CONSISTENTLY WRONG: Anti-gun types have a TOTAL ABSENCE OF CREDIBILITY

by John Naese

(GunsSaveLife.com) – Don’t they ever get tired of being wrong all the time?  Gun control activists, anti-gun politicians, and their sycophants in the media have been making dire predictions, using over-the-top rhetoric, and making emotion-laden charges and insults against gun owners for decades now.  The real world, however, has moved in the opposite direction.

All of the major arguments made by the gun controllers have been proven in real-world experience to be false.  Why would anyone, now or in the future, listen to people who have been so wrong?

More guns cause more violence – WRONG!  The number of guns in the hands of private citizens in the United States has risen dramatically in the past few decades, yet the FBI statistics tell us that the violent crime rate has declined.

Concealed carry will lead to blood running in the streets – WRONG!  After Florida began the modern trend of issuing concealed carry permits to large numbers of people, other states followed suit.  Economist John Lott applied rigorous academic analysis to the crime and gun statistics and found that jurisdictions that issued more concealed carry permits saw larger drops in violent crime than jurisdictions that were more restrictive.

His academic paper on the subject became a book, More Guns – Less Crime.  Lott and others have continued to run the numbers and that analysis continues to be true.

People will get in gun battles over parking spaces – WRONG!  Studies show that carry permit holders are actually more law-abiding than average citizens or even police officers.  The number of permits revoked for any reason is miniscule.

Scary gun bans will reduce crime – WRONG!  Various federal, state, and local (Chicago) “assault weapons” bans have been implemented over the years.  None of them reduced crime, and the removal of those bans did not increase crime.

Illinois isn’t ready for concealed carry – WRONG!  The legislature, controlled by Chicago politicians, had its hand forced by a federal court, and finally passed a bill authorizing concealed carry permits.  Far from not being ready, tens of thousands of Illinoisans have jumped through the considerable hoops set by that law, and there have been no problems.

The gun controllers have been WRONG with every prediction, but they just keep going.  They change their names, they change their current focus.  Banning “handguns” changed to banning “assault weapons” changed to limiting right to carry with “gun free zones” changed to “common sense gun safety” legislation.  All of these efforts are based on WRONG assumptions – that limiting guns out of the hands of everyday law-abiding citizens will make all of us safer.

Why does anyone listen to them?  They appeal to emotions, but have no facts on their side.  That does not stop them from trying and it does not stop the media from blindly following.  To say that the agenda-driven media often attempts to portray NRA and gun owners in a negative light is an understatement. Writers and political commentators routinely label the NRA as extremists; or worse. Others claim that gun owners exercising their right to carry will resurrect the “Old West” and that laws recognizing this right “seem almost designed to encourage violence.” The actions of NRA members and gun owners across America prove these bigoted opinions wrong on a daily basis.

However, the disparity between the anti-gun fever dream and reality is at its most acute each year when NRA members and gun owners gather for the NRA Annual Meetings.  Those annual meetings just finished.  78,000 Americans attended over four days.  Many of them were carrying concealed or open handguns, perfectly legally.  There were NO shootouts.  There were NO accidents.  There were NO problems.

Chicken Little claimed the sky was falling, because an acorn fell on his head.  He was wrong, and he had no credibility.  The gun controllers have lied to us for 20 years and more.  They have been wrong, every time.  They have no credibility.  Not only should they be ignored, their errors and purposeful falsehoods should be pointed out at every opportunity.  The sky is NOT falling, and restricting decent Americans from owning and using guns for all legitimate purposes will NOT make anyone safer.