Joseph Gunderson - October 26, 2021 at 09:14AM
Guys and gals, we knew it would happen sooner or later, and here it is. The media has finally taken notice of a fact long known to those of us with fully functioning brains: handguns are used far more often to commit crimes, namely murder, than ARs. But where this has commonly come up in the context of, "ARs shouldn't be a problem. Handguns are used way more to do harm, and you don't seem to have a problem with them." Well, the left has finally decided that they do, in fact, have a problem with them, too, so they just want them all.
In a piece written by Emily Shapiro at ABC, heartstrings are pulled to push the usual gun control garbage. They can never present just facts because this might require acknowledging the realities of gun ownership in totality—but this would undercut the argument. So, instead, Shapiro trots out the tragic story of a young boy of 6 years being callously murdered by his stepfather.
There's absolutely no doubt that this is horrifying. I don't know a single person who would say otherwise. But if this is the argument—young boy killed with pistol, so all pistols are bad, now—are we going to be cutting our steaks with spoons in the near future?
After she has the tears welling up in your eyes, she rolls out the statistics.
"While semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 are a major flashpoint in the gun control debate and are often the focus of attention following mass shootings, there are only about 20 million assault rifles in the United States, a fraction of the estimated 400 million guns in the country."
One can assume that the media has succeeded in convincing enough Americans that AR-style firearms are literal tools of Satan, so it's safe to start looking to grab other guns, too. After all, there are so many other types of guns.
"Handguns were used in 62% of the nation's gun murders […] in 2019 […]"
"Of the 10,258 gun murders in the U.S. in 2019, handguns were used in 6,368 of them […]
Sure. But, can Ms. Shapiro please inform the class as to how many times handguns were used in self-defense or to stop a felony in progress? But, again, this is the side of gun ownership the left and the media (but I repeat myself) loathe to acknowledge. It's far easier—and politically advantageous—to throw these kinds of statistics on a page and scream.
ARs are not immune from criticism here, either. Shapiro makes a point to include them, as well.
"Although handguns are involved in most shooting deaths, the use of semi-automatic rifles is climbing, said Louis Klarevas, a research professor at Teachers College, Columbia University who specializes in gun violence and safety. In the 1980s, less than 20% of gun massacres (which he counts as six or more victims killed) involved assault weapons, according to a report he issued as an expert witness in a California court case over banning assault weapons. In the last three years, 67% of gun massacres with six or more deaths were with assault weapons, Klarevas' 2020 report said."
And Shapiro goes even another step further: "Our background check is woefully inadequate."
Yes, handguns are bad, ARs are terrible, and now, we can't even trust background checks, so we probably should have the ability to buy them. My friends, we've been teetering on the very edge of the slippery slope for years, and we've started slipping down. "Assault rifles/weapons" may have been the focal point of the past, but the overall sentiment surrounding guns in general is changing, and it's only a matter of time before there are serious calls and attempts to take your firearms from you. After all, "no constitutional amendment is absolute".
Get your content free from Big Tech's filter. Bookmark this website and sign up for our newsletter!
from Steven Crowder Says
