WaPo Letter to the Editor is as Uninformed as Usual Editorials
Typically we don’t report on “letters to the editor,” but the recent letter from Eliot L. Engel to the editors of The Washington Post is no ordinary letter. Rep. Engel (D-N.Y.) is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcomittee on the Western Hemisphere, so it is essential that readers – and more importantly all voters – know his stance. Read more
Paul Helmke Huffs and Puffs and Cites WaPo
Need any further proof that you can’t trust the “news” coming from The Washington Post? Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, referenced the same WaPo editorial that we called out this week in his column for the Huffington Post. Read more
WaPo Calls for Scrapping the ATF Reform and Firearms Modernization Act
In an editorial this week The Washington Post called for the bill, formally known as the ATF Reform and Firearms Modernization Act, to be “rewritten or scrapped altogether.” The paper argues that this act would make it impossible for the ATF to respond to gun dealers who break the law.
But we have to question if this is close to an accurate opinion. For one thing WaPo has remained one of the few mainstream media voices that continues to claim, “80 percent of guns used by Mexican cartels come from the United States.” This number has long been debunked, but WaPo cites it to make their case. Furthermore, WaPo’s editors note that the staunch anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns is also opposed to the bill. If the bill is distained by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino then we know it deserves another look.
Missoula News Fires Back at WaPo
The Missoula News offered a short, but in some ways sweet, blog post aimed back at the coverage from The Washington Post over “the truth about gun-toting soccer moms in Montana.” Do we see a showdown coming? We can only hope!
WaPo Still Claims 80 Percent of Mexican Guns Come From the United States
Do the editors at The Washington Post think that if they say something enough times that it will make it true? While much of the mainstream media has finally accepted the fact that it is a bold face lie that “80 percent of guns used by Mexican cartels come from the United States,” as recently as last weekend WaPo again cited those numbers in an editorial.
In a piece titled “The U.S. is turning away from Mexico’s failing drug war,” dated Saturday, August 14, the editors offer this take:
“Mexican authorities have seized more than 84,000 weapons, including thousands of high-powered assault rifles, grenades and other military-caliber equipment. More than 80 percent of the guns whose provenance could be traced came from the United States.” Read more
WaPo Offers Insulting Story of Gun Owners “Out West”
In a news story that has the tinges of an editorial The Washington Post takes straight aim at what it calls “the gun culture of the American West.” Of course, as the paper often fails to mask its anti-gun bias, should we be the least bit surprised by its harsh take on the issue of gun rights?
For example the paper offers commentary from D.C. council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) who challenges the McCain-Tester bill, regarding more uniform gun laws nationwide. Instead of seeing how this issue would affect law-abiding gun owners, Mendelson and the Post instead look at the worst aspects of gun culture:
“The law shows a disregard for the realities of the District, where guns mean drive-bys, holdups and intimidation more than sport, tradition and the American way.”
But these realities exist already, so how would this change if law-abiding citizens had the right to own and carry a firearm? We think it would change, and not in a bad way. The criminals already clearly ignore the law, and those situations of drive-bys, holdups and intimidation might go away if law-abiding citizens didn’t have to live in fear from armed thugs.
WaPo Still Somehow Blames the United States for Mexican Cartel Woes
For The Washington Post David Ignatius writes, “how can it be possible that after 18 months in office, President Obama still has not appointed a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.” Ignatius then goes on to write this statement:
“Mexico is reeling from a drug-cartel insurgency that is armed mainly with weapons acquired in the United States.” Read more
WaPo Cites 80 Percent Figure Long After it Was Debunked
Do the editors at The Washington Post actually believe what they write or will they use false numbers just to prove a point? We know the paper is vehemently anti-gun, but is it creditable to quote a figure that most of the mainstream media has acknowledge is a made up number? In an editorial titled “U.S. falls short in helping Mexico end its drug war,” deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl quotes the “old 80 percent of guns come from the United States.” Hasn’t this number been debunked enough for Mr. Diehl? Apparently not. Read more
WaPo Offers Five Myths About Gun Control
Normally we find that The Washington Post has a line that is strictly anti-gun, and while we still think the in-house editors have their own bias, the paper did run an op-ed piece co-authored by Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig that takes aim at gun control. The piece isn’t exactly anti-gun control however, and looks at myths on both sides. But at least the authors attempt to be balanced in their arguments.
Washington Post: Five myths about gun control
WaPo Tells Obama to Listen to Calderon
This week The Washington Post showed its anti-gun bias in an editorial. We’re not surprised by the message of course, but the paper played loose with the facts. No one has gone out to question Mexican President Felipe Calderon when he suggests that 80 percent of the 75,000 seized guns have come from the United States? If another world leader offered that 80 percent of bubble gum in Japan comes from the United States someone in the media would question it, right? But when Calderon speaks, the mainstream media listens.
Worse, WaPo agrees and uses his numbers in an editorial:
“Mr. Calderón, who has been in Washington for a state visit, made a powerful case. Over the past three years, Mexican authorities have seized some 75,000 weapons used in crimes; more than 80 percent of those they were able to trace came from the United States. Mr. Calderón argued that the surge in violent, cartel-related crimes coincided with the 2004 repeal of the U.S. assault weapons ban.”
This violent crime has increased also as the United States has worked to toughen up our borders and stop the flow of drugs as well as illegal immigrants. This followed the 9/11 attacks on our country. Maybe Calderon and the MSM should suggest we just loosen things at the border instead? The violence increased as it became harder for the cartels to do business, but Calderon blames American firepower for the war he’s facing at home.
As we’ve previously noted at FirearmsTruth, many (even most) of the guns seized are military grade with a large number of AK-47s being in the mix. Note to the MSM… the AK-47, whilst a popular weapon, is not made in America. It is an import, and even if the United States is a middleman, stopping it here won’t stop the flow to Mexico.
During the Cold War, the Soviets and Chinese were very good at getting guns in the hands of insurgents. Drug dealers may not be fighting for some political agenda, but they’re fighting and this makes them a type of insurgent. Don’t you think they’ll still get guns, whether they come from the United States.
So no, WaPo… we should not listen to a foreign leader dictate terms to us! Calderon should get his own house in order by going after the drug cartels.
