Trotting Out the Old Warhorse
It cost Democrats elections in 1996, 1998, and 2000, maybe even some in 2002, but sometimes an old-guard leftist like Dan Carpenter of the Indianapolis Star can't resist trumpeting a discredited cause. In his November 20 op-ed, Armed for Trouble, Dan goes over the recent public awareness campaigns meant to curb violence in the Indianapolis area. This may be the Midwest, but Indianapolis is still a metropolitan area of over 1,000,000 people and amazingly that means there's crime. We have gun violence just like other parts of the nation, and like most of the rest of the nation, it's related to gangs mostly mixed up in drugs and drug trafficking.
Does Dan discuss that? Does Dan discuss why we have gun violence in Indianapolis, like most major U.S. cities? Well, although he flippantly points out the concerns of others (drugs, unemployment, education failure, values loss, etc.), his main concern is the tired old canard that there's just too many guns available. He includes a couple of obliging quotes from the city's prosecutor, a RINO in his own right regarding gun rights, but trots out the old Clintonian/Reno talking points of the mid to late 90's.
Yet the so-called gun show loophole, which allows handgun purchases without background checks, is just one feature of a state with few peers when it comes to ease of obtaining and carrying lethal firepower.
No assault weapons ban. No one-handgun-a-month limit to curb straw purchases for criminals. No restrictions on Saturday Night Specials. No requirement that guns be sold with child-safety locks.
On and on. No wonder the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives Indiana a D grade for protection of its citizens from bullets. No wonder the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation said in a 2003 report drawn from federal records that guns bought in Indiana were used in more gun crimes than those obtained anywhere else in America, Wild West of the Western world.
Boy, really nailed the head on it there, Dan. Most of the country doesn't have these laws and in general even he admits crime nationally is on a downturn. Did the assault weapons ban do anything? Even the DOJ says no. Do all those ridiculous laws like one handgun purchase a month or bans on cheap, affordable guns or child safety lock laws reduce crime? Even the CDC, not exactly a gun-loving organization said no...TWICE. And the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly known as Handgun Control Leading the Way to a Better Socialist Utopia where People Like Us Are in Charge - You can see why they changed the name) as a source? Quoting a major left-leaning heavily agenda-driven lobby-group like Handgun Control on gun issues is like quoting Bill Clinton on sexism in America. You're not going to get a truthful, useful answer.
Perhaps Dan thought it had been a year since the last election and that the proles might be have forgotten all the retorts to these nonsensical ideas people like John Lott and Gary Kleck have done. Well, no Dan, most of us haven't forgotten, and you're still the same tired old leftist soldier trotting out the same tired old war horse. Please do us all a favor and send that old nag to the glue factory already.
It cost Democrats elections in 1996, 1998, and 2000, maybe even some in 2002, but sometimes an old-guard leftist like Dan Carpenter of the Indianapolis Star can't resist trumpeting a discredited cause. In his November 20 op-ed, Armed for Trouble, Dan goes over the recent public awareness campaigns meant to curb violence in the Indianapolis area. This may be the Midwest, but Indianapolis is still a metropolitan area of over 1,000,000 people and amazingly that means there's crime. We have gun violence just like other parts of the nation, and like most of the rest of the nation, it's related to gangs mostly mixed up in drugs and drug trafficking.
Does Dan discuss that? Does Dan discuss why we have gun violence in Indianapolis, like most major U.S. cities? Well, although he flippantly points out the concerns of others (drugs, unemployment, education failure, values loss, etc.), his main concern is the tired old canard that there's just too many guns available. He includes a couple of obliging quotes from the city's prosecutor, a RINO in his own right regarding gun rights, but trots out the old Clintonian/Reno talking points of the mid to late 90's.
Yet the so-called gun show loophole, which allows handgun purchases without background checks, is just one feature of a state with few peers when it comes to ease of obtaining and carrying lethal firepower.
No assault weapons ban. No one-handgun-a-month limit to curb straw purchases for criminals. No restrictions on Saturday Night Specials. No requirement that guns be sold with child-safety locks.
On and on. No wonder the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives Indiana a D grade for protection of its citizens from bullets. No wonder the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation said in a 2003 report drawn from federal records that guns bought in Indiana were used in more gun crimes than those obtained anywhere else in America, Wild West of the Western world.
Boy, really nailed the head on it there, Dan. Most of the country doesn't have these laws and in general even he admits crime nationally is on a downturn. Did the assault weapons ban do anything? Even the DOJ says no. Do all those ridiculous laws like one handgun purchase a month or bans on cheap, affordable guns or child safety lock laws reduce crime? Even the CDC, not exactly a gun-loving organization said no...TWICE. And the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly known as Handgun Control Leading the Way to a Better Socialist Utopia where People Like Us Are in Charge - You can see why they changed the name) as a source? Quoting a major left-leaning heavily agenda-driven lobby-group like Handgun Control on gun issues is like quoting Bill Clinton on sexism in America. You're not going to get a truthful, useful answer.
Perhaps Dan thought it had been a year since the last election and that the proles might be have forgotten all the retorts to these nonsensical ideas people like John Lott and Gary Kleck have done. Well, no Dan, most of us haven't forgotten, and you're still the same tired old leftist soldier trotting out the same tired old war horse. Please do us all a favor and send that old nag to the glue factory already.
posted by Rob Beck | 11:13 PM
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