Gun-Control Fear-Mongering Again!

I recently read an op-ed by Martin Gottlieb entitled "In wake of conceal/carry, new stats worth a look" wherein the writer tries to paint concealed handgun license-holders as one breath away from committing a killing spree. As is usual with the establishment media, Gottlieb uses arguments based on the same tired anti-gun themes and relies on the long-discredited Violence Policy Center (VPC) for "facts" on gun control and gun violence. This is like the three little pigs relying on the wolf for learning the best way to build a wolf-proof house.

For example, Gottlieb starts by quoting a biased Associated Press (AP) article: "In the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions". A more accurate statement would be, "In the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws restoring the Constitutionally-guaranteed human right of self-defense. Doing so in all states and at the federal level is long overdue".

Gottlieb's use of "statistics" from the VPC is typical of lazy journalism. He apparently is unwilling to check those facts. Were he to do so, he would learn that concealed firearm permit holders are generally commit less crimes than do the population in general (Gun Facts, pages 49-54). In fact, they are statistically less likely to commit crimes than police officers! Overall, in Gottlieb's home state of Ohio, less than one half of one percent of licenses have been revoked for any reason - a staggering small number which is at the fingertips of any journalist willing to properly research the issue. Gottlieb never mentions it because the number shows that the system is working and that license-holders are truly honest law-abiding citizens.

One of the favorite arguments of the anti-gun crowd goes like this: "Gun laws are so lax that there is nothing to stop me from going down and buying a gun and a backpack full of ammo, then shooting up a school or a mall or a restaurant." Of course, sane people would never consider doing such a thing, but it certainly seems to be a fantasy for anti-gun activists. In making that statement, gun control advocates reveal their own propensity toward violence and lawlessness. You see, the vast majority of gun owners never consider shooting up schools. Only criminals and gun-control advocates think that way. Criminals and crazy people think of shooting up schools, because they are, well, criminals and crazy people. Gun control advocates think that way because they are, well, crazy people who don't trust themselves to not become criminals. They wrongly assume that the rest of us have the same criminal propensities as they do.

It is sad that many anti-gun people project their own violent fantasies on the rest of us and therefore feel obliged to limit the freedom of us all.

Recommended reading:

Gun Facts (free!)

Hickock45 on the importance of reasonable and effective gun control: