The gun prohibition lobby is pulling out all the stops in its battle to bamboozle the public with hysteria-driven arguments against long-needed gun law reform and its stubborn defense of so-called “gun-free school zones.”
According to the Washington Post, a new “white paper” by a senior official with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has raised eyebrows and blood pressures among anti-gunners. The story quoted Chelsea Parsons, vice president of guns and crime policy at the Center for American Progress, described by the newspaper as “a liberal think tank.”
“This white paper offers a disturbing series of giveaways to the gun industry that would weaken regulatory oversight of the gun industry without adequate consideration of the impact on public safety,” according to Parsons.
However, writing for The New American, author Bob Adelmann had this observation:
“A careful study of the paper, however, reveals a refreshing view of the new reality extant in Washington and reflected by the resurgence of interest in and support of the Second Amendment.”
The White Paper, authored by ATF Associate Deputy Director Ronald Turk, includes recommendations for reviewing its “sporting purpose” philosophy, and relaxing regulations for silencers (aka “suppressors”). This has the gun prohibition lobby spitting nails.
The ATF has long been the target of disdain in the firearms community, and among some on Capitol Hill. That disdain reached a boiling point at the height of the Congressional investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, the Obama administration scandal that put some 2,000 guns into the hands of Mexican criminals. That was an operation that was described by one ATF agent during testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as “a perfect storm of idiocy.”
The demonization campaign is being waged via email blasts from anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. On Tuesday, Everytown criticized newly-sworn Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for suggesting that guns might have a place in schools, using as an example a school in Wapiti, Wyoming, a tiny spot on the map west of Cody, where a fence has been built to keep bears out. A story in The Guardian quoted anti-gun Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who tweeted that he was “shaken to the core” by DeVos’ answer during a confirmation hearing regarding guns in schools.
Has Murphy ever been to Wapiti, to see the fence around the school to protect children from grizzly bears? Liberty Park Press has seen that school, and the fence. It’s not a joke to the people who live in that community.
But in the Everytown email, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, writes, “DeVos said she is perfectly fine with Trump’s proposal to force guns into our schools, and right now Congress is considering legislation that would do just that.” Trump has never proposed “forcing” guns into schools. His proposal is to do away with deceptive “gun-free school zones” that have never prevented a school shooting, but instead created risk-free environments for crazy people or angry students.
In Washington State, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility circulated its own email blast that asserted, “Every year in Washington, 7OO people lose their lives to gun violence.” This is deceptive at best, because AGR knows that about 80 percent of the firearms-related deaths in Washington are suicides, not the result of some violent criminal act, as their message implies.
All of this suggests that the gun prohibition lobby is getting desperate. With Donald Trump in the White House and Second Amendment-friendly Republicans controlling Congress, anti-gunners must resort to deceptive rhetoric to push their agenda, which is hardly a new strategy.
They have turned their attention to state legislatures and public ballot initiatives to accomplish their agenda goals.
Related:
Dilemma in Washington State: Crime Stats Don’t Support Gun Bills
BREAKING: House Strikes Down Obama’s Mental Health Gun Law
ATF Proposes Sweeping Rollback Of Existing Gun Laws
Is Washington AG Selective About Constitutional Rights to Protect?
