‘Battle Over Gun Control Emerging as 2022 Campaign Issue,’ Says Report

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Gun control, according to The Hill, is officially a major campaign issue heading into 2022

U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- It is now official; according to The Hill, “The battle over gun control is emerging as a campaign issue heading into the midterms as gun violence rises in the U.S.”

The report says Republicans blame “progressive efforts to reform and in some cases direct funds away from police departments.” Translation: Efforts in various cities to “Defund Police” have resulted in some agencies losing demoralized officers to other jurisdictions.

By contrast, Democrats contend that “gun policies are at the heart of the issue,” The Hill says.

The story quotes Michael Lawlor, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven, who asserts, “At the moment there’s so many examples of irresponsible gun ownership, people having easy access to guns. It sort of makes the case.”

Lawlor “also served as a Democratic member of the Connecticut House of Representatives,”  the story revealed. Gun rights advocates could say this “sort of” taints Lawlor’s argument as politically biased.

Down in Arizona, Democrat State Rep. Randy Friese—the trauma surgeon who treated former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was shot in 2011—is running for Congress in the state’s Second District. His comment to The Hill might be open to challenge.

“There has really been next to nothing done for years and years,” Friese said. “Background checks and comprehensive background checks would be wonderful. Can we get there in a two-year term if I am successful? Can I get us there in a two-year term? I sure will try.”

Such a remark suggests there are currently no background checks, which the firearms community could dismiss as patently absurd. The man who shot Giffords, for example, had cleared a background check to purchase the pistol he used.

San Jose, California killer Samuel Cassidy “used three semi-automatic pistols, all legally obtained,” according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Santa Barbara spree killer Elliot Rodger—known as the “Isla Vista gunman” although three of his victims were fatally stabbed—bought three handguns, all legally, in California, as noted in a history of the crime at Wikipedia. He went through three background checks and three California waiting periods.

The background check issue may lose some horsepower because several killers, including Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, cleared background checks. But it is still effective as a political argument going into 2022.

Another Democrat congressional candidate, Kina Collins of Chicago, where she is described by The Hill as a “community organizer and activist,” blames alleged lax gun laws in neighboring Indiana for the Windy City body count.

“Most of the guns that are apprehended after a homicide here in the city of Chicago have come from Indiana,” she contended. “So it’s not what’s happening here in the state of Illinois because we’re pushing back, it’s because the surrounding states around us have those looser laws.”

Except that a check of the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2019—the most recent data available—one finds that Indiana racked up 247 slayings for the entire state including 185 involving firearms. That same year, Chicago’s body count was more than 500, according to the popular “HayJackass.com” website that tracks killings in the city.

While The Hill may be accurate in its prediction about gun control being a central issue in 2022, the firearms community is already pushing back in defense of gun rights.

As announced a few days ago, the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, have expanded their already ambitious television advertising campaigns to reach millions of Americans via more than 20 cable networks. This week, they’re airing a combined total of 143 spots. So far this year, both groups have aired 60-second messages more than 2,000 times, and the effort will continue.

“Waging this battle on two fronts, with SAF on one flank and CCRKBA on the other, is the most effective way to raise public awareness about the serious threat the Biden-Harris administration is posing to a cornerstone right enshrined in our Constitution,” said Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and CEO, and chairman of the Citizens Committee.

The campaign has so far brought more than 116,000 new members and supporters to the organizations, he said.

“We’ve been able to secure several million dollars’ worth of advertising so far this year, and the timing of our campaign has been critical,” Gottlieb said in a news release. “People are waking up to just how far out of step Biden’s Democratic Party has become with mainstream America. Violent crime is skyrocketing. Murders are on the rise. Meanwhile, far left Democrat administrations in cities such as Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis and New York are alienating police officers and talking about defunding law enforcement. The party—with Biden in the lead—also wants to release criminals without bail and add further restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.

“These are dangerous policies,” he observed, “and the public response is pretty clear. Gun and ammunition sales, including those to first-time gun buyers, are setting new records.”

Perhaps the looming battle was best summed by GOP strategist Ford O’Connell in a comment he made to The Hill.

“Democrats can talk gun control until they’re blue in the face but the problem they face at the ballot box in 2022 is skyrocketing crime in cities and states that they control,” O’Connell said. “Talk of gun control is a distraction to try to hold their base together because when I look at this, the root cause of the skyrocketing crime, outside of coming out of COVID, is really their ‘defund the police’ message.”

But forewarned is forearmed. The Second Amendment community can start right now, challenging statements from Democrats and gun prohibition lobbying groups. If The Hill is correct in its assessment of the 2022 battleground, the fight has already commenced.


About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

Dave Workman

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DDS

A question for Ms. Kina Collins, or anyone else who may be able to shed some light on the subject. Why do crime guns from Indiana bother to travel from their home state all the way to Chicago in order to murder someone? Why don’t they just stay home in Indiana and shoot the place up? And if she should be in the mood, perhaps she could also explain why the vast majority of the murders committed by these crime guns occur on Chicago’s south side? Is she saying that Indiana crime guns have a grudge against African Americans who… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by DDS
Jaque

Kina Collins is a communist who has all the Anti Second Amendment Marxist talking points down pat. These people are trained to never accept responsibility and to always deflect questions and blame others. They consistantly lie and when a Ile is repeated often enough it will be believed by many. They Blame the gun. Blame the Second Amendment. Blame the NRA. Blame Gun Makers. Blame Semi-Auto guns. Blame Magazine Fed Guns. Blame Barrel Shrouds, Bayonet Lugs, Collapsing Stocks, Pistol Braces, High Power Ammunition, Plastic Framed Guns, Home Made Guns, Gun Parts, 3D Printing, Home Reloading, Suppressors, Short Barrel Rifles, The… Read more »

DIYinSTL

Perhaps Indiana should sue Illinois, not (just?) for defamation but for inciting gun theft across State lines.

Tionico

not to mention that whoever decides to transport any of INdiana’s angry guns inti Illonios BETTER have an IL state FOID card, go throgh a backgound check and wating period, before they can take possession again in Illinois.

Tionico

in 1980 I decided I needed to replace the old .22 bolt actioni rifle that had been stolen in a housebreaking. I hopped in m car, drove ACCROSS a state line, went into a sporting goods store, saw a Ruger 10/.22 on display, asked to handle it, said “I’ll take it”. He put that one back on the display, went into the back and returned with another one in its sealed shipping carton, plopped that on the counter, and said “that will be $79.95. I peeled off four pictures of Mr. Jackson and hand them him. He clunked some keys… Read more »

Don

The defund the police movement has created havoc. Portland’s RRT (riot team) has quit after a teammate was charged with assault. Why should they continue when the prosecutor won’t file charges against rioters? Violence keeps happening because of poor leadership in these communities. Restore bail. Charge the criminals.

uncle dudley

I’ve said it before and I say it again, congress needs to be told we don’t need any gun control laws, what we need is criminal control.
Stop the plea deals with criminals and get tough with the sentencing laws when a firearm is used in a crime, also when one gets a life sentence for murder no parole ever, life means life.

Morrigan

“Gun Control”.
The ability to safely handle the firearm of your choice, to competently and safely use it to protect yourself, your family and your property. I have successfully taught this for over thirty years to soccer-moms, SWAT doods and military units. That is NOT what the DemoCraps are talking about of course. They are talking about Universal Citizen Disarmament.
Why would they be desirous of disarming you, the American citizen?
WHY?

alan93

at what point do we stop treating the symptom, gun control talk, and adress the disease, the Democrat party’s subversion of thhe ConstitutionShould it be allowed to exist or should it be extracated as a domestic enemy.

Russn8r

So what? Dems love to project.

RJL

With 20,00+ Firearms laws already on the books, we do not need gun control for the legal constitutional Americans, but (CCC) Criminal Crime Control.
The problem with the ones who want “Gun Control” are the criminal
Anti- constitutionalist’s, Anti-Americans…

HLB

I sense a great amount of confusion across the nation. When people are confused it is best to stand your ground with your weapon and your rights. Do not yield.

HLB

GomeznSA

PS – unfortunately the only folks that can “see clearly now” are those who are and have been paying attention. Far too many of the great unwashed masses (aka sheeple) either refuse to see clearly or are so in lock step with what the lame stream media spews regarding guns that they will likely never see reality. How does the old saying go – ‘there is none so blind as he who will not see’ -whether they do it intentionally or simply from a lack of ability to think critically.

swmft

the strange thing is a lot of gang members say they find crates of guns in alley ways ,sometimes full auto . the gun traces that show what gun shop last listed the gun seldom come back with any pattern all stolen from purchaser bought by dead people one bought 2,000 none of this most are dead end pardon the pun may be that police are confiscating guns from people and dropping them off in gang areas as the gang members say

Tionico

any refereences or links to support your assertions?

Neanderthal75

Facts? Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts: I read it on the internet, therefore it’s true!

Cheers from the oil patch in Central Wyoming

PS I got your beat: first Ruger 10/22 I ever bought was on sale for $69.95 and I loved it dearly! It was the best semi-auto rifle I have ever owned, utterly flawless!

Bozz

I paid $50 for a brand new 10/22 in 1973. But that’s $310 in today’s dollars. So, not that good of a deal and it did put my budget in a strain for a while.