Nine Conservative Media Myths About Proposals To Strengthen Gun Laws
Media figures have smeared the Obama administration and promoted myths and falsehoods about gun policy in the days leading up to today's release of the White House Task Force's recommendations to reduce gun violence.As usual conservatives have to lie to make their point. The issue is not even about banning guns, it is about sensible gun regulation.
Is any attempt to regulate firearms a violation of the Second Amendment?
Is it true that weaker gun laws lead to lower crime rates?
Does the public support gun violence prevention measures?
Does the NRA have the ability to remove from office politicians who support stronger gun laws?
Have any proposals been put forward which would result in federal gun confiscation?
Are guns that are commonly called assault weapons more dangerous than other firearms?
Are sellers at gun shows required to perform a background check on buyers?
Would closing the private sales loophole prevent private citizens from selling firearms?
Has the Obama administration proposed using an executive order to outlaw certain firearms?
MYTH: All Gun Violence Prevention Proposals Are Infringements On The Second Amendment
Fox News Host Megyn Kelly: The Second Amendment "Was Meant To Prevent Exactly This Kind Of Thing Where Lawmakers Are Trying To Mess With Somebody's Firearm Ownership." On the January 10 edition of Fox News' America Live, Kelly said that "The Second Amendment was meant to stop the government from interfering with an individual's right to bear arms. It was meant to prevent exactly this kind of thing, where lawmakers are trying to mess with somebody's firearm ownership, but the people on the other side say that the founders never could have envisioned a country in which we have 300 million guns and high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic weapons." [America Live, 1/10/13]
Kelly: New Gun Laws Won't Gain Support Since Most Americans Want "A Robust Interpretation Of The Second Amendment." During the January 9 edition of America Live on Fox News, Kelly suggested proposals to reduce gun violence "crack down on gun rights" and are irreconcilable with the view that "the majority of this country wants a robust interpretation of the Second Amendment."
KELLY: How could they get broad national support on any legislation that cracks down on gun rights? I mean the majority of this country wants a robust interpretation of the Second Amendment. And you know those polls moved around a little bit in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting, but this is a gun loving country. And there's just a real question about whether in today's day and age they could push through any significant curtailment of gun rights. [America Live, 1/9/13]
FACT: The Supreme Court Says Guns Can Be Regulated In A Manner Consistent With The Second Amendment
Highest Court Reaffirmed That Regulation Of Firearms Is Permissible Under The Second Amendment In Landmark 2008 Case. In the 2008 Supreme Court case, District Of Columbia v. Heller, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority that the Second Amendment is "not unlimited" as "commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose." Justice Scalia continued:
[N]othing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. [United States v.] Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those "in common use at the time." We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of "dangerous and unusual weapons." [District of Columbia v. Heller, 6/26/08, via Google Scholar]
MYTH: Gun Violence Prevention Proposals Are Ineffective Because More Guns Equal Less Crime
Ann Coulter Pushes "Gun Researcher" John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime" Thesis On Hannity. From the January 3 edition of Hannity on Fox News:
ANN COULTER: You want to cut down on public shootings? I mean there's been one thorough examination of public multiple victim shootings in this country in all 50 states from 1977 to 1999, it was updated in 1999 by William Landis at University of Chicago, John Lott, then at Yale University, they looked at death penalty, they looked at extra penalties for committing a crime with a gun. The one public policy that had an effect that reduced the incidence of these shootings and the number of causalities was concealed carry permits. That was the one policy. If you care about children dying, if you care about innocent victims, you should be in favor of concealed carry. [Hannity, 1/3/13]
In The Wake Of The Mass Shooting In Newtown, Connecticut, John Lott Appeared On Television To Argue Against Further Firearms Restrictions. [Media Matters, 12/17/12]
Fact: "More Guns, Less Crime" Author Has Been Descredited
Johns Hopkins Center For Gun Policy And Research: Lott's Thesis Has "Serious Flaws," Expanding Concealed Carry Laws Likely Increases Aggravated Assaults. An October 25 report from the Center noted that a panel of experts from the National Council of Research and other experts found Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime" thesis to have "serious flaws":
A large body of research has been conducted to investigate the effect of RTC [Right To Carry] laws on violence. Most notably, research led by John Lott, Jr. suggests that RTC laws have led to significant reductions in violent crime. But the research showing crime-reducing effects of RTC laws, including Lott's, has been carefully reviewed by a National Council of Research panel of experts, and others, and has been found to have serious flaws. The most consistent finding across studies which correct for these flaws is that RTC laws are associated with an increase in aggravated assaults. Using various statistical methods, estimates range from a one to nine percent increase in aggravated assaults as a result of RTC laws. [Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, October 2012]
Indiana GOP Lets Glenn Beck Set Legislative Agenda: Introduces Bill To Fight U.N. Conspiracy Theory
You’d be forgiven for having not heard of Agenda 21. Developed at a summit in Brazil in 1992 with support from President George H.W. Bush, Agenda 21 is a series of non-binding UN recommendations for ensuring that economic growth does not undermine the environment. The agreement aims to encourage “international cooperation to accelerate sustainable development in developing countries” through voluntary actions by UN member-states. You can read the full, innocuous text here.If conservatives stopped being paranoid fools and zealots, and started basing their opinions on facts than plastic patriots like Beck would have to find a job and do real work to make a living.
But right-wing Republicans have somehow come to believe that Agenda 21 contains a secret, nefarious plot to destroy American life and society as we know it, birthing a cottage industry devoted to spreading misinformation about the UN proposal. The most recent evidence of this movement’s reach is a proposal by two Indiana lawmakers to ban the implementation of any Agenda 21-inspired initiatives in the state. The Republican state legislators, Rep. Tim Neese and Sen. Dennis Kruse, proposed laws prohibiting the implementation of Agenda-21 inside Indiana. Neese worried that the document — which has no legal power to reshape American law — was a “mandate” that threatened his freedom:
