Charlotte, NC –-(Ammoland.com)- It used to be only the Brady Campaign that “graded” the states on their gun laws. Now, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (previously the Legal Community Against Violence, a group of anti-gun lawyers in San Francisco, funded by the Joyce Foundation and some of the other usual suspects) has gotten into the act.
And it is indeed an “act,” as the anti-gun groups’ “grades” are pure sideshow–frivolous distractions from serious discussions about the (non-)relationship between gun control laws and crime take place.
Apparently, it wasn’t a good idea for the anti-gunners to start punching numbers into their calculators just after getting off the roller-coaster, because both groups gave bad grades to most states, even though violent crime rates have declined for the last 20 years and are relatively low today.
Here’s an example. The Brady Campaign gave ( https://tiny.cc/l970nw ) zero “stars” (an “F,” essentially) to 31 states and one “star” (a “D”) to nine states. Meanwhile, the lawyers gave “F” grades to 24 states and “D” grades to 10 states.
Only a few weeks ago, the FBI reported violent crime data for 2011, which in conjunction with FBI reports from previous years showed that the nation’s violent crime rate has declined for 18 of the last 20 years, 49 percent overall, to a 41-year low. The rate of the most serious violent crime–murder–has fallen 52 percent in the last 20 years, to a 48-year low.
Here’s another one: Both groups give their best grades (“A-” from the lawyers, four “stars” from Brady) to California, despite the fact that California’s murder rate is higher than the rates of 30 states, and 73 percent higher than the average rate of those states. On top of that, 20 of those 30 states got an “F” or “D” from the lawyers, and 24 got a “0” or “1” from Brady. Brady even gave zero stars–an “F”–to the six states that have the lowest murder rates, which is about on par with its grades in previous years!
And here’s one more: The lawyers say that there are 10 states that have the “strongest” gun laws and 10 that have the “weakest.” But guess what. The average murder rate of the states with those “strong” gun control laws is 2.2 times higher than the average rate of the other states.
And so on. You get the idea.
We understand why the anti-gunners are frustrated, of course. Over the last 20 years, many gun control laws have been eliminated or ameliorated at the federal, state and local levels. Americans keep buying several million guns annually, including the guns that anti-gunners most loathe: semi-automatic self-defense handguns and rifles like the AR-15. And the number of Right-to-Carry states has risen to an all-time high (41).
One has to question why the opponents of freedom continue with their “grades” silliness.
About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
All this is irrelevent , with Obamass re-election the scond amendment and gun ownership are about to become an historical joke .
Reminds me of the Killer Clowns in "Real Men". Only those clowns had balls and used guns. Do you think there is a relationship regarding the current state of this nation and the fact that a LARGE number of "legislators" are lawyers?
I love the picture!! "Send in the clowns."