting. Republicans took control of the Senate and strengthened their majority in the House of Delegates in last fall’s election, improving the chances of a conservative agenda that will include a number of bills favored by gun-rights supporters.
This is a disgraceful example of mainstream media bias. It not only plays politics, blaming Republicans for the gun laws, but implies that gun violence is a political issue in the process!
NRA News: Virginia Republicans to Push Pro-Gun Laws
Cam Edwards talks to Dave Adams from the Virginia Shooting Sports Association
USA Today: Gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights
This week USA Today offered an editorial titled, “Gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights,” and noted:
Different states have different rules for carrying concealed handguns, and for good reason. Rules that make sense in largely rural Western states such as Montana or Wyoming can make much less sense in more urban states such as New York and New Jersey, where legislators have made it harder to get a carry permit than it is out West.
There are several problems with this line of thinking,not the least bit of which is why should those in urban states have their Second Amendment rights reduced? Didn’t the Supreme Court rule that communities cannot restrict those rights? Shouldn’t hunters, sport shooters and gun collectors be able to obtain the same firearms as those in other states? Again, restrictive laws only punish the law-abiding and don’t do the least bit to deter criminals.
But there is one other point we’d like to bring out front and center. Recently New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attempted to chart the course of legislation in Virginia, and in the past his group Mayors Against Illegal Guns attempted to prove that gun shows in other states allow for straw purchases. Where is the media outrage at these facts?
This is the problem with the anti-gun line. It calls for states’ rights when it suits the issue, but throws it out the window when it is the least bit inconvenient!
NY Daily News Blames Virginia for NYC’s Gun Problem
This week The New York Daily News essentially acted as a puppet for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and suggested that Virginia’s gun laws are a problem. In a story titled, “Bloomberg’s anti-gun candidates win in VA. But control measures could be repealed,” the paper reported:
All six anti-gun Virginia State Senate candidates backed by Mayor Bloomberg won — but it still may soon be easier for firearms to travel from Old Dominion to the city’s streets.
The story added:
Virginia already exports more guns than any other state to New York City — and that flood of firearms may become a tsunami, one of Bloomberg’s top advisers said.
Where is the source on this beyond Bloomberg’s own advisors? And why isn’t it noted that New York City has extremely strict gun laws. Even if Virginia dries up as a source – which we frankly don’t believe it to be – won’t criminals turn elsewhere?
And while thousands of people protest the power of the so-called one percent where is the outrage that a lone billionaire in New York City can help determine elections in another state? Should the whole country adopt New York City’s strict gun control policies just because it is what Bloomberg, a billionaire, wants and demands? How is this fair to the 99 percent we ask?
Virginia Citizens Defense League: Virginia VCDLPAC House of Delegates Candidate Endorsements
Virginia Citizens Defense League:
Dear Gun Virginia Owner:
Virginia’s gun owners need to keep a pro-gun state house in 2012. Read more
AP via WaPo Throws Out Biased Headline about Concealed Carry
Instead of suggesting it is a “Guns Rights” group, the AP via The Washington Post offered this headline, which seems to put a negative spin on it:
“Pro-gun group plans demonstrations protesting efforts to ban concealed weapons on Va campuses.”
Imagine if the Occupy Wall Street protests had so much negativity in the headline. The choice of words, notably “pro-gun” instead of “gun rights” suggests that these people might be extremists. Why was it necessary to describe the Virginia Citizens Defense League in such a way, except as to discredit them?
Virginia Citizens Defense League Gun Shows And Events
Virginia Citizens Defense League:
The Virginia Citizens Defense League thanks the following member-activists who generously gave of their time to advance and help defend the rights of their fellow gun owners by working our recruiting and information booths at gun shows and events around the state. Read more
Progressive Examiner: “Too soon to draw conclusions”
When it comes to gun control, the media and bloggers like to point to the facts when it suits them – even if the information is erroneous, such as the 90 percent figure widely cited when it comes to the guns flowing to Mexico.
But what about when the facts are counter the opinion that the bloggers would like? Case in point, The Richmond Progressive Examiner offered this headline: “Gun related incidents down in 2010-2011: too soon to draw conclusions?”
However, Daniel Carawan, the writer of this piece did offer an interesting take for a “progressive,” noting:
“For my own part, I’ve always felt that America’s two-faced attitude towards guns is somewhat misplaced. For example, why not teach kids how to use firearms responsibly to begin with? Don’t Americans have a constitutional right to bear them? Perhaps a greater sense of the magnitude of damage that can be done by firearms will prevent even more gun related crimes.”
This is a good point, but the problem is that many other progressives would simply be content with banning guns rather than teaching responsibility. Many liberals don’t even want their children to play with toy guns or action figures, so in a way this makes guns more dangerous. They become a mystery. The result is that guns become all the more dangerous.
Media Mostly Ignores Gun Crime Drops in Virginia Bars and Restaurants
The Richmond Times-Dispatch offered a story this past weekend, and the news was not really all that surprising. What is more surprising is that the media seems to ignore it, possibly because they predicted the opposite. The paper offered this reporting:
“Virginia’s bars and restaurants did not turn into shooting galleries as some had feared during the first year of a new state law that allows patrons with permits to carry concealed guns into alcohol-serving businesses, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis found.”
Not only did the bars not turn into shooting galleries, but crime was in fact down as the paper notes:
“The number of major crimes involving firearms at bars and restaurants statewide declined 5.2 percent from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, compared with the fiscal year before the law went into effect, according to crime data compiled by Virginia State Police at the newspaper’s request.”
The question is whether this story will continue to be ignored? We suspect that if this had been the opposite and crime increased the media would have been all over this story.
