Katie Couric Continues the Tradition of Gun Control Activist's Lies

One thing I've realized while doing research for this blog is that gun control activists lie because they can't win on facts.

In fact, Katie Couric just followed that tradition by lying in a documentary she recently aired called "Under the Gun".  In a round table discussion with a panel of gun rights advocates, Couric asked "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?".  In the aired version, that question is followed by 9 seconds of silence with edited-in video clips of the panel looking perplexed or, as some say, stupid.  However, the real version -- that was edited out -- showed thoughtful responses to the question by the panel members.  But, like most gun control activists, they don't want "thoughtful" or realistic anything regarding gun control.

Take the gun show loophole that Hillary Clinton decries constantly.  There is none.  What she calls the gun show loophole is the fact that any private citizen, per the Brady Bill, can transfer the possession of a firearm to another private party without a background check.  That was an intentional part of the law and not a loophole.   She also claims that 40% of guns sold at gun shows and on the internet are sold without background checks.   There isn't a single study or report that supports that claim.  That statistic is a perversion of a 1994 telephone survey that asked the respondents if they bought their gun from a licensed dealer.  It had nothing to do with background checks because they didn't even exist until 4 years later in 1998. 

A group that calls itself Handgun Control, Inc. claims that 25 to 50 percent of vendors at gun shows don't have federal firearm licenses.  That fact is only true when it includes the  vendors that are not selling guns at the show.  Like those selling hot dogs, hats, t-shirts etc.

Then, Denver congresswoman Diana DeGette said that 70 percent of guns used in crimes come from gun shows.  This is another lie.  The Department of Justice asked 18,000 prison inmates what was the source of the gun they possessed at the time of their arrest.  Only 7-tenths of one percent said it came from a gun show.  The highest response by almost 40% was the "Streets".

Here's the truth in just one graph:

Essentially, gun-related homicides have fallen, while the number of guns owned has risen since 1993. Almost proportionately.  In addition, and not shown on the graph, is the fact that non-fatal gun violence has fallen 68% over the same period.  Also understand that 80% of all crimes are gang related.  Yet, gun control advocates seem to think that it is the average gun owners that are the problem.

Simply, I tune out any talk of gun control because it is almost always based on lies.  Also, our energies would be better focused on gang control and not gun control.

References:

Katie Couric slammed for 'deceptive' documentary about gun rights: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/05/26/katie-couric-slammed-for-deceptive-documentary-about-gun-rights.html

Katie Couric Decried ‘Edited’ Planned Parenthood Footage, Then Doctored A Gun Owner Interview: http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/26/katie-couric-decried-edited-planned-parenthood-footage-then-doctored-a-gun-owner-interview/

The Facts About Gun Shows: http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/facts-about-gun-shows

Fact Check: Clinton’s claim that 40 percent of guns are sold at gun shows and over the Internet: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/10/16/clintons-claim-that-40-percent-of-guns-are-sold-at-gun-shows-and-over-the-internet/

Firearm Use by Offenders: http://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fuo.pdf

Source of Graph: https://www.aei.org/publication/chart-of-the-day-more-guns-less-gun-violence-between-1993-and-2013/

Gangs Blamed for 80 Percent of U.S. Crimes: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/FedCrimes/story?id=6773423&page=1

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Why Charleston Shouldn't Have Happened and Why It Did

Whenever there is a mass killing of innocents by some deranged person,  America tries to search its soul as to why it happened.

In the case of Dylann Roof, it appears that all the signs were there. Many things in his life were pointing to what ultimately culminated in the senseless slaughter of 9 people at worship. So why were we unable to do anything about it? Because, in America, you can't involuntarily commit someone for mental illness unless they have already demonstrated that they are a danger to either themselves or others.  Nor, can you imprison someone solely on the basis of what they say or how they dress or what symbols or tattoos they adorn themselves with.  The courts have ruled that even the display of one of the most vile symbols, the swastika, is protected by free speech. For these reasons, Roof was free to roam the streets.

As far as the gun control issue, it probably wouldn't have stopped Dylann from doing what he did.  Statistics have shown that 89% of the juveniles in our correctional systems owned a gun or guns at some point before prison. All of which were illegally obtained.  Only 15% of inmates in our Federal prisons said they purchased guns legally. Also, we can't legislate a moron father who hands his mentally ill, druggy son, a weapon for his birthday. Stupidity in this country -- as bad as this was -- is still not a crime.  Perhaps, however, we should consider finding adults guilty of associated murder charges when a gun, they knowingly give their child, is used in a murder.

Like it or not, there are more Charlestons in this country's future.  Gun control or not. The weapon could have just as easily been a pressure cooker bomb and not a gun. Going all the way back to the killing of Abel by Cain, the kind of hate that was exhibited in that Charleston church has been and will always be with us.  Jews, like Blacks, have been killed out of hatred.  Christians are being slain by the hundreds by radical Muslims.  Gays, too, especially by Muslims, have been the target of slaughter, and even Arabs slaughter each other because one might be a Sunni versus a Shiite.

I believe that the increase in the kind of Charleston-like crimes is because of the breakdown of the family unit. Too many single-parent families and the increasing rejection of religion.  But, too, we are a country that has been desensitized to violence by violent video games, movies, and TV shows. 

References:

Committing a mentally ill adult is complex: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/07/mental-illness-civil-commitment/1814301/

The Constitutional Protection of the Swastika: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1142331?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

The legal loophole that allowed Dylann Roof to get a gun: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/06/18/the-legal-loophole-that-allowed-dylann-roof-to-get-a-gun/

Charleston Massacre: Mental Illness Common Thread for Mass Shootings: http://www.newsweek.com/charleston-massacre-mental-illness-common-thread-mass-shootings-344789

Illegal Guns Statistics Overview: http://gun.laws.com/illegal-guns/illegal-guns-statistics